A seat at the table.
In the summer of 1945 my great great grandmother, Agnes Isom, was doing what she did every Sunday afternoon, setting the table for family lunch.
It was a tradition with the family to head back to her house for lunch after church.
1945 was a time in history when our world was at war and 5 of her 11 children were fighting on behalf of our country.
Of the 60 million American soldiers sent to war, 5 of them belonged to Agnes Isom.
She had received word a few months prior that one of her sons, Neil Isom, had gone missing in action during the battle of the buldge. Nobody knew where he was better yet, if he was dead or alive.
Neil’s wife was pregnant (or so I’m told) when he left for war and his son, Doug, had never met his father. He knew of him only from pictures he saw and the stories he heard of the man that his father was.
This time for the Isom family was challenging, living in a place of limbo, wondering if their loved one would ever come home.
But, inevitably, every Sunday, My great great Grandmother, Agnes would set the table for lunch and would include a spot for Neil. As the story goes, she was the only one who truly believed he was still alive.
But in the summer of 1945, the family sat down to have Sunday lunch like they always did. Every place was set and everyone at the table except for Neil.
While the family feasted, little Doug, a toddler at the time, ran to the screen door and looked out to the road. He turned to the family, “That’s my Daddy. My Daddy is home!”
In disbelief the family nodded and laughed to hold back the heartbreak that his daddy would probably never be coming home.
Doug yells out again, “My Daddy is home! My Daddy is home!”
This time, a man in an army uniform walks to the screen door and says, “what’s country boy gotta do to get some lunch around here?”
The family turned only to see their Son, brother, husband, and father, Neil, standing on the porch.
If I am guessing in my mind, the welcome home party was filled with many tears and screams, rejoicing and praise that the son that had been missing for so long was finally home. Home just in time for Sunday lunch.
The best part of all was that he didn’t have to pull up an extra chair, grab a fork or extra plate,
no… Neil already had a seat at the table.
A seat set just for him. A plate, a cup, fork, knife. Just for him and no one else.
Nobody cared about the story or the journey that got him home, they just cared that home was where he landed.
This story sets the tone of the gospel so well for me.
Telling me that there is a one true God who placed me on this earth believing the best in me, who sets a place at the table for me, and waits for me to come home. He believes I’ll come home. Maybe when nobody else will. Maybe when the rest of the world doesn't think I have a shot of finding my way back, He still believes in me.
He awaits me to take and eat. To feast. To screw up. To get lost. To try again. To fail again. To go missing. it awaits me.
I have a seat at the table.
And so did Judas.
So did peter.
The table is set.
The placemat.
The plate
The cup.
Today I remember, that when I see that plate and cup He remembers me.
Even when I don't remember him. He remembers me when maybe nobody else does.
You have a seat at the table.
You are remembered and valued and known beyond what you have ever known or fathomed.
Your friend who doesn't act like the friend you remembered them to be, has a seat too.
The child that has chosen a life outside what you hoped for them, has a seat too.
The co-worker who makes your life unbearably harder than it has to be, has a seat too.
The mother or father who left a legacy of pain in your life, has a seat too.
The spouse who cant seem to be the person you feel in love with, has a seat too.
The neighbor who has wounded you and caused grief instead of joy, has a seat too.
He, God the Father, sets a place for us. All of us. He's ready for us to come home. To look out and yell out, “You’re home, You’re Home! My Daughter, My Son is home!”
Because His nature believes the best. His nature is love. His nature calls us to love and reconciliation, to peace and harmony, to grace and forgiveness.
He awaits our belief, our road to Him, our mistakes and our long Journey.
He awaits us with a place set at the table. To welcome us back home to feast upon the grace He so generously has extended to us all.
Today,as you walk through your everyday habits, thank Holy Spirit that He is with us. That we are chosen and loved and waited on. Ask for guidance this week to make the most of the life He has handed us.
Think about the person in your life that needs Him most. Picture their spot at the table. Ask Holy Spirit for an intervention, a reconciliation, forgiveness, love or understanding. That those we know that need the grace, love, passion and power of Jesus Christ in their lives will find their way to the table of mercy. If God can find Paul on the road to Damascus, He can find any one. He is much bigger and more capable than we think. Think of the person who needs Him, picture their seat at the table and in faith partner with holy spirit on behalf of their journey.
May all of us know that no matter how hard our journey home may be, we have a seat at the table.