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And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” – Revelation 19:9
That experience of being on the outside looking in can be excruciating. You know what it is…when someone “draws a circle that shuts you out”. What Jesus does for us is as opposite as it’s possible for us to be – He invites us in. He “draws a circle and takes us in“.
Sunday, at the end of our church service on “Race and the Gospel“, the worship team led us in Chris Tomlin‘s song “Even So Come“. The lyric line below really gripped my heart.
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“Like a bride waiting for her groom”. One day, Scripture states that Jesus will return for us. He is coming as a bridegroom for His bride. What will he look like? Well, he will definitely look familiar to us – a person of color that somehow we will all be able to relate to. And what will we look like – this bride he is coming for?
After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. – Revelation 7:9
We will, as his bride, be a people of many colors, tribes, and languages. Dressed in white with bouquets of palm branches.
All invited to his banquet table. A place for each of us. A place for all of us who respond to his invitation…yes. No one is lesser. No one is greater. None of us more deserving, none less. All sinners made beautiful again because of what Jesus did for us.
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Yesterday, in the car again, listening to the radio again, I heard a song for the first time…again. It’s Sidewalk Prophets‘ Come to the Table. The lyrics remind us that “we all start on the outside looking in”. Whatever you think of the Jesus as bridegroom and the church (each one of us) as his bride, there is nothing like having a place. Belonging. Being invited in. No longer an outsider.
That is what Christ has given us. He has restored us to Himself and has united us together in that bond of reconciliation as well.
Worship with me please. Come to the table He has prepared for us.
We all start on the outside
The outside looking in
This is where grace begins
We were hungry, we were thirsty
With nothing left to give
Oh the shape that we were in
Just when all hope seemed lost
Love opened the door for us
He said come to the table
Come join the sinners who have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table
Come meet this motley crew of misfits
These liars and these thiefs
There’s no one unwelcome here
So that sin and shame that you brought with you
You can leave it at the door
Let mercy draw you near
Come to the table
Come join the sinners who have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table
Come to the table
To the thief and to the doubter
To the hero and the coward
To the prisoner and the soldier
To the young and to the older
All who hunger, all who thirst
All the last and all the first
All the paupers and the princes
All who fail you’ve been forgiven
All who dream and all who suffer
All who loved and lost another
All the chained and all the free
All who follow, all who lead
Anyone who’s been let down
All the lost you have been found
All who have been labeled right or wrong
To everyone who hears this song
Ooh
Come to the table
Come join the sinners you have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free
Oooh
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table
Come to the table
Just sit down and rest a while
Just sit down and rest a while
Come to the table*
Sometimes you get messages of “you don’t belong” from the world, and occasionally, sadly, from those in our family or the church. Remember what God says about you, and listen to truth (like what author Kristen Strong writes) –
Remaining still and receiving what the Lord wants to give us right now.
Remaining calm and refusing to feel anxious about our abilities or worth.
Remaining quiet in our own spirit as we lift up the spirits of others who need encouragement.
Because here’s the truth, dear ones:
You don’t have to try to move inside because you were never out.
You are in.
You are in.
You are in. – Kristen Strong
When we are secure in God’s invitation to “be in”, we can give grace to those around us figuring it all out as well. Even those, in the church, who don’t receive others not like them as “in”. If they are in Christ, they are in, too. Let the Lord sort it all out, and “come to the table.”
Lyrics to Come to the Table – Writer: Dave Frey, Ben McDonald, Ben Glover
Something Different Audio CD – Sidewalk Prophets
Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, Past and Future – John Piper
On the Outside Looking In – Kristen Strong – (In)Courage
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