In the New Testament, and particularly for Jesus, the most common image for what God is offering us is a banquet. It’s not a trophy, not a prize, not a reward reserved for later, but a participative and joyous party now.
Richard Rohr, Daily Devotion, November 25, 2024
The most common image for what God is offering us is a banquet, a joyous party, a wedding feast. Jesus’ first “sign” in the gospel of John is changing water into wine so the party can continue at the wedding feast. Many of Jesus’ parables speak about wedding banquets (Matthew 22, Matthew 25, Luke 14). When the prodigal son is welcomed back, the father throws a party (Luke 15). What gets Jesus in so much trouble with the authorities of the day is that instead of fasting (Mark 2) he eats with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus hosts a banquet, each Sunday as we gather for communion. In the Thanksgiving at the Table, we remember how on the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and gave it to the disciples, so that we might be fed with the very presence of Christ. In the midst of betrayal, an impending crucifixion, suffering, death, and desertion, Jesus gives thanks and celebrates a meal.
Thanksgiving is not just a day to gather with friends and family (although not everyone will) to eat turkey and make a list of things we ought to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is way of life, lived in response to God’s invitation to the banquet, to participate in God’s abundance and excess (grace is not fair – it is excessive!), letting it flow through us into a world that is focused on scarcity and determining who is deserving.
This year as we continue to navigate the challenges of proclaiming and embodying the gospel, it may feel more difficult than ever in a culture which seems to have quite different values and priorities. My prayer for all of us is captured in the words of the prayer after communion.
Faithful God, you have spread before us a feast of rich food and drink
in the body and blood of your Son. Now send us out to labor with you, in service to the world you have made, and among the people you have made your home, in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
From Sundays and Seasons
As you enter into the Advent season, may you remember that God has made a home among us and invites us to the banquet. Thank you for all you do to invite others to the banquet.