God's Table is Always Crowded

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,

of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. - Isaiah 25:6 

We live in an era marked by a steady drift into isolation. Over the past 50 years, the percentage of adults who regularly host dinner parties or gather with friends at home has plummeted by 70%, and data from the American Time Use Survey reveals that time spent hosting or attending social events has dropped by 50%. Beyond our shrinking social calendars, research published in Perspectives on Psychological Science by Dr. Valeria Pfeifer and her team highlights an even more subtle shift toward silence: on average, people speak roughly 300 fewer words aloud each day, every year.

Yet, humans are created for connection; our health improves physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually when we are embedded in nourishing relationships shaped by belonging and love. Now more than ever, potlucks are acts of resistance, and community meals are the incubators of God’s abundant grace. 

This week, a woman arrived at St. Matthew’s after a digital conversation with an AI model that guided her to the Wednesday Community Meal to roll up her sleeves and serve. She immediately started chopping vegetables and sharing stories with the cook team. She served for more than three hours and told us she would be back next week. During that same meal, a man wandered in after hearing about the food pantry and the meal from a friend; he was handed a huge plate of food and introduced to so many people that his head was spinning. Moved by the welcome, he kept saying, "I had no idea this was going on; this is a much better place to be than at home by myself watching Netflix."

Around the community meal tables sit the unhoused and the hungry, neighbors living on fixed Social Security incomes, and families navigating life with disabilities. There are neighbors hosting neighbors, different languages spoken, words shared, and connections made with every shared bite. As I looked around last night at all of the beautiful faces, I kept hearing the Spirit say, “Notice this gift, Kacey…the kin-dom of heaven is here at the crowded tables." 

In awe, wonder, and reverence,

Pastor Kacey