Often, with a special occasion like Thanksgiving, there is some rearranging around the table to make room for everyone. There is furniture that gets relocated and people may sit more closely to each other than usual. We are happy to do this because we are glad to be together. We want people to feel welcome and cared about. I wonder how willing we are in our everyday lives to make adjustments to create space for others. Do we become so settled in our usual routines that we are reluctant to rearrange or do things differently in order that someone else can experience the love of God through us? This is something that we can bring to God in prayer. We can ask God to widen our vision to see and respond to the needs of others with compassion. Consider the Scripture from Matthew 22:9 where Jesus is telling the parable or story with a lesson of The Wedding Banquet. When several who have been invited by the king to the banquet come up with a variety of excuses for not attending, the king (representing God) urges, “Go to the street corners and invite anyone you find.” The usual guests at Thanksgiving dinner are family and close friends. We do go out of our way for those we know and love the most. God invites us to extend beyond our comfortable relationships to create space and to make room in our hearts for each person that he intends to love through us. This will be the focus of our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow October 12th at 1 pm. Please join us.
Grateful that God welcomes all to his table, Pastor Lola
Our God, we thank You that You are so hospitable, welcoming and making room for all who come to You. Thank You LORD that your table is generous. You our God are not exclusive in Your love and we pray that we will not be either. We are grateful for gatherings over Thanksgiving and the love that was shared. Thank You God that we have been able to come together again after the stretch of time when COVID was keeping us apart. While we know that there is still ongoing concern over transmission of COVID, we are hopeful as we move forward. Our prayer is that we will now have an even greater appreciation for the gift of being together. Where people remain anxious about close association, we pray for sensitivity and respect. We do value our relationships with each other and with You. When we consider that You God want to spend time with us, we want to respond with gratitude. Thank You for Your initiative in inviting anyone who will choose to come to You. For those Who have not felt welcome to embrace You, we pray that the living of our lives will change that. Rather than judge those who have rejected You and Your invitation, we pray that we will seek to understand their resistance. Where people have been hurt by the church and people in church, we are praying that this will not prevent them from hearing your invitation and trusting You. Please express the immensity of Your love through us. God we have heard Your invitation to come to the banquet that You are preparing for us. We do not want to miss what You are getting ready for us in Your kingdom of heaven because of any excuse we might make. We do not want anyone else to miss Your invitation. For every day of life that we are given, we pray that Your love expressed through us will compel people to come to your heavenly banquet table. We make this our sincere prayer and commit ourselves to the ways that You will accomplish this. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN.