Featuring Kuki Rokhum, Director of Church Engagement with A Rocha International, based in northeast India.
Close-up images of inked, hand-carved wooden tabletop
These two photographs are images of contrast. One is full, abundant. The other side is empty save for a loaf of bread. Is it a comment on the overconsumption of the West, and the hunger of our neighbours both near and far? Or is it what needs to happen during this season of Lent – to strip back our greed and inequality so that the Bread of Life can be seen more clearly? Or is it both?
The table is where all belong. All are fed and all are valued. And when we look at 1 Corinthians 11, we see how distorted it becomes when the Lord’s Supper turns into a place of inequality – some arriving full and satisfied while others are left hungry. That is just not on. At a table meant to reveal the abundance of God, that is wrong.
And in many cultures around the world – including where I am – you invite someone for a meal only when there is real relationship. You don’t go to the house of someone you dislike; you don’t sit down at a table where there isn’t trust. So the significance of this shared meal is even greater. If there are inequalities, if there are issues between us, we will struggle to share as God’s people. So don’t come having filled yourself somewhere else, just turning up for the sake of being seen at the table. That’s not what the Lord’s Table is about.
So we have to look seriously at these issues: inequality, people missing from the table, who I choose at the table, who I overlook. This forces us to ask: Who is hungry? Who is not here? How am I contributing to people not being at the table? And how can I contribute to them being welcomed in?
Because discipleship means questioning what feels normal. It means asking again and again: does my life reflect the God who feeds the hungry? What will I do so that everyone can sit at that table at the same level, eating the same food, and truly enjoying the abundance of God?
Generous God, we appeal to your power and abundance in meeting the life-threatening hunger facing millions today. We know you see and hear the cries of the most vulnerable – we hold them before you and ask you to work beyond supply chain disruptions and adverse conditions to bring food security where it is desperately needed. Awaken your Church to action and generosity, and move those in power to act quickly for justice and compassion. Don’t let us leave this table unchanged, content only to have eaten well. Grow in us a holy hunger so that our own tables reflect your abundance. Amen.
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