04-17-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS 
April 17, 2025
There are very few things I enjoy as much as sitting down for dinner with friends. The food doesn’t necessarily need to be good, though that’s a nice bonus. At the end of the day, it’s about the people. I’ve also been around a table with some discord where food was served, but there were those who would have rather thrown it than eaten it. I am much more partial to dinner with friends where we are throwing around good jokes. 

Jesus shared a Passover meal with those he considered his friends, yet these same individuals would flee and deny their friendship when Jesus was most vulnerable. What kind of responsibility do you feel toward those who willingly sit down with you and enjoy a meal around a table? What would it feel like to you if one of those people later denied his/her friendship with you? What kind of responsibility do you feel toward those who share communion with you each week? What would it feel like to you if one of those people later denied his/her friendship with you? Perhaps the more pertinent question to ponder is how Jesus would react?

As we continue to move through this most holy week, Merciful and Creator God, I pray your presence be known to me anew. Give me the courage to stand resolute with you, the community of faith, and all those who are part of your beloved family—the human family. Amen.