S5 E1 - More Than A Table

I noticed a table at our local Chick-Fil-A I had never noticed before. It said the following, "This table was built by artisans from A Better Way Ministries. The materials used were salvaged from unwanted and abandoned homes. The hands that built it belong to a person who also once felt unwanted and abandoned. Love, compassion, and grace are powerful tools." 

In the same manner, Jesus would take notice of those who were unwanted and abandoned. He would take them, use them, and build them into something extraordinary - his body, his church. Jesus is still doing this - and he's doing it with me and you. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to our very first episode in season 5 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Let’s grow together! 

I hope everyone enjoyed a safe, fun filled beginning of this new year! If you’re anywhere geographically close to where I am located, then you spent the start of the new year under a blanket of beautiful snow and ice! Even as I write this, I’m looking out my front porch window to still see the ground sparkling in the dazzling white coat of winter. And with this beautiful new beginning comes a new season – our fifth year of doing this podcast, if you can believe it! Dating all the way back to May of 2021, we have reached over 34,000 people in 70 different countries & over 1500 cities. I never would have imagined at the beginning of this work the way that God could use such a simple message to reach even the furthest corners of the earth. I’m beyond thankful that you have made this a part of your weekly routine with me, and I hope that in some small way I have been able to be a source of encouragement to you and your family as you continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. All glory is to our King, the one we look above to. And with all that being said, let’s jump right into our first episode for this new year and new season. 

It's been about a year since our Chick-Fil-A opened up here in Danville, Kentucky. Naturally, we have become regular customers – we love not only the food, but so much about what the company stands for as well. To illustrate that, it turns out I had been eating on and next to something here in this restaurant for this entire year that I did not become aware of until last night. My daughter Ava and I were attending a local Bible study we have here at this Chick-Fil-A every Thursday evening. We have around a dozen attendees for this study, so each week we have to move tables around to ensure we have enough seating for everyone. As we concluded our study, we started moving tables back to their original spaces when one of our shepherds pointed out a small plaque at the end of the largest table located in the center of the restaurant. This table is different than the rest of the other tables – it’s taller, has different seating, and is extraordinarily beautiful. I’ve always liked the table, and have eaten at it many times, but for whatever reason the plaque at the end of the table has always gone unnoticed right under my nose. I walked over to read the words etched in white onto the silver plating, and it said the following: “This table was built by artisans from A Better Way Ministries. The materials used were salvaged from unwanted and abandoned homes. The hands that built it belong to a person who also once felt unwanted and abandoned. Love, compassion, and grace are powerful tools.” And then the plaque is signed by the website where you can learn more about this effort, called “More Than A Table.” Needless to say, I read the plaque, looked at my shepherd, and said, “I think we’ve got our podcast for tomorrow.” 

This table, compiled and built into something beautiful and magnificent, was formed and fashioned by someone who saw beauty and value where others could not. The artisan took wood from all over that had been neglected, abandoned, and left to rot alone and weaved it all into something incredible. Something that reflects the heart of the maker. As I reflected on this during my drive home, a multiplicity of similarities stuck out to me between this table, its artisan, and our story with Jesus. 

First, Jesus saw value and worth where others saw none. Frequently, he took notice and showed compassion to the downtrodden, the neglected, the outcast, the impoverished, and the broken. In fact, look at the prophecy from Isaiah that Jesus would use to kickoff his ministry. As recorded in Luke 4:16-21, we read, “He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

Who did Jesus come for? Who did he take notice of? The poor. The captive. The blind. The oppressed. The brokenhearted. This was the mission of the Son of Man – not to come to save the righteous (not that any were, but many supposed they were) but to come and to save sinners. To provide hope to the hopeless and those who had long since been overlooked and rejected by others. And we see this all through Jesus’ ministry, don’t we? 

We see it in the sexual immoral woman of John 4, who came out to draw water alone at the well instead of as was custom with the other women. Why? Likely, because she was a grievous sinner, and was rejected by all others. But she was looking for a Messiah, and Jesus would reveal himself to her and offer her living water. 

We see it in the tax collectors and sinners that Jesus called to himself and dined with in Matthew 9. When questioned about his motives, how Jesus could do such a thing, he would respond and tell the Pharisees, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matt. 9:12-13) 

We see it in the children Jesus welcomed to himself in Mark 10. Children that were told not to bother the teacher. Children that were seen as unworthy of his time, his teaching, or his attention. Yet the Master Teacher would respond indignantly, and declare, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:14-16)

How many more stories of Jesus’ compassion on the downtrodden and the hopeless could we reference? The leprous. The woman with the issue of blood. A paralytic lowered through a roof. An invalid by a pool. A grieving widow and mother. A woman caught in adultery. Time would fail us to list them all. Each of them different – but each of them the same. Looked over. Unnoticed. Forgotten. Abandoned. Neglected. Pushed out. Unvalued. Unloved. But not by Jesus. These would all seek him, submit to his teaching, and seek the grace, forgiveness, and healing that was found at his feet. Jesus saw them, and Jesus saw value in them. He knew what he could make them to be, if they were willing to come to him. 

Second, what exactly would Jesus make such ones into? What could he do with someone like these? Or perhaps, maybe the better question would be, what could Jesus do with someone like me? Because if we are being truly honest with ourselves, we are just as broken, sinful, and in as desperate need as those who Jesus personally ministered to during his life – aren’t we? To quote one of my favorite hymns, all of us, like these, must come to Jesus broken to be mended. Wounded to be healed. Desperate to be rescued. Empty to be filled. Guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ the Lamb. But what is most amazing…is like these, we are welcomed with open arms! But for what purpose? What would Jesus do with them? What could Jesus do with me? 

The answer: more than we could possibly ever have guessed or fathomed. Let’s continue in Isaiah, in the same context from which Jesus would have read to begin his ministry but pick up where he left off. Let’s examine Isaiah 61:3-6, “To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. But you will be called the priests of the Lord; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast.” 

Jesus would take that which was twisted and broken and build it into something beautiful. He would transform us into his body, into his church, into a kingdom and priests for our God. As the people of God, we are now his temple and his Spirit dwells in us. He would take us – nobody – and make us not only somebody, but the very thing that would declare the wisdom of God even to the heavenly places (see Eph. 3:10). He would take us from being not a people to his people, from being shown no mercy to being lavished with his (1 Pet. 2:10). But more powerful than anything else…he would take that which was broken, unvalued, and neglected and by the power of his grace use us to reflect even his very nature. We read in 2 Peter 1:3-4, “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.” 

Certainly, love, compassion, and grace are powerful tools. They are the very same tools that our artisan, our creator Jesus Christ used to transform us and make us into something beautiful. May God be praised! And may we, his workmanship and his handiwork, ever declare his glory as we reflect that same love, compassion, and grace towards others in our lives. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 5 episode 1 – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped every Friday, so be sure to tune in next week.  Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating or most importantly share it with someone else – it would help to reach others that I never could alone.  And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.