Rev. Dr. Neil Thomas

Our Scripture today invites the question of how we respond in the face of the chairs and tables left empty—left empty by flippant excuses, left empty by severed relationships, left empty by death. How does our grief and sadness, our anger and mourning transform us? How does it reshape us, those empty expected responses that may try to fill those spaces left empty in our lives; that may try to put a BandAid over our wounded pride, or broken hearts? How can the table transform us toward something more, something expansive, something unexpected? More than anything, though, this passage for today is all about the realm of God—the great banquet of eternity to which we all have an invitation. It picks up on themes found throughout Scripture, story after story telling of God’s lavish generosity, liberality, and extravagance. Of weddings and banquets, dedications, and offerings. And in Christ, of God showing that extravagant goodness and mercy like no other. Tangibly, walking through landscapes, teaching on hillsides, sitting at table, and breaking bread to show—to demonstrate—the breadth of God’s love, the extravagance of God’s welcome.