The Table of Joy

Today is the final week in the sermon series: Come to the Table. Over these last few weeks we have reflected with Pastor Tim on what scripture teaches us about hospitality, love, peace and grace. It is fitting today that in this final week of the “Come to the Table” series, we will literally come to the table. And it is here at God’s table we discover JOY through Christ and are sent forth in JOY by the Holy Spirit into the world.

Paul’s words in Philippians encourage us to consider this shared life in community as believers. That being united in Christ, sharing in the same Spirit, same love, same mind - it is there together with Christ that our joy is complete. Then call then as a joy-filled people in Christ is to seek to live our lives more and more like Christ did. And what does that life look like? 2 things Paul’s lifts up:

● A Life of servant-hood

● A life of Humble obedience

“have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature[a] God,

did not consider equality with Godsomething to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Phillipians 2)

A life of servant-hood and humble obedience go hand-in hand. They calls us to a posture of washing feet, of serving, of offering grace, of empyting ourselves, as Christ did - for the sake of others - that they might have life in Christ too. Not to gain recognition or power, but with humility and obedience to the life God desires us to live - as Christians and together as the body of Christ - the church.

You don’t have to look far into the life and ministry of Jesus to see this commitment and posture of serving everyday - with leaders, in the church, on the road, at the table, in the fields, in people’s homes. Even when criticized, even when tired, even when frustrated, even when he is run out of town and rejected. Following Christ means following in in the footsteps of the one who seeks to serve rather than be served.

And in doing so, bears witness to the overwhelming grace and mercy and love of God alone that saves us and gives us life now and forevermore. A Lord and king whose rule is not like the kingdoms of this world, and whose reign is now and forever and will have the final word when Christ comes in final victory.

This friends is ultimately where our joy comes from. This good news and promise is where our JOY is grounded. And this is why we are invited to come to the table - this table and all the tables we gather at day in and day out - with JOY.

Because no matter what is going on in our lives and in the world - we know and believe that God has already defeated sin and death on the cross. That God has already given us new life through resurrection and that God will wipe away every tear, war will be no more, and our mourning will be turned to dancing in the end.

Our JOY is in God. Our JOY is from God. Our JOY calls us with God into the spaces of grief and hurt and anger and brokenness and pain to offer hope, to serve, and to invite others to come to the table. God’s table where they will be welcomed with extravagant hospitality, unending and undeserved love, a peace that surpasses all understanding, and grace upon grace that is freely given to all.

When we come to this table to God’s holy feast, we are reminded of this very JOY we have in Christ. Joy that does not mean we are happy and smiling all the time because frankly there is a lot of unjoyful things happening in our world and sometimes in our lives.

We have pain, people hurt us, we make mistakes, we get angry, we are exhausted and we worry. And in the midst of those if you are like me, you are not sitting around thanking God for all the JOY we have in him while you are experiencing those things. JOY is not a fleeting emotion that we experience based on our circumstances in human life.

Rather, JOY is a posture and promise we hold onto beyond the circumstances here and now because through God. It is a posture and promise that calls us back to God’s grace, God’s love, God’s welcome, God’s peace…… which strengthens us, empowers us, comforts us to face another day and to come alongside others who need help facing another day.

I like how one writer describes it:

“[Joy is] being fully alive, fully present, fully empowered in the midst of whatever circumstances. Joy does not preclude grief or rage; it means standing in the midst of grief and rage with dignity and power.”

Full alive, fully present, fully empowered - standing in the midst of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. It is there fully alive, fully present, fully empowered by Christ that we can JOYfully follow him through a life of servant-hood and humble obedience.

Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in today, may we approach the table today ready and willing to discover again the JOY that is made complete in Christ. May our lives be woven together more and more with others who come to the same table - in the midst of our disagreements, in the midst of hurt and pain we have caused one another, in the midst of division that our JOY may be made more complete as we heal, forgive and seek to welcome each other as God welcomes us.

And may this JOY send us forth - empowered by the Spirit to embrace a life of joyful obedience and servant-hood through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns forever. Amen.