One of the lessons of this table is that God is not petty. God never loses a sense of proportion. Here God sets a table of grace for the world. And He says, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is. 55:1).
And the thing to notice here is that God says this to people who have stolen money from Him, have cursed Him, and spent all their money on prostitutes and reckless living. Your Father in Heaven is the Father in the parable of the prodigal. He is looking down the road for all the prodigals, for any who come knowing their sin, and He is eager to throw a party. He is preparing a fatted calf for those who have no money, for those who have squandered His grace.
The older brother in the parable is the petty one, and please note carefully that he was the good one. He stayed home. He didn’t squander his father’s inheritance, and yet in the end, He was angry and excluded himself from his father’s joy. But the father’s joy is for both kinds of sons, prodigals and petty perfectionists.
We come to this table every week, but it’s possible to come and yet not really come. It’s possible to eat and drink, but not feast on Christ. It’s possible to come and not enter into the joy of the Lord. But that is what is set before you now: the joy of Christ; your Father’s joy. It’s the kind of joy that runs to meet foolish sinners and welcome them come. It’s the kind of joy that puts a new robe on your rags, a ring on your filthy finger, kills the fatted calf, and hires a band for dancing.
Do you see? Do you understand? Your Father is full of mercy, full of grace. So lay your petty grievances down. Let them go. Stop fussing about what he said or she said or did and just come. Come to the feast. Come into the party. Come into the joy.
Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Ardian Lumi on Unsplash
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