carried to the table

"We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for. The mystery of ministry is that we have been chosen to make our own limited and very conditional love the gateway for the unlimited and unconditional love of God." -Henri Nouwen, from In the Name of Jesus

There's a beautiful scene in the movie, Les Miserables. Jean Veljean, a character of scandalous grace, is caring for a young woman who has become a prostitute in order to pay for her daughter's medicine. The woman is sick and dying, yet continues to sell her body for sex in order for her daughter to survive. After getting beat up and abused by some men, Jean Veljean rescues her and cares for her wounds. With tender care, he nurses her back to health. One morning, he creates a breakfast feast for her. Jean Veljean carries the weak and dying young woman from her bed and seats her at the banquet table to enjoy a beautiful meal with him. Jean Veljean's lifestyle is grace. He humbly acts with the same grace he once received and transforms lives by the grace and love he freely gives.

I find myself carried to the table of the Lord time and time again. As we come together for supper at Treasure House, a family comes together to share in each other's aches and pains. As we're seated at the table, passing bowls of pasta and salad, I rub shoulders with women who were heroine addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, homeless, mentally ill, are suffering from broken relationships, and live in complete poverty. Yet my own broken, naked self is exposed. When you live with broken people, it becomes hard to hide your own pain. But I have learned that this is a beautiful thing. As I hear the stories of these women, my heart cries out for them. Yet as they hear my story, they hurt for me also. When you live in the grace of God, your shit doesn't smell better than the next person's. It all smells the same.

We are all wounded and broken. We are all fallen human beings. Yet we are all image-bearers of Christ. When we are seated at the table of the Lord, we are redeemed and restored.

Wounded and forsaken
I was shattered by the fall
Broken and forgotten
Feeling lost and all alone
Summoned by the King
Into the master's courts
Lifted by the Savior and cradled in his arms
I was carried to the table
Seated where I don't belong
Carried to the table
Swept away by His love
And I don't see my brokenness anymore
When I'm seated at the table of the Lord
-Leeland