The Division of Table Fellowship

Table fellowship in Central Asia -- enjoying some Bezparmak. 

Scripture:

Rom. 11:1    I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ³ “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” ⁴ But what is the divine reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ⁵ So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶ But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Rom. 11:7    What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, ⁸ as it is written,

“God gave them a sluggish spirit,

eyes that would not see

and ears that would not hear,

down to this very day.”

⁹ And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

¹⁰ let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

and keep their backs forever bent.”

Observation:

These verses in the opening of Romans 11 are really a review of what we have previously read and studied. There is one thought here, “Paul’s argument that the divine plan—from God’s promise to Abraham until its fulfillment in Christ—must be viewed as moving steadily forward toward one end: the salvation of Israel” (Greenhouse & Lyons, NBBC). God has not rejected Israel, but the he has placed their salvation into the life of Christ, which they must receive by grace, and the Gentiles are a part of that grace. Works are not the means by which salvation will be experienced. 

The result is that at this moment in time, in Rome, in the first century, there remains a remnant of the Jews who are faithful, because they have responded to grace. 

Paul uses thoughts from the Old Testament and then quotes the Psalmist, David. The chosen ones (Israel) became sluggish in spirit, their eyes refused to see and their ears could no longer hear. They had divided their tables and would not eat with the Gentiles, because they considered them unclean. The result was that the division of table fellowship became a stumbling block. Their works separated them from those who were to be a means of grace. 

Application:

There is something wonderful about gathering around the table together as family. I’m looking forward to this coming weekend when I will be at home in Kansas City and will be gathering around our table for Easter dinner with family and friends. It’s a cherished time of food, laughter, and deep conversation. 

We have been traveling around Europe and Central Asia this past month and we have had many hours of blessed fellowship around the table. In Central Asia we celebrated as people from many nations came together to glorify the Lord and what has happened in the last year in the life of the church. We sat around the table as a family — even in the midst of war and conflict. Later, in Germany, we celebrated with the Ukrainians who were ordained. A lovely meal was had at a restaurant and the conversation was deep and thoughtful. The table was not a stumbling block, but a place that united us as children of God. 

Sadly, we can allow our tables to become a stumbling block, and a place of division. I lament that we have fewer and fewer meals around peoples’ tables these days. We do enjoy going out to eat, but there is something about going to a friend’s home and relaxing around the family table that is especially welcoming. We tend to linger longer, and have deeper conversations as there is no rush to leave. The children can run and play as the adults ponder the questions of the world. But I do wonder who we are inviting to our tables? 

Could the world become a much better place if we invited others to our table who are not like us? If only the Jews had invited the Christian Gentiles, they would have experienced the grace of God. We may be missing out on God’s grace by not opening our tables to those who don’t think like us, have the same political views as us, and don’t have the same ethnic background as us. Maybe God needs us to learn something by opening up our tables to fellowship with others. 

Prayer:

Lord, may my table, wherever it may be in the world, be open to transformational fellowship. Amen.