We need to understand that celebrating Easter isn’t about a meal, an egg hunt, a grand Sunday morning service…those are fun and good…but rather we celebrate Easter best by aligning our lives to the call of the Gospel which has been placed upon our lives. We celebrate the reality of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead most effectively no just by an event, but by living our lives in response to the great reality of this grace…this free gift of God in saving us from sin… obediently living out the call God has placed on our lives in Jesus Christ.
For the next couple of weeks, we are going to focus on how we live out this calling at a very practical level. The place we begin is at the dining room table. You and I must constantly make room at our table if we are to live obediently to the call God has placed on our lives as follower of Jesus Christ. It is often in our homes that others can most clearly see how the grace we talk about looks lived out.
One of the problems we face is simply this…we have no room left at our tables. Whether it is from busyness, exhaustion, self-centered living, fear indifference, pride, shame, not wanting to miss our favorite TV show…we have allowed, not just our physical space, but the space of our lives to be filled, leaving no room for others.
Jesus used this parable of the one lost sheep vs the ninety-nine to show the Pharisees that their lives of separateness kept them from making a difference in the lives of sinners around them.
Jesus ate with sinners! If we have no room at our “table” for those who aren’t following Jesus, we are not living lives obedient to what He has called us to.