day fifteen

Hunger is the most ordinary ache. We all feel it. But how we answer it tells the truth about what kind of world we are building.

Some tables are wide and warm. Others are guarded by invisible signs that say, “Not for you.” We live in a culture that talks about community while selling isolation. We eat alone in cars, at desks, in front of screens. And when people are invited, it is often only those who look and think like us.

But God keeps pointing us back to the table. Through Micah He says what He requires is not endless religious performance but justice, mercy, humility. And in Acts, when the Spirit fills the church, their first instinct is not to conquer Rome or build a brand. They eat together. They open their homes. They share food and possessions until “there were no needy among them.”

Hospitality sounds soft. But it is actually a revolution. To pull up an extra chair is to push back against greed, loneliness, and division. To share a meal is to say: you belong, you matter, you are not invisible.

Jesus revealed the Kingdom around tables as much as in parables. He ate with sinners, fed crowds, gave Himself in bread and wine. At His table, outsiders became insiders. That is not sentiment. That is justice you can taste.

What if your table, or your coffee, or your picnic rug, could be where the Kingdom shows up this week?

DAILY READINGS

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Read full chapter
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Read full chapter

DEEPER

Micah’s call is blunt: God is not impressed with sacrifices piled high. He does not want a performance of holiness. What He wants is a people who live out justice, mercy, and humility in real life.

Acts 2 shows us what that looks like when the Spirit takes hold of a community. They did not hoard their food or protect their comfort. They opened their homes and their tables. They ate with glad and sincere hearts. They shared what they had so that no one went hungry. It was not an extra programme. It was their way of life.

And here’s the Kingdom truth: the table levels us. Around bread and wine, status evaporates. At the table, the poor and the rich sit shoulder to shoulder. The lonely are folded into family. The stranger becomes guest, and the guest becomes kin. This is not mere niceness. It is justice lived out in plates and portions. It is mercy in action.

In Jesus’ ministry, the table was scandalous. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He invited Himself into homes that respectable people avoided. And in His last meal, He broke bread and said, “This is my body, given for you.” The table became the place where God’s justice and mercy collided in flesh and blood.

Hospitality is not about entertaining. It is about solidarity. It is mission disguised as dinner. It is resistance to a culture of exclusion. Every shared meal is a rehearsal for the great banquet Isaiah foresaw and Revelation promises when every tribe and tongue will feast in God’s restored world.

So to set a table is not just to meet a need. It is to enact a Kingdom future here and now. When you pour the wine or pass the bread, you are saying: the reign of God is breaking in, and there is room for you.

RESPOND

Where are the “No entry” signs around my own table? Who do I find easiest to welcome, and who do I quietly leave out? Ask the Spirit to stretch your hospitality beyond comfort, so your table looks more like Jesus’ table.

PRAYER

Jesus, You welcomed me when I was on the outside. Teach me to do the same. Break down the invisible walls I put up, and make my table a place of belonging, joy, and justice.

Also, pray now for the families in our Playgroup community. Ask God to meet the longings of their hearts, and for those searching for more, to have the courage to ask questions and begin conversations that open space for Him.

ACTIVATE

Put a circle around a date in your calendar then invite the Spirit to bring a person or family to mind who you can invite to your table (or share some hot chips at the skate park).