“Come, Lord Jesus, Be our Guest”

Meditation on Luke 19:1-10

Nov. 3, 2013

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     “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it.  A man named Zacchaeus was there; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 

     And all who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’  Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’”

***

       I was at Meadows on Main on Thursday talking to my friend Erma about two of her great grandchildren. Will and Kate arrived near the end of a stream of 80 or so trick-or-treaters who visited the senior housing center on Halloween night. Senior citizens waited eagerly in the lobby to hand out Snickers, suckers, Tootsie rolls and peanut butter cups to Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Buzz Lightyears, Davy Crockets, ghosts and fairy princesses.

      Will and Kate go to a Christian school. And they have learned the habit of saying grace before meals.  So now, even when the family is eating out in a restaurant, Will, the youngest, in particular, will insist that they pray. 

      I thought about Will and Kate later that night and remembered how my three kids, when they were little and we homeschooled, were much the same. We sang our grace before meals to the tune of “London Bridge Is Falling Down.”

     “Thank you, Jesus, for our food, for our food, for our food!  Thank you, Jesus, for our food!  Thank you, Jesus. Amen!”

      The boys didn’t forget to sing their thanks to the Lord—no matter where we ate, even when went to McDonalds. The restaurant fell silent and people stared as the little boys, too young to be self-conscious, sang loud and proud. Their gratitude came straight from the heart. I am sure they were especially thankful for their Happy Meals, complete with collectible toys! And free kid-sized vanilla cones for dessert!  Yum!

     My conversation with Erma made me think about how important a simple prayer before meals can be to the faith development of a child. Saying grace teaches your children and grandchildren to give thanks to the Lord every day. For He is the one who provides for all our needs, including food for our bodies and nourishment for our souls.

       Like many other Christians, I grew up saying grace before meals.  We usually said the same prayer—passed down from my maternal grandparents.

    “God is great.  God is good.  And we thank Him for our food. By His hand we must be fed.  Give us, Lord, our daily bread.  Amen.”

     I can still hear my grandfather’s deep, booming voice belting out the “Amen!”  Pop Pop Springer, who lived to be 98, didn’t talk much in his older years, maybe because he was so hard of hearing.  But he knew all the words to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and always said grace before eating.

      As an adult, I have come to enjoy learning new mealtime prayers. One that fits this harvest season is the “Johnny Appleseed Prayer.” We sang this recently in Golden Heirs. 

“O, the Lord is good to me
and so I thank the Lord
for giving me the things I need
the sun and the rain and the apple seed.
The Lord is good to me.

Johnny Appleseed. Amen.”

    I have even begun to collect some lighthearted mealtime prayers, such as: “Lord, bless this bunch as they munch their lunch. Amen.” And this one…“Good food, Good meat, Good Lord, Let's eat. Amen.” 

   The grace that has become a tradition for Ebenezer is sung to the tune of the “Doxology” before potlucks and Presbyterian Women lunches. “Be present at our table, Lord. Be here and everywhere adored. These mercies bless and grant that we, may strengthened for thy service be.  Amen.”

    But the prayer that has intrigued me the most since I arrived here two years ago is the one that begins, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.”  Doing some research this week, I learned there are many versions of this prayer that was originally spoken in German. Some say Martin Luther wrote it. Others say the author is unknown.  The Moravians may have been the first to publish it; the prayer appears in their 1753 hymnal. The title was Tisch-Gebetgen (Table Prayer): “Komm, Herr Jesu; sei du unser Gast; und segne, was du uns bescheret hast.” In English,“Come, Lord Jesus, be you our Guest; and bless what you have bestowed.” 

     Variations to this prayer today include:  “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.  Let these gifts to us be blessed. Blessed be God who is our bread; may all the world be clothed and fed. Bless our loved ones everywhere and keep them in Thy loving care.”

        Sometimes Psalm 136:1 is added at the end: “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever.”   

***

    The “Come, Lord Jesus” prayer came to mind as I read the story of Zacchaeus this week. Especially the part when the people grumble,  ‘He (Jesus) has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’

      Zacchaeus is wealthy, making his living collecting taxes from his Jewish neighbors to give to the Roman Empire.  Tax collectors, back then, were on approximately the same rung of the social ladder as prostitutes and lepers.  Jewish people considered them traitors. Many were corrupt and dishonest; collecting more than they should and keeping the money for themselves. 

    But there is nothing in this passage that reveals corruption or dishonesty in Zacchaeus.  The man of short stature and low social status does a very undignified thing in his eagerness to get beyond the crowd and “see Jesus.”  This “seeing” in Luke’s gospel is more than just eyesight; it is “knowing,” having spiritual understanding.  Zacchaeus climbs to the top of a sycamore fig tree—a species that grows to be as tall as 66 feet and 19 feet wide. He waits in hope for the Lord.

     Jesus arrives and doesn’t wait for an invitation from the tax collector he has never met, yet already knows intimately. He knows his name and has a plan for Zacchaeus’ life—and is eagerly seeking him, too!     

      “Zacchaeus,” Jesus says. “Hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’”

      When the people grumble, Zacchaeus speaks up in his defense. ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I pay back four times as much.’

     Some translations of this passage use future tense verbs, “I will give to the poor…. I will pay back four times as much.” But biblical scholar Joel Green says the verbs are more accurately translated in the present tense.  “I give to the poor… I pay back four times as much…”  This means he is already practicing the righteousness of his faith when he meets the Lord.         

     But “Salvation” has come to Zacchaeus and his household not because of his good works, but because the Savior has come, and Zacchaeus has happily welcomed Him into his home. Jesus declares Zacchaeus to be “a son of Abraham”—a true child of the faith.  The tax collector, though he lives on the margins of the community, demonstrates life in the Kingdom of God, where earthly status means nothing and the kindness of the Lord is revealed through us when we are kind, merciful and generous to people in need.

      Just as Zacchaeus’ story is about so much more than a little man happy to have Jesus over for dinner, the prayer, “Come Lord Jesus,” is about more than giving thanks for our food. The story of Zacchaeus and the prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus,” declare our present and future hope.  Salvation through Jesus Christ begins right now with the decision to be His faithful disciples. As we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” we speak of our longing for the Lord Jesus, who has promised to come again for His Church!

      Friends, today, Salvation has come to us through Jesus Christ!

      But we must separate ourselves from the crowd, the noise and the busy-ness of our lives, to seek the Lord eagerly and wait in hope on Him.

      Christ will make His presence known to us.

      And we will discover, like Zacchaeus, that the Lord already knows us intimately. He knows our names, has a plan for our lives, and has been eagerly seeking us, too!

Let us pray.

    Holy One, we thank you for your Salvation which has come to us through your precious, One and Only Son. Thank you for providing for all our needs, for nourishing us mind, body, and soul every day.  Thank you for the blessing of family, for our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Thank you for your Word that declares our present and future hope in Your Kingdom, in our forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice, and new lives that begin today, in this world.  May your Spirit continue to work in and through us, leading us to love and serve You by loving one another and showing kindness, mercy and generosity to people in need. Help us to nurture our families and the young people of this community in the faith and be good examples of Your Son’s loyal disciples, waiting in hope, longing for Our Savior’s return for His Church.  When we will finally see Him face to face. And all our tears and fears will be wiped away. In Christ we pray.  Amen.