At the Table

Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.

Luke 22:24

The disciples are at the table with Jesus. They drank from the cup and ate the bread with thanks. Unknown to them at the time, they were the original participants of the Lord’s Supper. While the taste of wine and bread is still on their tongues they’re disputing at the table as to which of them was considered to be greatest.

While Jesus’ mind is fixed on the suffering at hand, they’re stuck on status. While Jesus is focused on the cross, they’re wrapped up in their own concerns. They’ve missed the meaning of the shared supper.

Disputes around the table are not uncommon whether in the upper room, the church, or our own kitchen tables. How different mealtimes and life would be if we’d stop jockeying for positions of honor at the table and ask, “Who am I? That You would love me so gently? Who am I? That You would recognize my name? Who am I? That You would speak to me so softly? Conversation with the love Most High . . . who am I?” (“Who am I?” words and music by Nathan and Christy Nockels.)

At the table, Jesus teaches what it means to be truly great. He said, “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). Christ exemplified Kingdom service before the meal by bowing low and washing their feet. He demonstrated true greatness after the meal when He willingly offered His life.

Opportunities abound at the table to point people to God’s greatness:

• Begin and end each meal with thanks to God for the gift of His daily bread.

• Invite needy and broken guests to your table who cannot repay your favor.

• Share God Sightings. Have each person tell one way they’re seeing God at work in their lives or in this world.

• Show genuine interest in others. Laugh until it hurts, celebrate, share honestly, and ask thoughtful questions.

•  Serve wholeheartedly in meal preparation and clean up as if serving the Lord, not to impress your guests.

• Have more hunger and thirst for righteousness then what’s on your plate.

He>i: How can you use tonight’s meal to point others to God’s greatness?

What’s becoming clearer and clearer to me is that the most sacred moments, the ones in which I feel God’s presence most profoundly, when I feel the goodness of the world most arrestingly, take place at the table.

Shauna Niequist

grace and peace,

Lenae

Bid Outloud!

As you know, God has been very good to GEMS throughout the years. By His grace, we have been able to increase the number of active clubs in North America, build  The Esther School in Zambia, create a GEMS International Ministry, and continue growing GEMS Clubs around the world. Due to the rapid growth of both our international and urban ministries, we must increase our budget. One way is to host a new fundraiser. Therefore, on November 22, 2013, GEMS will be hosting its first online auction!

Since we teach our girls to be bold and speak up for Jesus Christ, the tagline for our auction is BID OUTLOUD! Through bidding, people from all over the continent can take a stand by supporting the GEMS ministry.

We believe this auction will be very successful for GEMS, but we need your help in making it happen. Since bids will be coming from all over North America, we need items and services to be donated from many different locations. The GEMS staff cannot personally obtain donations from every area, so we need one person in each area to be an auction committee member and to secure 15 items or services from that area to be used in the auction.

We in WA state are Area 3 and we are still looking for this person. There is a packet of information available with all the instructions needed to secure these items for the GEMS online auction. Please contact Tami Cleveringa or Julie Ball if you are interested in helping out or if you know someone we can contact to ask to help GEMS in this way.

Tent Peg Tasks

The Merarites were appointed to take care of the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts, bases, all its equipment, and everything related to their use, as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs and ropes.

Numbers 3:36-37 

If you could travel back into OT history and ask someone from the Merarites’ clan what they do everyday, I wonder if anyone would’ve said she held the position of Tabernacle Engineer.

You: A Tabernacle Engineer, eh? Never heard of it. What do you do?

Miss Merarite: Oh, you know . . . I’m in charge of the tent pegs.

You: Gotcha.

Did the Israelites have the same spiritual gift rivalries that were splitting the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 12)? Did the Tent Peg people say, “Because I’m not in charge of caring for the ark, I do not belong to the Israelite community”?  Did the Rope People say, “Because I’m not on the battle frontlines with the other tribes, I’m not part of the Israelites”?

Whether in the Tabernacle or at GEMS, each part is important and needed. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work (1 Corinthians 12:4-6).

Your gifts are different than my gifts. That doesn’t mean one of us is more spiritual than the other. It means that God chose to distribute the gifts differently! John the Baptist understood that, his jealous disciples did not. They were upset when the crowds ditched John and followed Jesus. To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven” (John 3:27).

It doesn’t matter if you’re upfront with Moses or cleaning tent pegs with the Merarites. It’s not a matter of title and position, but of how you’re using your gifts. Are you leading to the glory of God or the glory of self? Are you wholeheartedly cleaning tent pegs as if serving the Lord or are you begrudgingly putting in your time? Bottom line: Who’s getting the glory?

He>i: Give thanks for your gift(s) and then commit to using it to the best of your ability for God’s glory and fame.

He who receives greater gifts should not glory in his own merit or consider himself above others, but instead be humble, devout, and thankful.

Thomas a Kempis

 grace and peace,

Lenae