|
Psalm 23 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. 3 He revives my soul and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake. 4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; 5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; 6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We’ll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen. |
Setting the Table
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of officiating at worship services at nursing homes. Especially when Holy Eucharist was part of the service, those gatherings gave me greater clarity about my own call to ministry and about the power of the sacraments.
Often the worshippers in those congregations battled dementia. Let’s just say that I wasn’t sure my brilliant homiletic points were having much effect. But I found that when I wove Psalm 23 into the liturgy, as maybe the most well known psalm of all, even worshippers in some other world could recite the words, a witness to the power of holy writ.
You may have heard this psalm in church yesterday. It’s printed above. I invite you to reflect on it this week and to try to do so as if you’d not heard it before.
I tried that this past week, and focused on the phrase “You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me.” It reminded me of another verse from the psalms, one often read on Ash Wednesday. As the children of Israel wander in the desert, seemingly quite lost, they ask: “Can God set a table in the wilderness?” I love the bit in the story of the exodus when the children of Israel tell Moses they would prefer to go back and be slaves because the table was set for them in Egypt with cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic. (It does sound kind of delicious.)
Whether we find ourselves in some version of the wilderness, or whether our lives unfold in the presence of those who trouble us, here’s a question we might want to ask: Is God able to meet us there? Is God able to provide for us there? To set a table for us?
These days, we certainly may feel that our lives unfold in the presence of those who trouble us. General anxiety in this political season is one place that can happen. I suspect we all have situations in life, in family, at work that place us in proximity to people who make our lives difficult. Maybe we would wish for miraculous deliverance, the nearest exit. A favorite cartoon shows a business man with attache case standing in some desolate, mountainous place. The headline of the cartoon: A voice cries in the wilderness. The man is screaming: Get me out of the wilderness!
The witness of scripture is that it is precisely in the place of challenge that the table is set for us, where we can find nourishment. Can we claim that promise? Have you ever had that experience? Our faith is put to the test as we are called to believe that can happen. I can only attest to the number of stories (biblical and more contemporary) of faithful people who have sensed peace and provision in the most challenging places.
And if we can join the psalmist in affirming the gift of a table set for us, that’s just the beginning. Let me repeat what I cited last week from Bishop Henry Parsley: What is given is given to be given again. If Teresa of Avila was right (and she was pretty smart), Christ has no hands or feet on earth but ours. We are invited, indeed challenged to extend that holy hospitality to those we meet. To set the table for them, in Jesus’ name.
Sometimes the secular world teaches us how to do that. On my “religious” bookshelf, I keep a copy of Danny Meyer’s book, Setting the Table. Mr. Meyer is a remarkably successful restaurateur. I have no idea if he has any religious affiliation, but he has taught me as much about hospitality as any church program. Funny how learning comes from unexpected sources. As a quite successful businessman, he has made hospitality his guiding light. In the introduction to his book, he writes: “What really challenges me to get up and go to work every day…is my deep conviction about the intense human drive to provide and receive hospitality- well beyond the world of restaurants. Within moments of being born, most babies find themselves receiving the first four gifts of life: eye contact, a smile, a hug, and some food…That first time may be the purest hospitality transaction we’ll ever have, and it’s not much of a surprise that we’ll crave those gifts for the rest of our lives.”
I could quote more but it’s Monday morning and you’ve got a day ahead. The point is that God is all about hospitality, setting a table for us, even in the most challenging experience, then calling us to do that for others, in a world of wilderness. How has the table been set for you? How will you set the table for those you meet this week?
–Jay Sidebotham
