To be seated at Mom’s table

Righteous = acceptable – life

Sin = proof of being unacceptable, rejected (the Curse) – death

Justification = becoming acceptable – new life (not renewed life, new life.)

I grew up with five people; Dad and Mom, and three boys, Louie, Fred, and Wayne.  Until I was thirteen, Mom was a “stay-at-home mom.”  She had her own issues, but he was perfectly fitted to be the mother of three boys. Mom gave us a great arena to express ourselves and explore our potential.  That is not an arena as in a place for a sport but as in a circus.

She had a few rigid rules.  One was, “Do not come to the supper table without a shirt.”  She invented the sign, “No shirt, No service.”  That was an eating etiquette requirement that was hard for us to understand the reasoning behind.  But then, it was Mom’s table, and she set the food on it and set the rules for gathering around it.  All-day, every summer day, we wore as little as possible or necessary.   I think having a shirt on for family meals was more strictly enforced than, “Wash your hands before you eat.” 

While I never came to fully understand the shirt requirement, it became a part of my psyche.  I never go to eat a meal without wearing a shirt.  I never let my son eat a family meal without a shirt. I have softened a bit with my younger grandsons.  (As my body has “matured,” I allow less and less of it to be exposed even to the mirror.)

I do not remember Mom telling me to leave the table and wash my hands.  I do remember her instructing me, “Put on a shirt.”  I didn’t have to wear a shirt; I could choose not to eat and endure the ire of my loving parents.  The options were clear, and my humble submission was just as understood. 

For me, eating will always be preferable to being shirtless, rebelling against the house rules.

In our home, wearing a shirt at the table was the “right” thing to do.  Not having a shirt was the “wrong” thing.  Biblically speaking, that translates to the “righteous” thing and the “sinful” thing. However, I have read a translation of the New Testament, which sometimes used “acceptable” for the Greek word commonly translated, righteous.  “Acceptable” is a more familiar word for me and increased my understanding of what the Bible was trying to teach me.

To come to the table with a shirt on is to be accepted at the family table.  To arrive at the table without a shirt was unacceptable. In fact, it was interpreted as a rebellion and a reason to be cast away from the banquet.  I could huff and puff, but that was a brick house that would never cave into my rebellious reasoning.

As an independent autonomous preteen, I did not always agree with my parents’ home rules.  But I was always clear on the necessity to submit to them.  In a “backdoor” kind of way, these rules assured me I was always part of the family.  In fact, that is the reason I was under the house rules.  The kids along our rural road were not obligated to obey our rules unless they were in our house.  I am, to this day, feel expected to abide by the family rules.  Today, at Jan’s table, hands have to be washed.  No handwashing, no supper at the table.

I understand that not all families are like the two I am blessed with, but there is nothing I desire more than to be accepted by them.  That deep desire to be accepted by family is exponentially accelerated in my own family pod.

I have discovered that the same principle is more necessary and satisfying to be acceptable at God’s table of “daily bread.”   To be seated at Mom’s table, I had to submit to her rules.  The same is true at God’s table; His rules are the right and acceptable way.  They are “righteous.”  When I submit to His teachings and expectations, I am embraced at mealtime.  Insisting on my own rules does not alter my position in the family.  But it does impact my being with my family.   If I want to benefit from my Parent and my spiritual siblings, I need to wear a shirt to the table.  So do you.

P.S. And wash your hands!

The last thing Jesus says to us in the Bible is, “I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline.  So be zealous and repent.”  Revelation 3:18-19

Photo – Just a tiny little bit of fluff on his way to construct his winter home and I was afraid to touch.