Sit Down

Joe Derbes at Everyone's Entitled to Joe's Opinion [what a great name for a blog] has this devotional piece that is inspired by a talk that Louie gave at Thirsty on the night that we had communion. The substance of the talk was that communion is the Lord’s feast, and that at the Lord’s feast there is nothing for us to do except sit down and let Him wait on us. Please excuse me in advance for speaking from Christ’s point of view. These are obviously my own words and not the words of Christ–I don’t think Christ would be nearly as edgy and over-the-top as I am about certain things–but I do think that this is more or less what He would say to us if He had the chance.

Sit down.
Welcome to my feast. I am the one who owns this place. I am the one who prepared this feast for you, and I am the one who will serve it to you. There is nothing for you to do here but sit down and let Me serve you.

Sit down, all you who believe that it is your God-appointed duty to stand up for righteousness in a morally declining and corrupt world. All you who believe that society is going to hell because of abortion and gay marriage. All you who believe that you must fight like hell to keep your children safe from the corrupting influences of your culture. All you who believe that you must win the culture war in order to make your world safe for those who profess My name. (Yes, Mr. Dobson, that means you. Yes, Mr. Falwell, that means you.)

Sit down, all you who believe that it is your God-given duty to protect My church from false doctrine. All you who believe that the church is rife with bad teaching and apostasy, and that you have the warrant and responsibility to track down all who are preaching it and all who are following after them, and shut them down and drive them out. All you who believe that a person is not really saved unless they jump through the four intellectual hoops that you set before them. All you who say that a person is not saved unless they can give a correct intellectual formulation of the doctrinal basis of their faith and salvation.

I am the one who protects and sustains My church. I appreciate your efforts, but My church has done just fine for lo these many centuries without any help from you. I’ll be okay. My church will be okay. I don’t need any help from you.

This is not the place for you to take a stand. This is the place for you to take a seat.

Sit down, all you who believe that it is your divinely appointed responsibility to grow My church. All you who believe that you must create the right programs to be relevant and attract the right people. All you who look at what is successful in the corporate and successful world, believing that you must be better than they are at what they do because eternity is hanging in the balance.

I am the one who causes My church to grow. I am the one who causes My kingdom to advance. My kingdom has been advancing forcefully for thousands of years, and will continue to do so–with or without you. But I have invited you to be a part of My kingdom and My feast. So sit down.

Sit down, all you who believe that you must earn the right to be here, or that you must pay me back for the favor of inviting you. You can’t. Trust me. You have a huge debt to pay. You can’t even begin to know how huge it is. But don’t worry. I’ve paid it for you. Just sit down, and let Me serve you.

Sit down, all you who believe that I should not be serving you and that you should be serving Me. I know you come from a world which says that it is the right of those who are great to be served by those who are less than great. But I don’t need anything from you, and I certainly don’t need anything that you can bring to Me. You think you are saying that you do not deserve to be served by Me, but what you are really saying is that you are too good to be served by Me. Trust me–you are not that good. So just sit down and let Me serve you.

Sit down, all you who believe that your sin is too great for you to be here. Some of you have had abortions. Some of you have cheated on your wives. Some of you struggle with homosexuality, pornography, and all manner of juicy sins that I don’t have to name right now. And some of you have been raped or abused or hurt in all manner of ways. Some of you struggle with eating disorders and all manner of other issues because you believe the lies that you are just not good enough.

You believe that you are disfigured and disgraced because of what you have done to yourselves, what you have done to others, or what others have done to you. You think you are just happy to be here, but that to actually sit and eat at My table is too good for you. It is not. You are a part of this feast, and we are not going to start without you. So sit down.

Sit down, each and every one of you. You are all sinners, all deserving of death. But I have paid the price for you to be here. So just sit down, and let Me serve you. Sit down, and enjoy My feast.