Romans 9, 1 -5

10th Sunday after Trinity

Pastorin Kornelia Schauf

‘Of wonderfully laid tables and of sharing a meal in the Kingdom of God’

Pastor Kornelia Schauf

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen

Dear congregation, 

‘The Wishing-Table’

That is only the first part of the title. The full title of the fairy tale is: ‘The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass and the Cudgel in the Sack’.

Do you remember the story? A poor tailor had three sons. Nice lads. Reliable, loyal lads. And they had a goat, a cunning, foolish animal. Yet it was thanks to the goat that they had milk and cheese. So, it had to be looked after well.

The sons did this in an exemplary manner. But the goat took the liberty of playing a nasty trick. When she was full, she would say at first, ‘I have eaten so much,
Not a leaf more I'll touch, meh! meh!’

But when the tailor asked her about it after he’d come home, she complained bitterly, ‘Wherewithal should I be satisfied? Among the graves I leapt about, and found no food, so went without, meh! meh!.’

The father trusts the goat more than his sons. He banishes them one by one.

A sad tailor is left behind.

That’s what happens when you don’t know who to trust.

The sons set off into the world. They learn various respectable trades: carpenter, miller and woodturner.
At the end of their apprenticeship, they all receive ‘magical gifts’.
A table that sets itself. A donkey that spits out gold. A club in a sack that can be used for defence.

But before they dare to return to their father with these precious, hard-earned gifts, they all stop off at an inn.
An innkeeper who abuses his guests’ trust. A man who is greedy and wants everything he sees others possessing. 

He steals the table and the donkey in a sneaky, undetected swap. The sons do return, but now feel like cheats themselves when they try to present the gifts to their father.

That’s when the third son comes into the picture. He’d been warned: ‘Watch out, the innkeeper’s no good.’

And he ensures that justice is done – he has come the club out of the sack and beat the wicked innkeeper.

In the end, the family is reunited, the sons’ integrity restored, peace has returned – happiness and a sense of security spread.

The story raises questions similar to those we recognise from biblical tales.
The father’s misjudgement: his mistrust of his sons destroys the good order. The father was mistaken. He made a big mistake. Just like in real life.

Mistakes that drive families apart: Abraham makes such a mistake, Isaac too. David… And we recognise this from our own families as well: entire families and, ultimately, entire nations are driven apart: because people make mistakes.
Injustice occurs.

And one thing is clear: it takes a long time for order to be restored.

At this point, the verse really strikes a chord with me: ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies!’ Psalm 23.

We do not believe in magic or magical gifts. We Christians know from experience that new trust is given to us by God and through his Son, Jesus Christ.

The stories of meals in the Bible are stories in which trust is renewed between God and humankind, and between people themselves.

Think of the manna in the desert: the weary and grumbling Israelites on their journey through the desert had lost trust in their Deliverer and in God. 

They were hungry – both physically and spiritually.

God restores their trust by providing them with food every day.

Elijah at the widow’s house in Zarephath: her faith is shattered; her son is dying. Then the prophet arrives and asks for food. She is afraid she does not have enough herself. She has no trust in the future.
Then Elijah blesses the jar of flour and the jug of oil: the flour in the jar shall not run out, and the jug of oil shall not be empty (1 Kings 16:17)

Trust is restored – the son lives.

And we move on to the New Testament: Jesus himself as the Bread of Life: once again, it is about instilling new trust in the eternal God.

Even when Jesus spends time with sinners, it is about restoring trust. They are delivered from evil and become people who can be trusted once more.

And finally, Paul also deals at length with the tables set for the congregation in Corinth.

And at every Lord’s Supper, the table is set for us. Through the forgiveness of sins, we are given new trust: in the power of God; in ourselves; and in the future.

At the Lord’s table, we experience that we are set free and can make a fresh start.

In the fairy tale The Wishing-Table, the theme of justice is also resolved through new trust, but unfortunately also by the cudgel being let out of the bag.
This is where the Bible differs: justice is not revenge, and it is not brought about by human force, but by God’s power.

Do we really trust God to do this? Do we have the courage to hold fast to the idea of a just and happy coexistence, without beating up everyone who does wrong?
Yes, sometimes I too long for this quick and immediate solution – yet our faith forbids it: for it is not the ‘cudgel from the sack’ that is brought out against the enemy, but rather the table is set in the enemy’s presence.

The villain is to find a place at this table!

Perhaps this is, and remains, one of the great demands of our faith. God does not bring out the big stick when injustice occurs. Instead, God sets a table.

And it remains a promise, as in the reading from Isaiah: that one day God will prepare a feast for all nations, and there will be a place for everyone there.

A table where reconciliation takes place and we taste and see how gracious God is. 

Faith is a challenge and it demands courage. The courage to imagine a justice that does not rely on retribution. A justice that does justice to the pain suffered and yet does not repay evil with evil.

That is difficult – sometimes I doubt and despair at the injustice of the world. Yet whenever I take my place at God’s table, I am given hope that God’s justice will not only make everything right in the end, but that we can already taste and feel it here and now.

And perhaps that is the greatest miracle God grants us: not a table that sets itself, but the courage to trust in him anew every day.

We do not receive magical gifts from God, yet we pray: give us our daily bread and the strength to overcome evil with good every day. 

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen