Place at the Table

Chris Seay

Description

In a culture built on consumption--especially of food--it is easy to forget the poor that Jesus cared so much about. Following the pattern of his successful Advent Conspiracy, Chris Seay invites readers on a journey of self-examination, discipline, and renewed focus on Jesus that will change their lives forever.He challenges readers to eat like the poor for forty days in solidarity with a much-neglected group of people, and to donate the money they save on groceries to a charity or project that serves the poor in concrete ways. But he doesn't expect them to go it alone. A Place at the Table includes a short chapter for each of those forty days with Scripture, reflections, prayers, encouragement, and tips for engaging the whole family in the process. The six-session DVD, shot in such locations as the Holy Land, Haiti, and Ecuador, will help small groups and entire churches go on a passionate journey of radical faith, personal action, solidarity with the poor, and extravagant grace.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 15 janvier 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441235800
• Langue: English

Extrait

© 2012 by Chris Seay
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-3580-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Scripture is taken from The Voice™, Copyright © 2011 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The information provided herein should not be construed as a health-care diagnosis, treatment regimen, or any other prescribed health-care advice or instruction. The information is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in the practice of medicine or any other health-care profession and does not enter into a health-care practitioner/patient relationship with its readers. The publisher does not advise or recommend to its readers treatment or action with regard to matters relating to their health or well-being other than to suggest that readers consult appropriate health-care professionals in such matters. No action should be taken based solely on the content of this publication. The information and opinions provided herein are believed to be accurate and sound at the time of publication, based on the best judgment available to the author. However, readers who rely on information in this publication to replace the advice of health-care professionals, or who fail to consult with health-care professionals, assume all risks of such conduct. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.
The prayer on page 221 is from Prayers for A Privileged People by Walter Brueggemann. © 2008 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.
Published in association with the literary agency of Fedd & Company, Inc.
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
In memory of my grandfather Robert Steele Baldwin (Bro. Bob).
For sixty years you served the church as a pastor, taught me about the radical love of Jesus, and lived out the best sermon ever preached. I miss you so much, but I know that heaven is your greatest delight.
When the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end.
Shane Claiborne
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Lysa Terkeurst
Introduction : An Invitation to a Life-Changing Journey
1. From Consuming to Sharing : Embracing Our Ability to Change Things
2. Miracle Bread : Nurturing Gratitude for God’s Provision
3. Tools : Practical Steps for Fasting as a Sacred Journey
4. Fasting and Feasting : Embracing the Rhythm of the Kingdom
Daily Readings
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
Feast Day: Celebrating Well
Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10
Feast Day: Celebrating Abundance
Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 Day 15 Day 16
Feast Day: Celebrating the Journey
Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Day 20 Day 21 Day 22
Feast Day: Celebrating God
Day 23 Day 24 Day 25 Day 26 Day 27 Day 28
Feast Day: Celebrating the Sabbath
Day 29 Day 30 Day 31 Day 32 Day 33 Day 34
Feast Day: Jesus Enters the City
Day 35 Day 36 Day 37 Day 38 Day 39 Day 40
Feast Day: Celebrating Forgiveness
Conclusion : Walking Onward
A DVD Guide for Groups and Individuals
Notes
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Acknowledgments
T o my family: Lisa, Hanna, Trinity, Solomon, and Christian, you make life so much fun.
I am so grateful for siblings who are my dearest friends: Brian, Jennifer, Robbie, and Jessica, you are the best.
Ecclesia, it is a privilege to serve you as we strive to see the gospel of our Liberating King change the world. Thank you for believing in miracles and looking for the best in other people. I am so grateful to Steven Hicks, Elizabeth Cook, and Wayne Brown for helping me lead within my strengths. I love you all!
Many thanks to Mark Lanier and the dedicated staff at the Lanier Theological Library. I consider the library and chapel to be the Eighth Wonder of the World and feel so blessed to read, write, study, and pray in this sacred place.
Kelly Hall, I am so grateful for your help on this project.
My amazing agent, Esther Fedorkevich: I am grateful for your partnership on this and many future projects.
To my editor: Chad Allen, it has been a joy working with you. I am also grateful to all of the amazing people at Baker.
Rick McKinley, Greg Holder, and all the Advent Conspirators, I pray that we all continue to Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All!
Ecclesia Bible Society and all the team working on The Voice : your hard work in bringing the Scriptures to life for those who may have never heard this good news is forever appreciated.
Foreword
Dare to Discover
I always thought issues like poverty and orphans were too big for me to get involved. Too far removed. Too expensive and complicated. Too daunting for my stage of life.
I was an overwhelmed white girl trying to navigate being a wife and mom to three little people. I was compassionate, but I was distracted. I reasoned there would be a time for me to think beyond my own mailbox eventually, but not now.
That is, until God brought Africa to my doorstep.
It was an ordinary day in my rush-and-hurry life. My girls were giddy with excitement over our scheduled outing with my middle daughter’s Brownie troop. In the midst of slapping sandwiches on the table and throwing hair bows on the ends of three little tangled ponytails, I grabbed a world map and quipped, “Liberia. That’s where this choir that we’re going to hear today is from. It’s a country in South America, kids. Let’s find it.”
We looked and looked. Then my oldest daughter, nine at the time, said, “Um, Mom, I’m pretty sure Liberia is this little country over here on the west coast of Africa.”
“Absolutely. I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.”
Off we went on this ordinary day to an ordinary church in the middle of our ordinary town. We sat in an ordinary pew and felt nothing but ordinary.
Until. Until the extraordinary presence of God invaded that very ordinary place. God brought Africa, the orphans, the poverty, the reality, very close. Too close to ignore. Too close to deny. Too close to walk away. Too close to stay wrapped up in my ordinary life.
I couldn’t do everything, but I could do something.
Our family’s something wound up being a wonderfully crazy adventure of making a place at our table for two African choir boys who became our sons through adoption. And while adoption can be wonderful, it’s not the only way to make a place at the table. It’s not the only way to let God interrupt the ruts of normal. The normal that keeps us distracted and blinded and without expectation of something more. But one thing is certain: the something more we’re made to experience with God can only be found outside the ruts.
So here’s my challenge. Are you willing to stay out of the rut of normal for 40 days? Are you willing to mess with your normal patterns of eating in this 40-day adventure? It’s biblical, but it’s hard. It’s worth it, but it will surely bump into your “happy” in many ways.
I know this to be true on a personal level. You know that Scripture about not twisting your face and sulking because you’re fasting? Yes, well, that’s a hard one for me.
I recently did an extended fast from sugar and soda. At certain points of my journey, I wanted something sweet and something with fizz so badly I felt I should wear a T-shirt: “I’m fasting from sugar and soda. Talk to me at your own risk.”
Lovely. That sort of defeats the whole spiritual growth part of fasting, right? But, let’s be honest, leaving the rut of normal isn’t easy.
The book you’re holding, written by my friend Chris Seay, is a realistic, honest, and compassionate treasure. Anyone escaping the rut of normal through fasting will appreciate Chris’s spiritual depth along with his transparency about being human.
We will come to our wit’s end during this fast. Some of us will blow it. But Chris reminds us this journey isn’t about our power, strength of character, or self-control. It is a journey of surrender to God that will usher us from rut dwelling to transformed living.
In the process of being transformed, we will become more and more aware not just of our hunger but of the hunger of the world.
We will sit down at the table more eager to ponder those we might serve instead of pouncing on the plenty to which we’ve grown so accustomed. So very tragically accustomed. God help us.
A place at the table. Indeed, a place at the table for God and for remembering those less fortunate. But even more so, a place to stop the rut of constant inhale. Taking in, taking in, taking in. It clogs the soul. So for 40 days, let us learn to exhale with great thanksgiving. Thankful for Africa coming close. For pondering what God might bring close during this fast. For this place where our souls breathe and dream once again.
Lysa Terkeurst
Introduction
An Invitation to a Life-Changing Journey
Do you wish your prayer to fly towards God? Give it two wings: fasting and almsgiving.
Augustine of Hippo
E arly in 2011, I was blessed to travel to the Holy Land and sit for hours just outside Jericho atop Mount Quarantania (which in Latin means “forty”), named for the 40 days Jesus fasted in preparation for His ministry. This mountain and its surroundings are where Jesus wandered during His days of fasting, contemplation, and temptation. Looking out over th