Getting to Know the Family

How large is this table?  It is large enough to seat everyone, across time and space, who calls Jesus Lord.  But right now, at this table, only four are seated here.  In another sense, this particular table serves as many as can fit in this room, as many as there are filled cups of juice here.

We read Jesus saying "This is my body, given for you."  YOU.  Was he just talking to the Twelve?  In that immediate moment, perhaps.  But we believe He was also speaking to His followers through the centuries, that He was speaking to us.

In John, Jesus said, "Now you are my friends."  Who was He talking to there?  Again, we find a legitimate way to say He was talking to us.  But He meant the words, in a slightly different sense, for the Twelve.  And in an even deeper sense, He meant it for the Three.  At an even deeper level, He called the beloved disciple Friend.

This is not the only table Jesus invites you to.  I say today what I have said, only half-joking, for years: Christianity is a food-based religion.  The Master who calls me to this table is the Frirend who calls me to your table, and you to my family's table.  Our union with Christ, celebrated in this sacrament, can not flourish and thrive unless we talk, visit, and eat with each other.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus could not be close friends with everyone He met.  But He had His Twelve, His Three, His One.  As you consider this table, gathered around it with your extended family, ask yourself how many of them you really, deeply know.  When you go home, open your Hopwood directory and start calling.  Call people you don't know.  Call me.  You can't know everyone here at the deepest levels.  But you can look for, and find, your Twelve, your Three, your One.

I need you.  We need each other.  As Tim said in a recent sermon, Christ is counting on you.  Reach out, and get to know the family that joins you at this table.