Had Jesus turned up the chairs at His table saving seats only for those “like” Him and whom He considered worthy of friendship, we would have missed out on Luke’s gospel – the gospel writer most quoted when speaking of the birth of the Savior. As Eugene Peterson says in his introduction to the book of Luke, “Luke is a vigorous champion of the outsider. An outsider himself, the only Gentile in an all-Jewish cast of New Testament writers…” Think of the Christmas Eve services and the adorable pre-school programs and children’s musicals where we would have missed the words, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree…” had Jesus turned up the chair at the table when Luke entered the room.

Cliques in the church should never be. Jesus set that example for us. Whose word in your life have you missed for turning up the chair at the table of fellowship?

And for those times in life when YOU have been the one searching for an unsaved seat in a crowded room, celebrate this observation from Eugene Peterson, “As Luke tells the story, all of us who have found ourselves on the outside looking in on life with no hope of gaining entrance (and who of us hasn’t felt it?), now find the doors wide open; we have been found, welcomed and redeemed by God in Jesus Christ.” Now THERE’S a table I’m so thankful had an available seat for me!