When we feast, we get a taste of the kingdom

1. Jesus is called out for sharing a table with people who aren’t deemed worthy of His company by the religious leaders.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

(Luke 15:1-2)

You can always find someone that is irritated at you, they did it to Jesus

2. Jesus responds to their criticism with three parables.

The first is the parable of the lost sheep, where a shepherd of one hundred sheep leaves his flock in search of one who is missing. Upon finding the sheep, the shepherd gathers all his friends to rejoice that the lost sheep was found (vv. 3–7)

The second parable recounts a woman, who has ten silver coins, loses one, and searches her home, high and low, to find it. When she finds it, she too calls together all her friends and neighbors to rejoice that the coin was found (vv. 8–10).

Third parable of a father and his sons (vv. 11–32). His older son is a loyal and dutiful young man, serving his father, while the younger son asks to be bought out of the family farm and sent on his way, with his money. The young son squanders his money and returns home humiliated by his foolishness. However, his father, much to the chagrin of the elder brother, celebrates his return with great enthusiasm, declaring, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found”

Jesus is illustrating that his purpose in eating with those who are not welcome at the religious leaders’ tables is bigger than they understand.

These meals are not to indulge, but to restore and reach out to those who have a great need.

All this parables follow emphasize the fact of joy at the recovery of lost sinners. The central truth is the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents; but it is a joy that was anticipated on earth in the table fellowship of Jesus and repentant sinners

3. Often, we want the benefits of the food without the connection of the table.

The food we eat is rich with history and culture. When we eat street tacos or green curry, it is easy to forget that there is more than just food. “The flavors and techniques of global cuisine encapsulate the stories of people throughout history.

While our food ways taste of the magnificence of a creative God, they also bear the scars of people and cultures harmed through power wielded cruelly along the way. And around the table, laden with the complicated stories each flavor tells, we are invited to participate in the reconciliation of all things”

Jesus delved into a place where the religious elite were unwilling to go. As believers, we must ask ourselves if we are willing to participate in God’s work beyond the comfort of neatly arranged place settings, inviting people into our lives to share a table and a story that might open a door to healing and restoration—culturally and spiritually.

The table holds a unique opportunity for joy, hope, and understanding between people who live or believe differently than we do.

When we understand that God can and does use the feast as a means to reach people, we can become overzealous in our desire to have everything perfect. It is important to understand that God is not hindered by imperfect houses or burnt toast.

When we become focused on aesthetics and appearances, we can lose sight of what sharing a meal is all about. We forget that the celebration is over the seed that might be planted and the potential for the lost to be found.

What people are craving isn’t perfection. People aren’t longing to be impressed: they’re longing to feel like they’re home.

Lets create a space full of love and character and creativity and soul, they’ll take off their shoes and curl up with gratitude and rest, no matter how small, no matter how undone, no matter how odd

We as believer can be confident that God is abundantly able to use the table to carry out his will, including reaching the lost.