52 Weeks at the Table – Week 25

When King Solomon passed away, Judah had been separated from the rest of Israel by their sin. It is a sorry succession of kings which follows the reign of Solomon – who himself had fallen prey to the temptations of wealth and wives, and had fallen into idolatry. Among these kings the Lord sent prophets and men of God (some good; some poor in character) to set them aright or just tell them of the doom they have earned. Elijah outshone them all, even though he, too, had moments of fear and doubt. When a drought caused Elijah’s brook to dry up and he had to move on from where ravens fed him, the Lord sent him to the house of a widow in Zarephath and her son. God provided for them through containers of flour and oil that were always, miraculously, full. When the boy died, Elijah’s prayer restored his life (1 Kings 17). Similarly, following Elisha’s instructions, a prophet’s widow and two sons found relief from debt through a vessel of oil that did not cease pouring until there were no more vessels to pour into. And Elisha was hosted in Shunem by a woman whose husband was old – yet Elisha’s prophecy of a baby in her arms came true. And when the boy later died, Elisha did as his master had done with the widow’s son – and the child revived. Not much later, he fed a hundred with a mere twenty loaves of barley bread (2 Kings 4).

Jesus, known as a prophet during His incarnation, also fed replenishing bread to five thousand (Matthew 14) and four thousand (Matthew 15) and, shortly after healing the illness of a centurion’s servant, raised a widow’s son to life (Luke 7) – as well as His dear friend Lazarus (John 11). In the end, His compassion led to His demise, for there John records: “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. ‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’ “ Then, Matthew adds: “So from that day on they plotted to take his life.”

A Prayer Over the Bread

Undiminishable Father God, we praise You because Your mercy toward us has no end, pouring forth like the oil and flour that made bread for Elijah, the widow and her son. In our spiritual poverty, You have provided Your Son through Your limitless compassion, to let Him be consumed like bread. Through Him, You give us the strength of His righteousness and we are filled. Bless now this bread, we pray in the name of Jesus: Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

Holy, Unchanging One, there is perhaps no miracle more powerful than the way the blood of Your Son changes us; transforms us into Your likeness with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Through Him, we cross over from death to life (John 5:24). For this incomparable miracle – the ongoing resurrection of our lives from dead pursuits to eternal glory; for this incomparable blood and the cup it fills, we thank You in Jesus’ name: Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 24

Solomon’s wisdom came at his request; but he was wise enough to ask for it – and wise enough to listen to his father David when the king advised him to seek it (Proverbs 4:1-13). The words of wisdom that he recalls from his father are not to follow evil people because they cannot sleep until they have caused someone else to fall into their darkness. In a poetic – and prophetic – phrase, he is taught: “They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.”

Jesus was betrayed by a follower who shared His bread of unity and His cup of blessing. John’s gospel (13:30) says it briefly: “As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.” At His abduction, Luke (22:53) quotes Jesus noting ruefully “Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour — when darkness reigns.”

A Prayer Over the Bread

Forgiving God, we remember with this bread of unity Your Son’s body, pummeled and beaten when He was taken in the garden, perhaps not even an hour after the Passover meal. We remember the Light of the World snuffed out, and a darkness that enveloped the earth. We know that there is no intrinsic power in these emblems that prevent us from sinning; no magic in this matzoh; no wizardry in the wine, for we’ve read that as soon as Judas had taken it, he went out and betrayed his Lord. Forgiving God, bring us together in the sharing of this bread, that Your Spirit and the brotherhood we find in it will help keep us accountable and keep us from falling into darkness. Through Christ we ask: Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

Lord of mercy, giving rest to the weary, we approach You weary of sin and stumbling under its heavy guilt. May this cup of blessing refresh us, purging from us a thirst for self and for violence to others and for the cover of darkness – because it is to us the blood of Your Son Jesus, washing the burden of it all from our hearts. Father, give us the light of His wisdom always through His Spirit, guiding us into all truth. We beg this in the name of Jesus: Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 23

The where of worship. There was something of a choice when Solomon began to reign. His father David had brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem to reside in a tent … but it seemed to be more of a good-luck charm or trophy or sign of God’s power than a place of worship. So Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice a thousand bulls on the altar before Moses’ ancient tabernacle, which had been moved there – closer to Jerusalem – after its sojourn at Shiloh of Samaria. His sacrifices so pleased God that He told Solomon to ask whatever he wanted. Solomon had the wisdom to ask for more wisdom, and God gave it to him in abundance. And more. Because Solomon had asked for wisdom to rule Israel well, rather than wealth or power or the death of his enemies or long life, God gave him much more.

Then Solomon found in his heart his father’s dream to build a temple for the Name of the Lord in Jerusalem. He hired the best foreign skill he could find, and as payment, offered Hiram, the King of Tyre, tens of thousands of gallons of wine and tens of thousands of bushels of wheat for bread.

Hundreds of years later, the mid-day meal for Jesus and His followers was not intended to be bread and wine, but meat and water. The disciples had gone into town at Sychar of Samaria – practically on top of the old tabernacle’s site – to buy food, and Jesus asked a woman at a well if she would draw Him the water. They spoke of prejudice, of sin, of water He could provide from an inexhaustible source toward inextinguishable life. And they spoke of where to worship, a quarrel between their two cultures. Jesus told her it was no longer a question of where, but of how.

A Prayer Over the Bread

Provident Father, when we reflect on the hundreds of years during which fellow believers have consumed these emblems of Your Son’s body and blood, we think also of the millions of bushels and gallons You have supplied simply that we might not forget Your most precious Gift of all. May we share this bread now with a faith than spans generations, encompasses multitudes of souls, and reaches toward Your eternity purchased by Jesus for His body; His church. Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

Holy One of Eternity, You are wherever we go and Your presence makes that ground holy. You have freed us to worship wherever we might be and in whatever moment, asking only that our hearts and minds be attuned to Your truth through Your Spirit. May each moment and each place of our lives be filled with worship for Your promise of endless life, bought by Christ’s blood, revered in this cup. Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 22

It was a particularly low point in the life of King David when he and his small entourage left Jerusalem to the onslaught of his estranged son Absalom. Not far out of the gates, they were met by Ziba, who brought bread, cakes, fruit and wine to refresh the king. Ziba, who had many sons, was awarded the property of Saul’s heir Mephibosheth by David, in gratitude for his kindness – yet one must wonder if David sensed a disingenuous tone in Ziba’s offer.

Not long after, a man named Shimei cursed the Lord’s anointed, throwing rocks and dirt at him – yet David, in his humility, would not order his death. Blessings and cursings.

Then, three chapters later, with Jerusalem reoccupied, we find Ziba accused by Mephibosheth of abandoning him. Perhaps unable to determine the truth, David ordered the property of Saul divided between them. And Shimei, confronted by the king, showed abject penitence, and was shown mercy yet again.

Blessings and cursings. At the last meal Jesus hosts, He serves a cup of blessing … yet there is no question that He senses the disingenuous tone of Judas, and pronounces a curse of woe on the betrayer – confirming exactly who it was. For Judas had already negotiated the price, and was watching for the place and time.

Betrayal over a meal with bread and wine.

A Prayer Over the Bread

Our God, this meal draws us to remember not only who You are, who Your Son is – but also who we are. We have no deep intention to betray You, but when we leave this table, we do forget. We remember only ourselves, and what we desire. May this bread remind us not to offer our gifts to the King out of the desire to receive something for ourselves – like Ziba – but to give selflessly to You and to others, as Jesus gave all for us. Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

Holy, Righteous One, please accept our praise for Your forgiving nature. In our rebellion and sin, we have sometimes tossed rocks at Your righteousness and thrown dirt on Your Name. Yet in this moment we see You enthroned, and we are humbled to obeisance. May this cup remind us of the price of our utter disrespect – Your Son’s blood – and may it draw us to the penitence of Shimei each time we share it. Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 21

This last psalm in the cycle of David begins with a petition for God to endow His Son, the King, with His own righteousness, so that the Son might defend the afflicted and crush the oppressor. Even so, Jesus begins His ministry by declaring that Isaiah’s prophetic recounting of God’s promise has come to pass: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed …” (Luke 4:18). David speaks of this King’s longevity and realm extending beyond measurable time and space. He predicts the gifts of lesser, obeisant kings – not unlike those of visiting magi from the east. Then, in verse 16, his petition seems to suddenly turn to an ordinary plea for agrarian blessing:
“Let grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon;
let it thrive like the grass of the field.”

Perhaps it is. Yet it is also a metaphor Jesus uses (Mark 4:26-29) to describe the Kingdom of God: grain which grows seemingly “all by itself,” though the man who scattered the seed knows not how. And while sometimes He uses the metaphor of harvest to describe His return, in this instance it seems to indicate the collecting of fruit to be used for productive purposes. He repeats it, perhaps only hours after entering Jerusalem to a royal reception (John 12:23-26), saying that the seed must die in order to bear fruit and produce more seeds. Paul the apostle echoes the simile again and again (1 Corinthians 3:6; 9:11; 15:36-38), urging followers to live and grow and flourish in Christ – to God’s glory.

A Prayer Over the Bread

God of creation and Giver of life, You cause the grain and the fruit to grow, though we know not how. You designed them for food to nourish the bodies You gave man. You gave man the intelligence to create bread and wine from them. Then gave Your Son, Jesus, whose body and blood we remember through them. May this grain abound throughout the land. May our souls be sustained, growing and thriving through the grace of this bread and this cup; through the grace of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

Holy and merciful God, You have endowed Your Son with Your righteousness to defeat the oppressor and defend us, the afflicted and poor. Through His body and blood we are delivered. As your Seed, He died and was buried to take up life again and share it with us. So also we die to self and live in Him that this seed, this Word of God, might grow and find root among many, many others. May this fruit flourish and thrive like the grass of the field. Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 20

The second Psalm (a numbering that goes back to biblical times, for so Paul describes it in his sermon to Pisidian Antioch, Acts 13:33) is not credited specifically to David. Yet it clearly foreshadows David’s descendent and forebearer (Revelation 22:16). Its declaration in the seventh verse – “I will proclaim the decree of the LORD : He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’ ” – expresses the words from heaven at Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:16-17) and Jesus’ own intent on beginning His ministry (Luke 4:14-20) while reading the prophet Isaiah. To no angel had God ever bestowed the blessing of His Fatherhood (Hebrews 1:5).

This psalm’s twelfth verse also foretells an aspect of the Son’s nature we shudder to acknowledge: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” For by the end of His ministry, He showed His anger toward those who had no respect for His Father or His Father’s house; tables were overturned, animals driven out. Their rejection of the Son then culminated in a kiss of betrayal. Those whom He would have gathered under His wings for refuge – but they would not (Matthew 23:37) – put Him to death on a cross. In about forty years, as He predicted, Rome laid waste all of Jerusalem – dashed to pieces like pottery.

And the Son of God lived to prepare a place for His followers – a refuge for the nations, His inheritance.

A Prayer Over the Bread

Lord God, we give you praise and honor; we give you our thanks for this bread, You Son’s body. We remember how You expressed Your pleasure at His baptism. We remember how He was rejected and despised, betrayed and killed. Most of all, we remember Your desire to give Jesus an inheritance of the faithful among the nations. As we share these morsels of bread, we remember Jesus. Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

This cup, our God, we realize could just as easily represented your wrath to be poured out on us in our disbelief and sin. But You sent us Your Son, who reflected Your displeasure at sin but personified Your joy in and love for Your people. So we drink a cup, not of wrath – which He drank for us – but a cup of blessing. May we always be grateful for this cup: His blood, and our salvation. Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 19

When the four gospel writers sparingly record the events of the crucifixion, they seem to be directed by the twenty-second Psalm in the details which they choose to disclose:

The mockery and insults. The thirst. The exhaustion. The piercing of hands and feet. The dividing of garments and casting of lots. The plaintive cry, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?”

What they leave unsaid are the parts of the psalm that the people of their day would have sung and heard many times in their lives; the words of unswerving faith and confident praise from King David’s plea for mercy and help. No doubt its lament and recognition of God’s power had sustained them in the humiliation and enslavement following the conquests of Babylon, Greece and Rome.

“Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.”

“I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.”

“From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.”

“Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn — for he has accomplished it.”

A Prayer Over the Bread

God of heaven and earth, we cannot help but recall the moment Your Son was suspended between them when we eat this bread, His body. For deep within, we know the answer to His question, “Why?” – and it is our sin. So we share His faith, His righteousness as we share this bread in gratitude and witness to the salvation You have brought … for You have accomplished it through Jesus. Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

Lord, we put our trust in You as did our forefathers in faith, and You have delivered us. We will declare your name to our brothers; in the congregation we will praise you. We will fufill our vows to live like Your Son. We will serve Him and tell future generations about Him and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn through the sharing of this cup, the blood of the Christ, the Son of God. Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 18

Six short verses. Children in Sunday school classes have memorized them for decades. Seekers of God have treasured them for centuries. One shepherd-warrior-king wrote them centuries ago, perhaps to soothe the fevered, restless soul of his master King Saul (1 Samuel 16:23). He wrote and sang words that bring perspective. Words that bring comfort. Words that bring peace.

David writes himself into the role of sheep; compelled to rest in pastoral perfection, refreshed by waters that make no sound. His Shepherd restores his soul; gives him back what the tension and pain of life have taken away. His Shepherd provides without proscribing; guides without goading. He leads along the right path which – even though it may wind through a valley shaded with death-threat – finally leads to … a table.

There the sheep is transformed into a family member; honored in the presence of enemies at this table where there can be no more thirst; where the oil of anointing flows on a head made royal; where blessings of goodness, mercy, love and life never end.

And he is home … home forever.

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:11-15)

A Prayer Over the Bread

Holy God, we gladly acknowledge that we are the people of your pasture, the flock under Your care. We ashamedly admit that we often wander like sheep, paying no attention to where our noses and appetites are leading us. Thank You for the Good Shepherd, who restores our soul and leads us in paths of righteousness and lays down His life for us. We remember that He did this as our appetites now crave this bread, His body – so we give thanks through His name: Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

Righteous King of Heaven, You have prepared this table before us in the presence of our mutual enemies, and anointed us chosen ones, and we have no words or heart sufficient to thank You for this incomparable gift. We can only remember the Price of such a gift as we share this overflowing mercy-cup, His blood. Through the Son Himself we offer these thanksgivings: Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 17

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” shout the people who have lined the street into Jerusalem, and hae paved it with palm fronds and sashes. Perhaps they are aware that they are quoting David’s psalm, later numbered 118 (v. 26); perhaps not. The blessing “Hosanna!” that they cry out echoes the plea and praise for salvation in verses 21 and 25.

But, just a few verses later in Matthew 21 – where the incident is recounted – Jesus quotes the two verses immediately preceding them in response to the challenge of His authority made by the chief priests and elders, telling them parables of obedient and disobedient sons, and of tenants who reject the messengers and kill the son of their landlord: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Matthew 21:42; Psalm 118:22-23). They know that His prophecy about the kingdom of God being taken away means that it will be taken away from them … yet at this point, they still fear Him too much to move against Him.

We can’t know at what age David was when he wrote this Psalm. We can’t know if he wrote it, picturing a savior like Jesus. We can’t know if the Spirit inspiring him gave David a full view of the import of his words.

We can know that David wrote a psalm of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord, “for his love endures forever;” a psalm to be sung by every son of Israel (v. 2), every priest and member of the priestly tribe (v.3), and everyone who fears the Lord – a scriptural term that generally includes Gentiles as well as Jews (v.3). It was a song of the Lord’s protection, guaranteeing “I will not die, but live; and will proclaim what the Lord has done” (v. 17). It speaks of the gates through which the righteous pass (vs. 19-20) and of the light that shines upon them and of boughs in hand for a festal procession that leads to the altar of sacrifice (v. 27). Just so, in that final week, the path of the Christ would lead through the gates of Jerusalem and eventually back out again to a rocky knoll where He would be sacrificed to provide the righteousness for us that only God can give.

A Prayer Over the Bread

God and Father of David the king and Jesus, King of Kings, we give You our thanks for Your mighty right hand and the wondrous things You have done: provided freedom and refuge from sin; and triumph over death. For this bread, His body, we give You humble thanks through Jesus: Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

For this cup, His blood, our God, we also give our thanks. For Your love endures forever. You have not given us over to death. You have opened the gate of righteousness to us through this blood, and we give thanks. You are our God, and we will give You thanks. You are our God, and we will exalt you through Christ: Amen.

52 Weeks at the Table – Week 16

Saul, the reluctant king – tall in stature but small in submission – was often an angry person. When the Spirit of God came upon him at Gibeah (1 Samuel 11), he burned with anger and mustered thousands to defeat the pagans of Jabesh. When the Spirit of God departed from him (16), he often became angry at David, God’s new anointed. In his efforts to destroy his humble rival, only God’s Spirit – evident in David’s meek submission (26) – or coming on him in full prophetic force (29) could deter him. Disspirited by military defeat, he took his own life (31).

Another King, like His ancestor David, was the very figure of submission. He was born of the Spirit (Matthew 1:18), immersed in the Spirit (3:16), led by the Spirit (4:1), and promised His Spirit to His followers (John 7:38-40). He was reluctant to serve perhaps only once – in a garden, where His life hung in the balance with all of mankind’s souls for all eternity. Yet, trusting God’s ability to wrest ultimate victory from seeming defeat, He surrendered His Spirit (Matthew 27:50), received life again from the Spirit (Romans 8:11) and breathed His Spirit on those to whom He had made the promise (John 20:22).

A Prayer Over the Bread

King of our lives, we honor the submission of Your cherished Son to Your will that was gracious toward us and harsh toward our sins. We honor the victory You achieved on the cross and at the tomb over sin and death and our selfishness and our rivalry. When Your Spirit rests on us as we share this bread, recalling Jesus’ body broken for us, may He find a welcome and a yearning and a hunger for more of You deep within us, a place now emptied of self and sin. Amen.

A Prayer Over the Cup

Father God, purge from us the fire of anger and the evil spirit of arrogance that ignites and fuels it while we seek the peace of this table. Fill us instead with your cool, pure, thirst-quenching, life-breathing Spirit as we share this cup which reminds us of Jesus’ blood, spilled from His hands, head, feet and side for us. Fill us with a recognition of the cross where He breathed out His Spirit, so that we might breathe in life to the full – acting, speaking, praying always in His name: Amen.