A seat at the king's table

The summons came, and the crippled man knew what it meant. Mephibosheth was the grandson of Saul, the king David had every reason to wipe from memory, and the houses of fallen kings were not kept alive; they were ended. So when David's men carried him into the throne room on his ruined feet, he expected the floor to be the last thing he ever saw. He bowed his face to it. Then the king spoke words no one could have predicted. Do not be afraid. I will surely show you kindness for your father Jonathan's sake, and restore the land of your grandfather to you, and you will eat bread at my table continually. The lame man lifted his head and could only stammer the question that grace always provokes in the unworthy: what is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am? There was no answer in his merit, none at all. The answer lived entirely in a covenant David had once sworn to a friend, and now kept toward a son who had done nothing to earn it. Reorientation is, at its heart, this: being seated at a table you could never have walked to on your own.

You may arrive at the new season the way Mephibosheth arrived at the throne room, certain you are a liability rather than a guest. You know your ruined places too well to imagine yourself wanted. You are bracing, even now, for the rejection you assume you have coming. Hear the king's first words to a terrified man: do not be afraid. Grace does not seat you at the table as a tolerated charity case, kept around out of pity. It seats you as a son, as a daughter, for the sake of a covenant love you had no hand in earning and could not break if you tried. Stop calling yourself a dead dog. That is the old fear talking, not the truth about you, and it was never the King's name for you. He has bound Himself to a promise older than your failures, and on the strength of it He has set a place. Your limp is welcome there. Your shame is welcome there. The invitation is not for one careful visit but for always: you will eat at this table continually. Sit down and eat.