Third Sunday of Easter
Return to the Table
The table is spread with a humble meal, bread and fish. The meal that was served on plains and mountain tops. Food that seems unremarkable, but food that would nourish and sustain the body. Carbs for energy. Protein for strength. Simple. Complete. Life-giving. It was probably a meal they had eaten together hundreds of times, like a comfort food.
Like the best comfort dishes that are served at holidays, this meal not only filled their stomachs but also filled their hearts and souls. The conversations around community tables with those you love are filled with support and love. They are the moments that lift us after a difficult time and that sustain us in hardship.
It’s fitting that the disciples and Christ return to the table after the crucifixion and resurrection. They use it as a time to reconnect. Think of all those tables you have sat around, in the good times and the bad times. Think of the stories that are shared. Stories of the past. Stories of hope for the future. And here they gather, together again, to be upheld, to be strengthened, to be energized. They break the fast of the uncertainty as Christ sits with them and tells them what the next steps are. Peter, feed and care for all. The rest of you, stay true to what we have been doing.
And always, return to the table. The table is community. It is where you will gather your strength and energy to continue the work. Without the table, and the people at it, this work will be too hard. Always return to the table. It is a holy place of transformation. Allow the food, the conversation, and the people, to transform you.
Rebecca Sisley, pastor, Riverside Moravian Church
Riverside, New Jersey