Is there a pecking order at your table? Gerry Clower, the comedian from Yazoo City, Mississippi told about a family of boys which reminded me of my family when I was growing up. In a poor family, everyone had eaten a piece of fried chicken and the ravenous eyes looked at the final chicken leg on the plate. When momma asked, with one voice the boys said they were full. Then the lights went out and a scream broke the silence. When the lights came on, one boy had his fork in the chicken and the rest had their forks pressing against his hand. That is the way I remember meals at our house!
Joseph’s brothers were shocked to receive his hospitality. Though they could not yet understand that this was their brother, they knew something strange was happening. Egyptians ate separately. Joseph had his own table. But his brothers were arranged in order by birth. They had not shared this information with the lord of the land. Remember the rights of the firstborn in ancient Israel. The oldest brother should have been served first and most. But the servers flipped the order, giving the youngest brother Benjamin five times as much food as the rest. Nobody complained though. They feasted at the table like sons of a king.
Once again in the Abraham family, God subverted the birth-order and the rule of primogeniture. God has a heart for the underdog. He cares about the lost, the last and the least. Imagine if you were Benjamin that day. Honored by his father Israel, he remained the “baby” in the family. Joseph gave him the honor which the brothers had not given Joseph.
At God’s table, the least still receive grace. Tenure as a Christian does not grant you more grace. Jesus told about the workers who only worked for a short time getting the same wages as the workers who had been laboring all day (Matthew 20:1-16). Are we able to rejoice when others flourish? This is a sign that we comprehend grace. Nobody deserves to be at the table, but God welcomes us warmly and serves us freely. Grace is always on the menu. In God’s upside-down kingdom, the last become first. Bon Appetit!
