Waiting at the table is difficult. The difficulty arises for many reasons. One is hunger. The food smells good and we think we cannot wait one minute more. But waiting on the main course has a big pay off.
Waiting is also difficult because the Table is the place where you get the details of the day. You can relax and have a longer conversation about how things went and ask a lot of questions. Again, waiting until the right moment for the conversation has a big payoff.
Fellowship is restored at the Table. Hopefully if there were wrongs between family members, they were already righted but at the Table the family enters into conversation again in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Growth in the family is made. Encouragement from a rough day occurs. Hope is rekindled for the future. Injustices are brought into an eternal perspective. Again, the waiting has a big payoff.
We wait to partake of the Table. We wait until the end of the service. We pass the bread and wait. We pass the wine and wait.
And we see that God does not disappoint us. We are welcome in His presence. Our brothers and sisters join us in the unity of forgiveness and the joy of fellowship. God has spoken to us in His Word and we have spoken to Him and to one another in prayer and in singing. The family is restored and we go out in peace. At the end of the service, and after the blessing of waiting, a big payoff.
