The Table | Week 4, Day 1

by

The Wedding Supper of the Lamb

Lisa Scheffler, author

The table was set and all the side dishes were ready. My husband cut into the Thanksgiving turkey that we’d worked all day on. It was bright pink and completely raw in the middle. I burst into tears. He immediately tried to console me, “It’s okay, honey, we’ll just cook it longer.” I appreciated his words, but it wasn’t really about the turkey.

First of all, I was nine months pregnant. My stomach was huge, my feet were swollen, and I felt more like a butterball than the turkey. My son was due any day, so we couldn’t go to Houston to be with the rest of my extended family.

There was more. As I looked through my tears at those seated at the table — at my mother in law, father in law, mom and two young kids — there was one face that was missing. A week earlier we’d buried my dad. We were all trying to make the best of it by doing some normal things like cooking a turkey on Thanksgiving. It was a valiant effort, but there’s no papering over grief that raw. So no, my crying had very little to do with the undercooked turkey sitting on my table.

A few days later my son was born, and he was perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes, and strong enough to hold his head up right out of the womb. We were so happy. There was so much joy at his birth. So there we were one week after the turkey incident, gathered around the table once again, celebrating my son’s homecoming over a casserole provided by wonderful neighbors. But we still felt the loss. Our son wouldn’t know his Pop this side of heaven.

If you’ve lived enough life, you know that it’s sometimes like that — the highs and the lows served at the same meal. Sometimes the best and worst sit side by side on the table. As much as we might want it, no one sweeps away all the bad, so we can only taste the good. At least, not yet.

For the last few weeks we’ve been talking a lot about tables. We’ve seen how Scripture tells the story of the tables God sets for us where he offers us his presence, provision, and peace. We’ve challenged ourselves to set tables for others and invite them to experience his abundance. But all these tables just point us to the ultimate table — the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, where all of God’s family will gather and we will celebrate the union of Christ and his bride. At last, all the bad will be swept away, and elation will never again be soured by grief. We’ll savor only joy.

This week we’ll look forward to that heavenly meal and think about how to invite others to it. Because not only will we all experience this feast together in the future, by the power of the Spirit, we can enjoy a taste of it right now.

    Day 1

    Our key passage this week will be Revelation 19:6–9, and our key verse is verse 9. Let’s just focus on it today.

    Read

    Revelation 19:9

    Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

    Who is described as blessed in this verse?

    Reflect

    The wedding banquet depicted in Revelation is a celebration of all of God’s promises coming to fruition. Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, will also be a victorious warrior over the forces that torment humanity. Evil, death, and sin will be vanquished. All of God’s family will come together in peace and enjoy his presence.

    For the last several weeks we’ve reflected on how God’s table is open. Because of Christ, God welcomes everyone to join the family meal regardless of ethnicity, nationality, class, or background. We have the privilege of sharing the good news of Jesus with others around tables right now, so they can experience life in the Spirit right now. Those who place their trust in him in this life are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb at the end of days. Because of Jesus we are forgiven and made new. As the Bridegroom, he will bring his bride, the church, home, to live with him forever.

    In a word, we are blessed. And if we doubt that, we have the word of an angel to reassure us — these are the true words of God. Even though we will experience hard times and suffering in this life, we will find only abundance and joy at God’s eternal table. What’s more, we can find a foretaste of that joy here and now. We don’t have to wait for heaven.

    For the last few weeks we’ve been unpacking our new vision here at Christ Fellowship: to reduce loneliness, anxiety, and addiction by having meaningful conversations where people experience Christ through us. We’ve talked about how we can gather around tables with all kinds of people to connect and share the love of Christ. This is a vision that meets people with God’s mercy, compassion, grace, and wisdom in the difficult times they face now, and gives them hope of gathering around God’s heavenly table in the future.

    All who receive the invitation are blessed. Let’s share the gospel with people who don’t know Jesus, so they can join us at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Let’s walk with people as they deal with life’s hardships now, in anticipation of the glory that is to come.

    Respond

    • How does God allow us a foretaste of the joy to come right now? How can you praise him for those moments?
    • How can you be present for someone who is going through a difficult season? Without being trite, or falling back on clichés, how can you encourage them to put their hope in the blessings that are to come?