Table of Forgiveness
Last year, I had a small Mother’s Day gathering at my place for dessert and games with my mom, aunt, grandmother, and cousins. I got out my cute dishes, trays, and pitchers. I filled them with desserts and drinks. It was adorable and totally fun. We laughed together and had a great night. Then everyone left. My trays just had hardening icing on them, the clear glasses were stained with red wine, and the plates were sticky from the snacks. I was left with an empty house and a mess. Within 15 or so minutes, it was all cleaned and my counters were wiped down. It wasn’t a big deal at all.
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My Mother’s Day mess reminds me of a childhood Sunday School story.
Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
--Luke 19:1-10
I love the simplicity of this story. Jesus is just walking through the town of Jericho and Zacchaeus just wanted to “get a look.” Zacchaeus - the “notorious sinner” (v. 7), tax collector (I hate them too), and influential Jew (v.2). He was a leader, but not one with a good reputation. I can hear the grumbling of the people (v. 8), see their eye rolls, and hear their groans.
Jesus looked at him and invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house. Jesus invited Himself into his mess - his dirty plates and trays and stained cups of his life. I remember when Jesus did that in my life. It doesn’t make much sense, but it’s also the most amazing feeling. Zacchaeus’ reaction was to do what it took to make it right.
Jesus’ response was like mine after finishing my dish - “no big deal.” His response was simply, “Salvation has come to this home today…”
That’s it. An invitation, repentance, and salvation. And now here we sit...at the table of forgiveness. A table that once was dirty, sticky, and stained. But a table that is so clean you could eat off of it - it shines, it’s spotless, and it’s polished. It’s like the mess was never there.
If you don’t feel like you’re sitting at the table of forgiveness, but rather sitting at the dirty table, know this: Jesus is inviting Himself to your table, to your mess. Let Him sit with you. Your mess may seem to big or to “messy,” but give Him a little bit of time and the next thing you know your table of mess has become the table of forgiveness.
You might, also, need to invite others to your table to forgive you or maybe you need to invite yourself to a someone else’s table to extend forgiveness to them. Know that we can sit at this table together - add more chairs, if you have to.
