“So there is this table.
It’s a simple table but its well made, because it was made by a carpenter. The guy who made it is a poor man, but he’s generous. He offers a place at the table to anyone who wants to sit and eat. This is a table that started in one place but now it can stretch down every street, and it can go into every home, if people will sit there.
It’s a table for meeting. It’s a table for talking around. It’s a table for laughing. Most of all it’s a table for eating. It’s a level table. Maybe it’s not a round table. Maybe it’s a square table, so that people can look directly at one another as they sit there. Can look each other in the eye as they sit there. Beside the poor man who made it.
But it’s not a high table. You don’t have to qualify to sit there. It’s for anyone. And the poor man sits there, and where ever people sit, he sits beside them. You can sit there too, with the poor man, and look across the table, at people you like and at people you don’t like, at people who agree with you and at people who disagree with you.
Sometimes it’s a table for thumping. Sometimes it’s a table for making peace. Always the poor man sits beside you. Yes most of all it’s a table for eating.
You can’t eat alone at this table. You can’t buy a meal at this table. You can’t buy a ticket to sit there. Anyone can sit here.”
The Table, Paul Bayes
Sermon Resources:
- The Table by Paul Bayes
- The history of the catacombs - Bread and Fish Eucharist article
- 1982 Washington Post article detailing apartheid and the South African Dutch Reformed Church
Artwork
Image 1- Artist: Duccio, di Buoninsegna, d. 1319
Image 2: Artist: Elaine Harrison
Image 3: Artist Peter Max
