Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest : Part 7
Nourished by meals with the Messiah
Joel S. Heckendorf
The best is yet to come (Luke 24:36-49; Acts 1:7,8)
Over 20 years ago, Robert William Thomas wrote the “Keep Your Fork” story. It’s often quoted in magazines or at funerals, and if you haven’t ever heard this short story, I’d encourage you to look it up. The essence of the story is, in the author’s words, “Keep your fork, because the best is yet come.”
Long before Robert Thomas published his story, Jesus instructed his disciples “that the best was yet to come.” At first glance, that might seem hard to believe. How can anything get better than having the Son of God and Son of Man as a regular dining partner? What can possibly be better than having Jesus begin with “Moses and all the Prophets” and explain how things had to play out the way they did (Luke 24:13-35)? What can possibly be better than having a bit of fish with a living Savior, proving his defeat of death (Luke 24:42)? Yet, after dining with them off and on for 40 days, he promises something better: “Stay in the city until you are empowered from on high” (Luke 24:49 Christian Standard Bible [CSB]). Basically, Jesus tells his disciples, “Keep your fork.”
We don’t always know what sweet thing is coming from the kitchen, so the disciples likely had no idea what a tremendous blessing Jesus had in store for them just 10 days after he ascended into heaven. But as promised, things got better. No longer just satiated with their Savior but “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4), the disciples became confident witnesses (Acts 1:8). As the sweet gospel went out from their lips, the blessings kept pouring in. About three thousand people were added to their number on Pentecost (Acts 2:41). Thousands were baptized.
But don’t stop with the day of Pentecost. Look what happens next, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles” (Acts 2:42,43 CSB).
As we are about to embark on the non-festival half of the church year, there may be a tendency to push away from the table because we feel spiritually full. Over the past six months, we’ve been fed the beautiful truth of “God with us” as Jesus became one of us. We’ve “tasted and seen” that the Lord is good as we watched him give body and blood for our forgiveness. We feasted over the great celebration of Jesus’ victory over death. Yet, the same Holy Spirit that was promised to the disciples is promised to us every time we gather around Word and sacrament. Like the early Christian church in the days after Pentecost, may we continue to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Though these things, the Lord assures us the best is yet to come.
Therefore, we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let this gift—the gift of the Holy Spirit—to us be blessed. Amen.”
Food for thought
- Why is Pentecost often the least celebrated holiday? Perhaps Pentecost is celebrated least because it has not been commercialized. Instead of bemoaning this, understand how this can be a good thing. Instead of Christmas becoming about Santa and Easter becoming about a bunny, we can continue to emphasize the spiritual blessings of this “holy-day” — the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- List three practical ways that you can keep“being devoted to the apostles’ teaching” during the summer months when people are often tempted to push away from the table because they think they are spiritually full?Answers will vary. Family or personal challenges about doing an in depth Bible study, visiting churches across the country when on vacation, memorizing a hymn a week, etc. are examples of “keeping our fork” during the non-festival time of worship.
- Why did Jesus tell his disciples to“wait” for the gift of the Holy Spirit instead of sending this gift right away? While I can’t say definitively Jesus’ reason, think about the same reason why parents tell children to “wait” for various gifts. When you have to wait for something, you usually appreciate it more. Also, by creating a ten-day gap between his physical presence and the promised gift, Jesus was showing that all authority in heaven and earth did belong to him and that he was still in control, even if he wasn’t physically with the disciples.
Contributing editor Joel Heckendorf is pastor at Immanuel, Greenville, Wisconsin.
This is the seventh article in a 11-part series that looks at Jesus as a mealtime guest and how he blessed his fellow diners—and us—with his living presence. Find the article and answers online after June 5 at wels.net/forwardinchrist.
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Author: Joel S. Heckendorf
Volume 105, Number 06
Issue: June 2018
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