Two Friends

I have two friends who I know from various church settings I’ve shared with them.  Although they are not close friends, I do value my friendships with them.  I’m sure you have similar friends and acquaintances.  I have nothing against either of them; I just don’t often find myself engaging in the same activities that these friends do.  I guess they just happen to each run in slightly different circles than do I.

Don’t get me wrong, I would not hesitate sharing a meal with either of these friends.  On the occasions I have spent time with them, I have enjoyed their company.  I certainly count each as a valued brother or sister in Christ.  What I wouldn’t do is invite them both to dinner the same night.  You see, one of these friends is a passionate Democrat who is pro-choice and supporter of LBGT rights.  My other friend is a passionate Republican who is pro-life and very much against extending marriage rights to same sex couples.  Politically, these two friends are polar opposites.  I’m afraid steak knives may be required to cut through the dinner conversation tension.

In my first blog post, I discussed that my hope is not in politics.  One reason for this is how unclear Christ’s stance often is on particular policies, especially in the context of a secular government which rules over people of various religions and opinions.  Both of these friends are very outspoken about their respective positions and believe with absolute conviction their conclusions accurately reflect the Christian response to these issues.  Each of them seems to believe the ‘other’ side is the political enemy holding our nation back from reaching its potential.  They (unknowingly) have declared the other their political enemy.  I’m confident each of them has prayed that God would shape the nation’s political climate in favor of his or her positions.  I’m confident each of them believes God is on their side.

So, when my friends read David’s praise in Psalm 23, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” what should they think?  Is God preparing a table before one of these friends in the presence of the other to show His favor on the one and in doing so mock and humiliate the other?

Another famous table in scripture is the Last Supper.  We see in this story Jesus sharing a table with His disciples.  One of these disciples was Matthew the tax collector.  Matthew had colluded with the occupying Roman government to collect taxes from his fellow Jews and send this treasure to Rome.  Don’t think of Matthew as an IRS agent.  It is closer to think of him as a colonial American working for British officers to collect taxes to send back to Europe.  Another of these disciples was Simon the Zealot.  Simon was the revolutionary.  If Matthew was a traitor working for the British in colonial times, Simon was a minuteman.  (I know this is not a full analogy, but it’s the best I have.)  It’s fair to say Matthew and Simon wouldn’t have seen eye to eye.

It’s clear that Jesus didn’t agree with either Matthew or Simon.  Jesus had a new way.  He prepared a table before each of them in the presence of their enemies, not to elevate one over another, but to join them together in His new way.

I don’t think David had any idea of the Eucharist table when he penned Psalm 23.  I do think as we read the Psalms in light of Christ, this is exactly the table that should come to our minds when we read these words.

The reason God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies is so we can invite them to sit with us and share a meal.  I’d be nervous to invite my two friends to the same table, but this is exactly the invitation God is extending to them—to us.  What must you and I change in ourselves to make this our response when in the presence of our political enemies?