Come Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest--June 8, 2021

[From June 9, 2015 archive]

 

The title is the first line of 

my grandmother’s table blessing.

 

You were the guest of Zacchaeus, Jesus, 

and he was a sinner. We are sinners too. 

Will you be our guest? 

 

It's not as if your words have been very far 

from us, Jesus; they've been in our mouths 

and in our hearts. 

 

Yet as the serpent by cunning deceived Eve, 

our thoughts have strayed away from our 

devotion to you. 

 

So the poor are despoiled, the needy groan, 

and little we do to place them in the safety 

for which they long. 

 

When you were the guest of Zacchaeus, he 

gave half of his possessions to the poor. 

What would we give? 

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 12; 146; 36; 7 

Deut. 30:11-20 

2 Cor. 11:1-21a 

Luke 19:1-10 

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 12:5 

“Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, 
          I will now rise up,” says the LORD; 
          “I will place them in the safety for which they long.” 

 

Deut. 30:14 

No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe. 

 

2 Cor. 11:3 

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 

 

Luke 19:7 

All who saw it began to grumble and said, "[Jesus] has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner."