At the Table
These questions are meant to be a choose-your-own-adventure. That is, use what you like. Skip what you don’t. And add to it in any way you see fit.
Intro Questions
“If you can read the gospels without getting hungry, you are not paying attention.” (Arthur Boers)
- What is it about food that brings people together?
- Hypothetical – If you could have a dinner party with any 4 people – historical, present-day, or a combo – who would you invite?
Tax Collectors & Sinners
Read Luke 5.27-32
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
- In verse 29, we see that Jesus is at a party with tax collectors and what Luke calls “others.” The Pharisees, though, in verse 30, have little trouble calling it as they see it. The “others” are the “sinners.” So why are the Pharisees so scandalized by Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners?
- Meals represent boundary markers, so where is this still happening now? Who makes that list today? In other words, if folks found out you went to a party with (fill in the blank), they would question your intentions.
- This is a tougher question and requires some more introspection. Who in our society would it be a challenge for you to invite to your home for a meal because of the gap between your culture or values and theirs?
The Son of Man
Luke 7.34 – The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
- What’s your reaction to this verse (and the quote below)?
“Jesus was killed because of his table talk and his table manners – the stories he told and the people he ate with.” (Leonard Sweet)
- We often think that Jesus’s appeal during his lifetime was because of the miracles he performed. And while that’s true, it doesn’t quite explain the full story? What is it about the company he’s willing to keep that is so attractive?
- And how does that affect you on a personal level?
Your Unique Life
Romans 12.13 – Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
1 Peter 4.9 – Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
A question from Matt on Sunday (via Dallas Willard) …
- How would Jesus live your unique life? Or more specifically, what can you do to practice hospitality? Who can you eat with? Who can you invite to your home for a meal or a party?
