Hard to sit with people you don't like

The table.  Not so much the meal or the food, but the table is important.  Every Christmas at my family’s house, we could not open presents until the table was full and the meal was shared.  I have had good meals and bad meals at Christmas, but the common factor for all the meals was the table.  We sat down at the table together and ate a meal.

It is hard to sit at a table with people that you don’t like, you need to look at one another.  You are in relationship with each other, you are vulnerable together, and you are sharing things in common.  The table is where we are most open and can’t escape relationship.  When we sit down together, we must deal with our relationships one to another.

Paul reminds us in Colossians 3:

12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

As God’s chosen people we have been given a high calling and responsibility.  We invite people to our table, physically and figuratively, and share our lives with one another.  Our calling is to be the hands and feet of Christ in relationship with those people that need to be in right relationship with Him.  We are to invite people to God’s table and join in the fellowship.

God’s table is large, sometimes we are the sinners in need of forgiveness, sometimes it is others.  We do not know the pains and hurts others experienced in their lives, nor the hurts that they hold onto.  We do know how we are to respond to all situations.

As we prepare for the table we set it purposefully with the implements that are needed to enjoy the meal.  Even as we prepare the table, we are to prepare ourselves to enjoy the meal with others.  We deal with ourselves and our attitudes and put on the very best of Christ for the benefit of others.

Let us prepare our own hearts with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  In doing so we expand our table to make allowances for others.  We make room in our hearts to compassionately forgive and offer the hope of Christ.

When we sit down at the table with one another this Christmas season, let us do so with vulnerability.  Let us do as Christ has done.  He offered forgiveness to those who deserved no forgiveness, He extended relationship to those that hurt others, He was willing to pay the price of sin for His enemies.  Through His sacrifice and forgiveness we have been given the opportunity for unity at our tables.