The Family Table

PODCAST
Written By Ryan Joy & Bryan Schiele
 

281 | “Thou Shalt Party”

Reclaim the Holiness of Your Table

Are you feeling more lonely than ever, even with all those digital connections? Why is it that God seems to do His best work when there’s food involved? This week, we’re exploring why “pulling up a chair” is a radical act of spiritual warfare against the isolation of our age. We’re diving into the “bread of presence,” Jesus’ scandalous dinner parties, and that incredible moment on the road to Emmaus where the breaking of bread changed everything. Whether it’s a “stinker” of a wedding or a cozy, imperfect “pitch-in,” the table is where we move from performance to presence. It’s time to drop the digital veil and get back to the “baked bean supper“ connection!

Takeaways

The Big Idea: God uses shared meals to break loneliness, build community, and reveal His presence in our lives.

This Week's Challenge: Invite someone you only know digitally to share a simple meal in your home this week.

  • Loneliness and the Table

    Bryan: it's like built into the law that you thou shalt party. Pretty Well, hello everyone, and welcome to the Bible Geeks podcast. I'm Bryan Schiele.

    Ryan: I'm Ryan Joy,

    Bryan: And thanks so much, everyone, for tuning in. You know, we are one of the most hyper-connected generations in human history. Yet, we seem to be suffering through an epidemic of loneliness.

    We've learned how to project ourselves through our avatars and our social media presences, but have we forgotten how to share ourselves with each other over a meal?

    Ryan: today we're looking at why God does some of his best work at a table, from the abundance of Eden to the subversive banquets we're exploring how the simple act of breaking bread actually radical acting warfare, it's time to take the veil off our digital lives and pull up a chair family table.

    Bryan: I recently did a couple of sermons on the idea of the table. And why the table is so important. I know that recently, not too long ago, you did a series of lessons on ordinary holiness. One of those conversations was about food. And how we can treat ordinary food, everyday food, like a holy thing from God, a blessing.

    And how we can treat it as a blessing. A gift from God. And I thought it would be interesting for us to talk about this idea of the table.

    Presence Over Screens

    Bryan: Because you and I are remotely accessing each other's presence through the internet. But that didn't happen in the first century. Nor did it happen even like 20 years ago.

    People, when they wanted to get in touch with each other, they had to travel. And so I think sometimes in our modern society, we've lost touch with people. And just reclaiming this idea of the table is a really important part of the conversation. And I think that's a really important part of the conversation.

    Just reclaiming this idea of physical presence and being with each other, and being in each other's presence is so important. So let's maybe talk about that remotely through the power of Zoom here.

    Ryan: got me wanting to connect like Ezekiel ending up in the temple from Babylon

    Bryan: Oh yeah,

    Ryan: and not without miraculous help from God or a vision or something that people access remotely But the other aspect of this just to take it to full Bible geekness The other aspect of this is the food aspect which you can be in someone's presence but there's something, you know, like where you're not really showing up, you know, you're sort of there You could be digitally present like we are with each other and really present or you can show up halfway like the family that's, you know, all on their phones eating together but not really with each other and there's something about sitting at a table and breaking bread together that done rightly and I don't even mean like it's some complicated thing but just like done with the purpose of enjoying each other like we do say at a holiday or at a good family dinner or something like that has this power to connect us in a way that very few things really

    Bryan: I think that's well said. I appreciate the idea of food. And it is, like, as I was studying through in preparation for these lessons, I was shocked how many moments in the Bible story are just like laced with food. I mean, they're at the table so often, they're like eating together and having meals and enjoying.

    And of course, it all starts in the very beginning, right? Genesis. Suddenly, these two new humans have been placed into this lush garden full of abundance. And they can eat, and they can flourish, and they can be with each other, and be fruitful and multiply, and all the things that they experience. And then, quickly then, they are protecting themselves and hiding.

    And all the things that have been taken away from them. And they're no longer in God's presence where this great feast and abundance is. it's like presence with God should be this enjoyable moment where they get to be with each other and experience God's amazing abundance.

    Good Parties and Real Hospitality

    Bryan: But what's the difference between a party that's a stinker where you truly feel like you belong and you can let loose and be yourself and one that's just kind of flat?

    Have you ever been to a stinker of a

    Ryan: Many times, and you can only do so much to elevate things by yourself and if you are out of your environment like it's one thing if you are hosting or even like, you know, if somebody comes into the North Church building in some ways I feel almost like a host not that it's a party but like that people come in I am enough in my element that I can try to them in make them feel at home and create, connect or obviously if somebody comes to my house something like that but there are places, situations where everybody is so closed off and it's not your world and you can only do so much you show up at a, say a wedding and you don't really know people that well and everybody is just kinda uncomfortable themselves and yeah, you can't, you can't break through and so you're like, get me out of here what is going on?

    I'm just gonna try to be cordial be appropriate, celebrate with people but nobody actually wants to connect so why would I try to force that on them?

    Bryan: yeah, I totally agree with you. I have this moment where I feel responsible for making a party be a place where people can feel comfortable and things like that. And boy, we're going to talk about it in a little while, but I struggle very personally with the idea of entertaining and how that relates to hospitality.

    I feel like sometimes I have to be the entertainer, right? Like I have to be the one who is coordinating everything, getting everybody together and I just struggle so much with the idea of having to entertain people. And I find it very hard to let loose when I feel like I'm in that hosting position. But yeah, I've been to plenty of parties that actually my least favorite parties if we could get real here with each other my least favorite parties are the ones where like somebody has assigned my seat at the table and they've coordinated activities for me ahead of time.

    I hate those parties. If you want to invite me to those parties, that's awesome. I really appreciate you very much. But like my ideal party is where people can just feel warm and comfortable and you know, talking with each other and sharing life. But you know, if you tell me where to sit and you know, which games I have to play, then okay.

    I mean, I guess that's fine too.

    Ryan: I mean, you sit at a table and whoever you're with especially when there's a depth of relationship they're in with, but even if not that table becomes its own little mini party because this is again the joy of sharing at a table that the Bible talks about a lot I think of Taylor's wedding Taylor and Silas' wedding

    Bryan: Yeah.

    Ryan: you showed up at up in Oregon I think Ryan and Rebecca were there, right?

    and the Goodwins and all these people that we love showing up and you just kinda lose yourself in catching up and enjoying as you're breaking bread together That's a party that I wanna be at, right?

    Bryan: that absolutely was a party. And I love those very much. It is interesting though, we've been talking a little bit here, but let's get specific about it.

    Feasts in Torah and Tabernacle

    Bryan: It's amazing to me how many times throughout the Bible that food is involved in the story. And you know, of course here in Genesis, they're eating from the wrong tree, which I would sort of argue is like kind of the first meal that's, you know, inappropriate or whatever.

    But like as they're booted out of God's presence, the idea there that now God is always trying to bring people back to the table, which is where we'll eventually head in this conversation, I think. But I feel like then you get to passages like well, even like the offerings, right? The peace offerings in Leviticus 7, which was by the way, such a cool offering of all of the offerings that were made, of all the sacrifices that were made.

    This one, you know, was about celebration. It was a whole offering of all about, you know, getting back the meat that you gave and having a party. Like there was a, it said in Leviticus 7 verse 15 that the meat must be eaten on the day it is offered. It's like, yeah, okay, have a barbecue, have a party, like it's time.

    Enjoy yourself. And just that God would command celebration, that he would command these days kind of like, you know, this feast, this almost Sabbath in a way, kind of like arresting from your work and enjoying the community together with your

    Ryan: It's such a cool picture Yeah, there's a lot of offerings that the priests would have but this is the one that the worshipper would offer and it's sometimes called not just the peace offering sometimes, or the shalom but it's a fellowship offer which is another way of understanding this idea You are offering this and enjoying it with the Lord You take it in the presence of the Lord You're connecting with one another and with the God you're worshipping and that becomes a major development not just connection with each other but connection with God and I love your emphasis on celebration I don't know if you had it set aside to talk about we don't need to get into this deep but there was one of the tithes, like a separate tithe that they were setting aside for whenever you needed to have the celebration God is ensuring in His laws you have some money set aside so that when you get to Jerusalem or wherever to have the party you have the provision to make sure you can all celebrate

    Bryan: I hadn't even thought about talking about that, but I do. It is amazing. Like it's like built into the law that you thou shalt party. Pretty much as an instruction from God. I was, when I was pulling out some of these like table references as I was looking through, really fast forward here, we're going to talk about Luke 24 and how Jesus, you know, is made visible or made known to his disciples at a table, which I think is really amazing, but we'll get there.

    I was looking at table references and how many times this concept was brought up, and I was brought back to something that I think I'd pushed out of my mind for a very long time, which was the construction of the tabernacle. And if you'll remember in the construction of the tabernacle, in the holy place, the first room inside of the tent itself, not the most holy place where the ark was, but the room right before that, there was a table there that was always, you know, stocked with bread, warm bread, that was always before the Lord.

    And the idea that the word, I guess that's used there in Hebrew, is literally translated "bread of the face," which I love so much because we also refer to it as the bread of presence. But basically the idea was that this bread was always before the Lord. It was always before his face. And I thought it was so cool thinking about that concept, that God, even in his own worship, designed food to be a part of it, designed this idea that we're in his presence, that we're sharing these things together with him.

    And God has always been about building community, and the "thou shalt" party, and all the laws about festivals and things that he gave, were always about making sure that people were connected with each other, but also, most importantly, with him.

    Ryan: Yeah There's an awesome book, I'll get to you and put it in the show notes that goes through biblical study, biblical theology Leviticus, that argues really well, I think The center and climax of the book of Leviticus is a section where it talks about the lampstand shining on the showbread, the table as the main focus The whole thing is, in a way, about communing with God That's what the tabernacle is, that's what priesthood is that's what the sacrifices are allowing and so the priests who are serving before the Lord and making sure that there's this bread there and of course they're to eat it in a holy place All of this is developing the idea that ultimately God wants to be with you enjoy fellowship with us It'll end at the book of Revelation but one note, one place that you one passage you didn't put in there that I'll just bring up now, we're jumping ahead is in Revelation 3 at the end of the chapter when Jesus is knocking at the door and if anyone lets him in behold I will come in and I'll dine with him If you open the door to Jesus knocking at the door, I'm gonna eat with you What in the world is that about?

    Well it's about what God has always been and Jesus wants to enter It's not about, you know, say a sinner's prayer for him to leave him into your heart It's about he wants to live with you in communion and share with you not just in a work project it's that, not just in a grace project that he's growing you in but in sharing, you know like God shares with himself in the Holy Spirit, he wants to share with us and that's what all of this is about

    Bryan: and of course, there's so many examples. I love the one in Revelation, of course.

    Jesus Eats With Outsiders

    Bryan: But you're talking about Jesus and eating with people, and I think maybe it would be helpful for us to then fast forward in the story as we move to where Jesus is eating with outcasts and sinners. And I mean, the fact that people referenced Jesus and summarized his ministry as if the Son of Man came eating and drinking.

    That's how Jesus would qualify the way that they had all talked about him. Jesus is always eating, and don't we see that? He is very frequently eating with people and sitting at the table with sinners. And that's really the part of this conversation that's so shocking, is that Jesus is eating with sinners.

    And there are so many ways we could take this, but Jesus wasn't just like being nice. He was using these parties to inaugurate his new kingdom, to inaugurate the fact that he, as the king, was going to welcome these people back to the table. This was the start of something really important. And this would have been completely shocking at the time, right?

    That Jesus, the king, would have been eating with these sinners. And even just like, not him being the king, but like, you didn't eat with people who were below your status. Like, whoever you ate with, whoever you spent your time with, you know, gift-giving and all of these other things, had such a tight correlation with your social rank and status.

    And for Jesus to eat with these sinners was obviously the reason why the Pharisees were so shocked. Like, doesn't he know who these people are and what they've done? And I love that Jesus is flipping the table on whatever's going on here. I don't know. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yes.

    Ryan: Yeah, that's a really neat point about the honor/shame act, who you're bringing to table you think of the parables, inviting go into all the, off the beaten road bring in all the criminals the poor, the outcasts and with the Pharisees, there's this idea of fellowship in the covenant community who you eat with says who is accepted, who you consider your people and Jesus is saying, they're with me I'm with them, you know this is what is so shocking about the Pharisees Jesus is, in some ways most like the Pharisees in his outward lifestyle and his mission and his holiness and that kind of thing, at least they're teaching the importance of holiness and saying it's important and outwardly doing this of course, it makes them of their hypocrisy so many twisted up things that they have gotten up on, but they're kind of viewing him Simon invites Jesus as a Pharisee he invites Jesus to come and eat with him he's saying, you're one of us, you're one of mine but Jesus says, you know, this woman that's behind me, watching me, he's one, I'm with her and you actually are part of the issue so, you know, we talk in the church sometimes about table fellowship from the standpoint of not just of the Lord's Supper but of 1 Corinthians 5 2 Thessalonians, that you will not even eat whenever someone has rebelled against the faith in an ongoing lifestyle while they are saying they are Christian trying to identify among us, there's a point where they continue on, we have to say we can't invite you to the table and every hour of

    the whole, and yet Jesus is using the table as a moment a place to invite others into transformation, and so it becomes this powerful place, and I think you even said something like this in your notes, like as an evangelism tool, like a place for

    Bryan: Well, and you talk about that, like, it just struck me that how much Jesus, like, he aligned with the Pharisees morally, but he would, they hated him so much. But like, he was so out of sync morally with the people he was eating with at the table, but they loved him so much. And like, just the flip there of how Jesus related to people that were just so different than him.

    And yet he used that as these moments to really teach them and guide them and shepherd them and as he would talk about be a physician to them and heal them. And I love, I love that picture of just the best, you know, relating to the least. And I don't know, it was also making me think of Philemon and Onesimus' story, how shocking it would have been for, and I think it's why Paul is having to even deal with this in the first place.

    It's like, here it is a master and a slave relationship, and yet these guys are welcome at the same table? I mean, they're welcome to be together and, you know, in Christ's eyes, there's, none of them are better than the other one. Like, for this to be the relationship that we now have, it just changes the game so much.

    And for Jesus, for us to see that this is what Jesus was coming to do is to bring us back and to be, to be the one who welcomes us to the table and we come and fellowship with him and fellowship with each other is just such a blessing. I mean, like, this is the gift, right? This is grace that we even have this opportunity, given who we are and what we've done.

    Ryan: think of Galatians 2, and Paul straightening Peter out because he won't eat with other Christians, but they're Gentiles and there's some variance it seems, in how different views of that time would draw the lines how much association they would have with Giles but Peter's a very strict Jewish guy coming up, you know, never touched anything unclean, and yet here, even after the conversion of Cornelius, he's struggling at the same table with these Gentile believers who have turned their whole lives over to Christ, who he has helped convert probably you know what I mean, he is part of the leadership group that they are following and it just shows you how unique and special the table is as this expression of fellowship and of sharing, that no, I've gotta make, gotta create a distance is saying, and Paul has to confront it, this isn't something he can let slide, because the whole gospel is at stake in seeing the incongruity of God's grace is not in well, this group deserves it and this group doesn't, it's in all of us so far away from deserving it, that we just see each other as, we've used the metaphor before as a bunch of beggars telling each other where you can find bread, you know we are just all so overwhelmingly out of our class in eating at God's table that I have no

    Acts 2 and Church at Home

    Ryan: right to not invite somebody else, yeah

    Bryan: I don't know, can I throw a hot take in here? Middle of the lesson here, but I

    Ryan: a while since we had a hot

    Bryan: oh, nah, here we go. So, I think sometimes we as more, I'll say, conservatively-minded Christians, take that for whatever you want. We have placed a very specific role on acts of worship and what we do when we're collected together.

    And one of those things has historically not been table fellowship that doesn't involve the Lord's Supper. Like, it's just taking the Lord's Supper together and that's what we do as part of worship. And we maybe look at, churches or other places that may make their gatherings into a more social environment negatively.

    But I think Jesus wants us to see that we don't, we don't fulfill what the kingdom was designed to be without our own personal tables. And I go to Acts 2 to see the response of the early church with each other and to each other. Like, the way that they were so physically connected to each other in the early church after they gave their lives to Christ, they were baptized, they come up out of the waters and what do they do?

    They're eating with each other. They're fellowshiping with each other in their homes. They're with each other selling their possessions, yes, and doing all these things to support those who were needy among them. But they were like day by day, house to house, in each other's homes. And that, for me, cannot be pushed out of what we define our churches as because we're uncomfortable with the idea of it or something like that.

    Like, that has to be who we are as the church, as people, who open up our homes and connect with people over meals. That's what Jesus did. And like, I think my point in the lesson that I gave was that it was not, like, the early church was not enacting some like, really clever church growth strategy by opening up their homes.

    All they were doing was following the example of Jesus. And that's what discipleship is, right? It's just going about doing the things Jesus did. And he ate with people, we eat with people. He welcomed outsiders to his table, and we welcome outsiders to our table. Like, it is what we should be about. And I think, when you talk about evangelism tools, that was one of the things, I know and I'm certain of it, that was one of the things that helped the early church to grow.

    And we can put a lot of asterisks and caveats on, like, oh well, let's not, you know, the social gospel and all these other things. I get that. But like, the table is so important when it comes to what we can do for the world.

    Ryan: and we've talked before about, you know let's not put too hard of a break between evangelism bipoly, like making bibles, that's the whole goal and it continues on after after somebody's baptized, it's not like okay, good job, go and do likewise it's the process is basically the same, you're bringing people closer to Jesus constantly, and that happens at the table, that was happening in Acts 2, Acts 2 6, we see it, but you know, throughout the bible and this is where in my life, good stuff happens, like this is where we talk about meet with a young couple and talk about marriage or think through somebody who's struggling with evidence I really believe

    in or whatever, like helping people grow or just the fun conversations, like what we were having this is what happens at a table with Christians, you know, whether that's you're inviting somebody over or you're somebody for lunch or you're at a potluck or you're whatever, like this is this is life together and it is ongoing about edifying one another, whether that's by me listening to you and your troubles and mourning with you, laughing with you, helping you think through some theological issue I mean it all gets mapped together and I'm not, yeah, it isn't a question, we're not

    as a collective or anything the point is, if this is not part of what we are equipping the church to do and seeing as part of Christ's vision for the church then we are not reading Acts 2 well and Acts, you know, this whole picture of what early Christianity was, because there is not much detail about the early church given Luke's history here of the early church but he goes out of his way again and again to talk about two different kinds of breaking, breaking bread at the sacred table of Christ where we are remembering him and breaking bread every day ongoingly, constantly as we share our lives.

    laughs

    Bryan: And boy, this is why you're on this podcast, because I throw a hot take out there and you just, like, polish it up all nicely. That's what I was trying to say. And I think it's so good that, you know, we can just lean into the idea that the table is important. It was important all the way back from the beginning, all the way to the end of the Bible, and it's important throughout all of what we see the early church doing.

    Mindfulness and Gratitude

    Bryan: And I think, you know, they didn't have the problem that we have today, but I think one of the big challenges that we have today, especially, is, like, we are the most connected generation, I think, than has ever been. When I preached this lesson for the very first time, there was somebody on the front row, had a phone, and some...one of the brothers who was in the hospital, laying in a hospital bed, was doing a Zoom, and was able to listen to the lesson, like, there while we were...I was basically preaching this lesson to a guy miles away, who was able to tune in remotely.

    Like, we are so connected through technology, through all the means that we have at our disposal, but I think we are probably one of the loneliest generations that's ever existed, because we just... this idea of community and being with each other is so elusive to us now, that we can hide behind our phones, we can hide behind our avatars, and our, like, social media presence, and our, like, perfectly curated lives that we put out there.

    And I know there's been a lot of stuff said about this, but you were just talking about it, right? A bunch of people sitting around at the table, staring at their phones, texting each other, or texting other people while they're in each other's presence. It is a real problem that we have to deal with, and I don't think you can be truly at the table and disconnected in that way.

    Like, there's something about being in each other's physical presence that helps us to remove the veil and drop the show and just be real with each other, because we don't get to polish ourselves, or, like, curate that experience in the ways that we do with technology.

    Ryan: really, that's another hot take I think I mean maybe, maybe like you said, it's been said before but we're so connected and yet so disconnected and then putting into that understood problem here's a, here's a way of dealing with that eat together, like so basic, but it is biblical, it is really, really all through the Bible and maybe part of the story of what is so special that happens, takes us back from the place where you started in Genesis and this abundance that God provides and then trying to find something else that is not what God's providing and then seeing in this picture we were talking about, about coming to the table of grace and God's blessing and what do we do before we break bread?

    What does Jesus take it to where, where I think you're going next, uh what does Jesus do before he breaks bread as the father at a table, a Jewish table would do, actually breaking a loaf? First you give thanks, this is a place where we together gratefully enjoy God's blessing to sustain our lives as we recognize that he's the one who brings the good stuff and we enjoy the other part of that

    Bryan: We talk about mindfulness a lot in our conversations. I think it's, like, maybe one of the buzzwords of the podcast, or at least it has been over the years. And that is the idea here, really. It's just being aware of each other, being open to each other, being vulnerable with each other. But being mindful of God's blessing is such a helpful and how better can you be mindful of that than to eat and enjoy?

    And, like, that is the blessing of food, right? That's the blessing of what God has given us. That's why food was such a part of His worship. I mean, early on, like, in tabernacle worship, in our worship today, I mean, the Lord's Supper, taking that meal together that Jesus demonstrated for us, there's a reason why food is at the center of what we do, because it helps us remember that God is the one who blesses.

    I mean, the Lord's Prayer, right? It's baked into the Lord's Prayer. "Give us this day our daily bread," right? Pun intended, man. He baked it. But I just feel like if you can see the blessing that God is constantly pouring out into your life, that gratitude just changes the game. It changes how we live in deep ways, and it connects us with each other in ways that, like, we all just know.

    We know what it's like to sit at a table with people and eat. And that's, like, the fundamental foil that we use in, like, getting together. It's like, "What are we gonna do? Well, we're gonna eat. Okay, sign me up. I'll be there."

    Ryan: we were watching, Adrian and I were watching, but

    it's just a basic show about a doctor and um, has moved to um, Maine and all week long they're talking about this uh, meal, well you gotta have the baked bean supper, gotta have the baked bean supper baked bean supper is what, it's what I look forward to all month, every month, you get together every month, the whole town gets together for a baked bean supper, and then they're sitting down and they're eating together and one of the ladies says to the main character to around it, and it's like, it's not about a delicious brown bread, it's about the bean connection, the food is a blessing you enjoy together food is, love food, but, to share food together is a fundamental human experience, that, about, I've been talking about the Agar episode, about being,

    being loved, being able to be yourself and where you started with the stinky party versus like the good party, is where you're sitting at, you know, a dumb baked bean, you know, town supper but everybody is, um, sharing life and stopping everything else the business of life, just to enjoy some,

    Bryan: Yeah.

    Luke 24 Eyes Opened

    Bryan: And that's really where we're headed here. The whole lesson that I had was really focused on this passage, Luke 24. And we know it. We've talked about it at length, you know, many times here on the podcast. But Luke 24, as Jesus is raised from the dead, he is appearing to these two disciples who have no clue who he is.

    It's the most amazing story. But Jesus teaches them on the road, and he talks to them, and their hearts are burning within their chest, and they're like... But they still... I love the point. That they still don't know who he is through his teaching. And, like, I made the point in my sermon that, like, a great sermon is awesome, but it's not the whole story.

    And Jesus was not made visible to them. Their eyes had not been yet opened just because he taught. Their eyes were opened after he took the bread, he blessed it, he broke it, and he gave it to them. Four really important verbs that throw all the way back, like you were saying, to the institution of the Lord's Supper.

    He took it, he blessed it, he broke it, he gave it, and then their eyes were opened. And then he disappears, which is my favorite part of the story. But, you know, that all happened at the table. That all happened when they were together with each other, right across sharing this intimate moment with each other, and that's when they knew who he was.

    And so, like, it takes both. It takes Jesus knowing about him, and being taught by him, and sitting at his feet, and our hearts burning when we hear him. But it takes a presence with him. It takes being back to the table with him, and in a relationship with him. That both of those combined let us see what this is really all about.

    [laughter]

    Ryan: you are blowing my mind here this is, that, that preaches right there what you just said, that is so good I mean I've read this passage so many times I love it so much, as, as you know and he opened to us, the scripture and our hearts were burning within us, but our our eyes weren't open until we sat down and ate with, going back to Revelation 3, is not about a literal meal that they had, they had a literal meal with it, but, about fellowship, like the point, the scriptures are amazing to get who he is through the scriptures amazing, but that is not the point, the point is to get through the scriptures, being, knowing him, being with him,

    Bryan: I had this picture in my sermon, which I really loved. It was basically Eve handing Adam the fruit in the garden, and then it was Jesus' hand handing bread to the other disciples, side by side with each other, and it just had the words, "Their eyes were opened."

    Because that's Genesis 3, right? This language of what's going on here is the language of Genesis 3. And Luke is throwing all the way back to that story, saying that, like, when their eyes were opened in the garden, they saw their shame, they saw their nakedness, they ran from God's presence, and now these two disciples, sitting at the table with Jesus, see grace, and they see the restoration of this new relationship, and then of course they see Jesus vanish, which was pretty cool, too.

    But I just love that point, that their eyes were opened and it happened at the table.

    Ryan: love it, that is so good, yeah, it's it's a reversal, the op, the opposite of your eyes being open to him and you fully seeing evil and making all that they had revealed to them in that moment, it's not to close your eyes it's to

    Revelation 19 Marriage Supper

    Ryan: have your eyes more fully open to the grace, gift, presence of God that he

    Bryan: So, you know, we're taking a giant sweep through the Bible, so let's end it in Revelation 19, where we see this great marriage, Supper of the Lamb. And of course, if that's what this is all about, I view it from the lens of, like, it's a rehearsal for what we're going to do. Just like singing, you know, when we sing together, that's a rehearsal for the singing we're gonna do in the Lord's presence for all eternity.

    When we're together with each other and enjoying these meals, this is like a rehearsal, that we're going to eventually be involved in this great marriage supper someday, at the end of all things. And I don't know, I feel like maybe it's like, "Woohoo, put my Birkenstocks on," but boy, I just, like, love the thought that the table is where God does some of his most amazing work.

    And how much do we even think about the power that our tables can have, like our physical kitchen tables can have, in changing people's lives?

    Ryan: the idea of the messianic banquet, going all the way back to Isaiah, that this is what Christ comes to bring, is threaded through all of the gospel, Jesus whenever he talks about heaven, talks about, you know eating, this is what it's gonna be like when you're eating, Jacob and Abraham, and you know, the, the miracles of feeding the five thousand, you know, the multitude are calling back to that this is a sign that this messianic Lord's Supper, of course, fellowship, that it's restoring, and all of this is directing, or, there aren't many things that God uses metaphorically, tell us, what the perfection that we have toward,

    Bryan: Yeah.

    Ryan: you know it's kinda like, paradise, like, city but it's a different kind of city, in the garden the city, also a lot like a, where you sit down with, and you celebrate, that this marriage, holy, and, that is really helpful to understand this, why God keeps coming back, we didn't talk about this but I taught a class, last year I think, or maybe two years ago, where we did a biblical theology, I just every class took a section of scripture start with the penitent, where are all the passages in these first five books about table fellowship, eating together, hospitality, okay, now into the history books, and we went all the way through the Bible doing that, and just saying, okay, let's read all the passes, what do we learn from them, and it was amazing, first of all, how many passages, it's every, it's everywhere but also, how theologically rich, this idea of eating together is, like you, I grew up with a very intentional divide made, between eating, serving God and, I'm not saying anybody was teaching it that way,

    Bryan: Right.

    Ryan: but it was implicit that there was something that had to be separate out, and so it was really helpful for me to understand, the whole thing is about fellowship with God that is seen, maybe mostly, in some way

    Hospitality Without Performance

    Bryan: And maybe this clears up some of the notions about hospitality, right? As you think about it from this deep lens, like, it totally changes what hospitality is. It's not about a performance, it's not about putting on a show or anything, like, that makes you look good, because that's not the goal. The goal of hospitality is making people feel warm and welcome, and making people feel like I want to feel when God invites me to the table through Christ.

    Like, that's how I want to feel, and I want to make other people feel that way, too. And so, entertainment can sometimes feel like a big burden. I know, man, if you're like my wife, who I love her to death, but boy, you know, she is very focused on, like, making sure things are clean and in order, and getting, you know, making sure that there's no dog hair anywhere, and I'm on the other side of the spectrum there, I suppose, like, you know, suck it up, buttercup, like, there's dog hair everywhere, are you?

    The door is open, though, come on in, like, enjoy

    Ryan: yep,

    that's what creates those good party,

    Bryan: Yeah,

    Ryan: is, it

    Bryan: hair. Yes, the dog hair creates the good parties. I

    Ryan: [laughing]

    Bryan: with you, for sure.

    Ryan: we went from dandruff to dog hair, you know but, but, I was talking to the a couple about this last night, as I know we're wrapping up here, but, um, we had this couple over, that, that I'm gonna be, um, initiating a marriage ceremony long from now, and they were saying what they want their home to be, think, we were, Adrienne and I were thinking through with them, how are you going to set up your life, so you're serving, scripture, prayer conversations with each other, serving in the church hospitality, are part of it, they talked about you know, we don't want anything to be intentional, cozy imperfect,

    so that whenever people come over, they're going, wow, that's pretty wise for a young couple, and that is it's, it's cabin life, and it's simple stuff, it's not entertaining people, like, you know, I mean, entertaining as a, both in the idea of making everything fun and amusement or in the idea of making everything like Martha Stewart perfect, it is about implicit of that together, the way God blesses, and it's even better when everybody a dish, because that's how life is, that's how the church is, potluck of following the

    Bryan: It's the pitch-in of believers. The

    pitch-in.

    Ryan: he has been converted to Indiana terminology

    Bryan: Man, there's a whole conversation around that.

    Weekly Challenge and Farewell

    Bryan: Okay, so, maybe a challenge for this week, and I could take it on, I think everybody can take it on. Identify somebody who you only interact with abstractly, you know, someone who you, like, keep at a distance, maybe you text them, or you talk to them over social media, but if you can, if it's possible for you, invite them over for a meal sometime in the next week or so.

    And again, it's not about entertaining, it's just about using what you've got in the most simple way you can to make people feel safe and known, and to enjoy this fellowship at the table that I think we see so often throughout the Bible. I've appreciated this conversation if for no other reason than just, it's not one I hear a lot of people having, and maybe this has been out of left field for you if you're listening to this, but I hope it's resonated with you in some deeper ways that this is what this whole thing is all about, being back at the table with our God.

    Ryan: Amen, and even when we come together this week with the Lord's people first day of the week, take bread and the divine will, bring some deeper resonance to understand, not just that we're remembering but that we're communing with him laughs

    Bryan: Yeah. One last thing from Luke 24 that I'll just bring up, if you don't have a home, also, get real good at inviting yourself over to other people's houses. That's also part of the challenge you can take on. Jesus did a great job with that, with these two disciples, like "I'm coming over!" Okay!

    Ryan: never had a home, he was always showing up

    Bryan: home, for sure.

    Alright, everyone, thanks so much for tuning in to the Bible Geeks podcast. You can find us on our website at biblegeeks.fm. You can find show notes for this episode in your podcast player, or you know, on our website as well. And lots of stuff going on in the upcoming weeks here. We're going to be talking about Romans 7, a whole bunch of stuff here in the future.

    Love it if you'd tune in for that conversation as well. And until the next episode, everyone, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

    Ryan: shalom

 
Ryan Joy & Bryan Schiele
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