Dwelling in God’s Heart – The Dining Room

Dwelling in God’s Heart – The Dining Room.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”  (James 4:8).

“I am inside My Father, and you are inside Me, and I am inside you.” (John 14:20).

Even though the phrase “accept Jesus into our heart” is not in Scripture, we get the picture. Accepting Jesus into our hearts means we receive Him into the very core of our being, into the centerpiece of who we are, affecting everything about us. When we receive Jesus into our heart-home, our identity becomes His, the essence of our personhood is intimately wrapped into the essence of Christ’s Personhood. When we make our home in His home, He miraculously become a resident inside each of us as well. And when we experience that Double Union with Jesus Christ, we discover that our spiritual location is inside of the very heart of God. In other words, if the Son is inside the Father, and we are inside the Son, then logically we are inside the Father! By dwelling in the Son’s heart, we dwell in the Father’s heart as well. By living inside the “Person after God’s own heart,” we find ourselves inside God’s heart! As Paul claims in Colossians 3:3, believers are “hidden within Christ, inside of God.”

Way back in 1954 there was a creative little evangelistic tract produced by Inter-Varsity Press, written by a pastor named Robert Boyd Munger. He entitled his brief tract, “My Heart – God’s Home.” I recommend it if you find it. Following up on Revelation 3:20, Pastor Munger imagined a believer opening his door and escorting Jesus through the home of his heart, now that Jesus has taken up residence in him. Now that Jesus dwells in him, and He has moved into his heart, what will Jesus see there? So the believer in the tract proceeds to give a tour of his heart-home with Jesus as he welcomes Christ into his heart. Together they tour the person’s study, dining room, living room, workroom, recreation room, bedroom and hall closet. I thought this was an engaging idea, but now I would like to give the other side of the story. Jesus lives within us, to be sure. But we also live within Jesus, hence inside the very heart of God. So if the Father was to give us a guided tour of His heart, what would we find? What will be waiting for us to discover in the many rooms of God’s heart? We could easily entitle this, “God’s Heart -My Home.”

Like anyone’s home, God’s heart will reflect His attitudes, motivations, personality, character traits, His heavenly “tastes” in interior décor. God’s deeply held convictions will be revealed in His heart-home, as they are in our own hearts. Using Scripture as our guide, we will explore God’s heart as we make ourselves at home and abide in Him. We will explore everything from the front porch to the front door, the living room to the dining room, from the kitchen to the study to the chapel. And many more rooms as well, like the bedroom, the bathroom, and the nursery. There may even be a sneak peek at the family room, the children’s playroom, and the school room.

 

THE DINING ROOM. The inviting room that has the long sacred table is located near the Study, so it would be easy enough to enjoy solid food for our bodies after digesting the spiritual food for our souls. The dinner table is the best place to enjoy each other around the celebration of a meal. The dining room is often called the Fellowship Room, and easily becomes a Banquet Hall. The experience of enjoying a meal with others was a constant theme of importance down through the history of mankind and in the ministry of Jesus.

He was indeed the Lord of the Feast. Many of his stories involved big meals, to the point of describing the kingdom of heaven as one big feast, fit for a King. Food was a constant theme in Christ’s earthly life and teaching:

1. Sharing a meal seemed to him a meaningful way to describe the mysteries of his indwelling, during which he enters a person’s spirit-house and enjoys a 4-star dinner;
2. During his short ministry in the flesh, he was known around town as a glutton, perhaps a case of guilt by association, or maybe he earned that handle;
3. He established himself as the hidden manna come down from heaven through the Eucharist, the Communion Table, in which we are asked to eat his flesh, drink his blood;
4. He cooked a barbecue breakfast of fish on the beach for his disciples soon after the Resurrection, a tangible act of humble and practical service after their hard night’s work;
5. He revealed his true identity to the discouraged duo in Emmaus while sharing a loaf of bread at the dinner table;
6. At least twice he provided more than enough food for thousands of people in the middle of nowhere, from mere table scraps and a kids-meal;
7. He even invited himself over for lunch after meeting Jericho’s scummiest citizen. Jesus would eat with anybody, much to Zaccheus’ delight.
8. And we still have only briefly mentioned the Supper of the Lamb awaiting all believers in New Jerusalem’s heavenly dining hall. Jesus, the master of ceremonies at the biggest party-feast in the history of the world, and somehow that isn’t surprising.

Let’s see now… Jesus created food, prepared food, ate food, talked about food, told us to expect food, and finally, he became food, the Bread of Life, the Eucharistic Feast.  This makes sense when we consider that Jesus was involved with everything basic to human existence. He drank, he ate, he slept, he cried, he laughed, he worked, he obeyed, he bled, he felt pain, and he died. His life was in most ways like your life and my life, including his dependence upon and appreciation of food.

What can we learn from this? How can we appreciate food as much as, and in the same spirit as Jesus did? He no doubt thought that the table was an important piece of furniture in the house, and in order to follow him, we need to consider why this is so. Let’s briefly consider the functions of food, and why the table is not just another hunk of wood:

1. Nourishment.This is simple enough. God created us to need and to enjoy food, complete with the delicate senses of smell, taste, touch, and sight with which to appreciate the food he created. If we don’t enjoy food, we risk going against his will.
2. Celebration.Life would be truly a tedious bore were it not for special occasions. And how have people celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, cultural milestones, historic events, and personal triumphs down through the ages? That’s right, with food and festivity. Just try to celebrate something important without food. Go ahead. Try.
3. Education. How did Yahweh choose to teach the Faith to the children in the Jewish homes? That’s right, kids were taught through all types and styles of rituals and foodstuffs centered on the table. Study the cycle of Feast Days in the Jewish religious year, and you’ll see that, in order for the Faith to be handed down to succeeding generations, the table was in constant use. The multi-sensory experience of food was, and continues to be, God’s preferred method to teach the basics of the Faith. Christian parents have too often neglected this time-tested way of raising their kids in the Lord. Perhaps it’s time to return to the wisdom of our Jewish roots.
4. Artistry. Meal preparation is a time-honored art form. Something uniquely transcendent happens when all the created senses experience nature’s beauty and grace through the wide variety of shapes, flavors, textures, aromas, and colors of food. A great chef knows this, and takes as much pride in a quality meal as Picasso did in his paintings. The dining table is a culinary museum for the exquisite human pleasure of eating, with the kitchen serving as the artist’s studio.
5. Community. A consistent sign of unity between humans through the ages has been the meal eaten in common. Sharing and enjoying food with others reflects togetherness like nothing else on the market, and is truly an opportunity to initiate and deepen friendships. The house churches in the early years of Christianity punctuated their time together with the Love Fest. Meals shared are lives shared. Sacred is the table.
6. Civilized Behavior. Animals feed, but humans feast. As Leon Kass says in his book The Hungry Soul: “Through eating with others we grow more civil; family table becomes a school for life; incivility, insensitivity and ingratitude learned at the family table can infect all other aspects of one’s life. Conversely, good habits and thoughtful attitudes regarding food and eating will have far-reaching benefits. Self-restraint and self-command, consideration of others, politeness, fairness, generosity, tact, discernment, good taste, and the art of friendly conversation – all learnable and practiced at the table – enrich and ennoble all of human life.”
7. Servanthood. Hospitality is a classic virtue, and is offered best at the table of one’s home. Abraham and Sarah entertained angels unawaresthrough food, and I dare say we do too. Those people who care enough to serve food to strangers and friends love their neighbors in a uniquely tangible and satisfying way, and simply do what Jesus himself did countless times. I think there is a special place in heaven for those who choose to joyfully serve others through the ministry of the table.

Perhaps the following prayer of Robert F. Capon, excerpted from his cookbook meditation Supper of the Lamb, will provide our dessert after all this food for thought:

“O Lord, refresh our sensibilities. Give us this day our daily taste. Restore to us soups that spoons will not sink in, and sauces which are never the same twice. Raise up among us stews with more gravy than we have bread to blot it with, and casseroles that put substance in our limp modernity. Take away our fear of fat, and make us glad of the oil which ran upon Aaron’s beard. Give us pasta with a hundred fillings, and rice in a thousand variations. Above all, give us grace to live as true men and women – to fast till we come to a refreshed sense of what we have and then to dine gratefully on all that comes to hand. Drive far from us, O Most Bountiful, all creatures of air and darkness; deliver us from the fear of calories and the bondage of nutrition; and set us free once more in our own land, where we shall serve thee as thou hast blessed us – with the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Amen.”

Since Jesus Himself is the Door to God’s heart, He is the One calling out to others and welcoming them into the house.  When Jesus welcomes people to God’s table, we might be in for a few surprises. We’ll eventually be serving appetizers to scandalous outsiders and sexual offenders. We’ll be filling the water glasses of Roman sympathizers and religious half-breeds. We’ll be passing the salt to unclean lepers, political troublemakers, and sneaky thieves. We’ll be offering dessert to way-faring strangers who have no way to invite you back. We’ll be pouring coffee to a wonderful diversity of people, listening to a symphony of languages, and gazing upon a human rainbow of skin colors. And our serving table better be handicap accessible, because Jesus will go to every grouphome in town and hand out personal invitations to everyone who has a disability. With Jesus, the outcasts become the in-crowd. All those who live in the margins will find themselves smack in the middle of mercy and conviviality in God’s heart.

So through Jesus the Door come the residents of the rescue mission and the local nursing home, then come the students from the school for the blind, and then those in creaky wheelchairs and aluminum walkers. And the story isn’t finished by any means. Jesus finds that there’s still plenty of room for more at the table. So the Door opens to complete strangers, the immigrants and the aliens, the homeless travelers, the far-flung foreigners, who probably need to be convinced that, yes, they really are invited to the feast. Jesus says that his Kingdom looks like that, and we respond with, May your Kingdom come! Jesus is the host at the table and the life of the party. And God’s heart is as big as the world, His dining room always has room for more. (please refer to the parable of Jesus called the Great Feast, Luke 14:15-24).

A good hearty song is always welcome at the table and helps immeasurably in the celebration of God and each other over food. Here’s a song that is often sung in God’s dining room:

Come & Dine (feat. Alex Vitug) (Live) – YouTube

“COME and DINE”

(Refrain) Come and dine, come and dine, you may feast at Jesus’ table all the time.

He who turned water to wine,

To the hungry, still He calls, Come and dine. 

(1.) Jesus has His table spread, where the saints of God are fed,

He invites His people, Come and dine.

With His manna He doth feed and supplies our every need,

Tis sweet to sup with Jesus all the time.

(Refrain)

(2.) The disciples came to land, thus obeying Christ’s command,

For the Master called to them, Come and dine.

There they found their heart’s desire, with the fish upon the fire,

And He satisfies the hungry every time.

(Refrain)

(3.) Soon the Lamb will take His bride to be ever at His side,

All the host of heaven will assembled be.

Twill be a glorious sight, all the saints in spotless white,

And with Jesus we will feast eternally. 

(Refrain).

(song by Charles Widmeyer, 1907; original title, “Jesus has a table spread”).