A Table For Everyone

When I was in seminary, studying to become a pastor, I remember my professor for Pastoral Care saying something like this:  "You need to develop a hermeneutic for your ministry that is grounded in the ministry of Christ." 

The word hermeneutic essentially means a lens through which you view things. At the time, I had no idea what I was doing, having never been a pastor, but through the years, I came to see the wisdom of my professor more clearly. 

The hermeneutic that I have come to embrace is one of love and justice, because those are the aspects of Christ's ministry that deeply resonate with me.  

Because of this, it became evident to me that my purpose as a pastor is to do everything I can to help build a community of faith that not only welcomes but also includes everyone, especially those who have felt excluded from the grace of God.  

That last bit is so important to me because I spent years of my life feeling like I could never measure up to the standards of an angry God bent on judgment, in churches that were more interested in right belief rather than loving actions.  

You see, I  believe the life and teachings of Jesus were radically inclusive. Over and over again, He welcomed those whom the religious elite had rejected. He broke bread with tax collectors, touched lepers, defended adulterers, and honored outsiders. 

The grace He extended was never measured, rationed, or earned—it was poured out freely, especially for the ones who had been told they didn’t belong.

Author Sarah Bessey captures the heart of this beautifully:

“I want to be outside with the misfits, with the rebels, the dreamers, second-chance givers, the radical grace lavishers, the ones with arms wide open, the courageously vulnerable, and among even—or maybe especially—the ones rejected by the Table as not worthy enough or right enough.”

This is what the kingdom of God looks like—messy, surprising, and full of grace. In Luke 14, Jesus tells a parable about a banquet where the invited guests refuse to come. So the master sends his servant into the streets and alleys to invite “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Luke 14:21, NIV). The ones thought unworthy become the honored guests.

This isn’t just a parable about ancient hospitality—it’s a challenge to the church today. Too often, we draw lines. We decide who’s in and who’s out based on behavior, background, or belief. But Jesus invites us to extend grace as lavishly as He did. Not just to those who look, think, or act like us, but especially to those who’ve been told they don’t belong.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:8-9 that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” If grace is a gift, we have no business withholding it from others. We are not the gatekeepers of God’s table—we are guests ourselves, invited despite our own brokenness.

So let us be known not by who we exclude, but by how wide we open our arms. Let us risk being misunderstood for the sake of radical love. Let us, like Jesus, spend time with the outcasts, the doubters, the struggling, the hurting. That’s where He always seemed to be.

May your faith be spacious and full of grace. May your table always have an extra seat. And may your life reflect the wide welcome of Christ, the One who calls everyone to come and feast.

Come, and bring others with you.

Prayer

Gracious God,
Thank You for inviting us to Your table just as we are—wounded, wandering, and in need of grace. Help us to extend that same welcome to others, especially those the world has cast aside. Soften our hearts, widen our arms, and open our eyes to see Your image in every person. Make us people of radical love and unrelenting grace, just like Jesus.
Amen.