The Table That Wasn't Set for Them

When Grace Community Church in Boise opened a free Wednesday night dinner in 2019, the congregation had a picture in their minds of who would come — young families from the neighborhood, maybe some college students from the nearby campus. They set out casseroles and printed little cards with service times.

Instead, the first people through the door were a group of Somali Bantu refugees from a nearby apartment complex. They didn't speak much English. They had never been inside a church building. Several longtime members pulled Pastor David aside, concerned. "This isn't really who we planned this for," one deacon whispered. "We don't even know how to talk to them."

Pastor David hesitated. Then a Somali grandmother named Halima bowed her head before her meal, lips moving in quiet thanks to the Almighty, and her three-year-old granddaughter reached across the table to hold the hand of an elderly church member named Ruth. Ruth started crying.

Within a month, the church had arranged English tutoring. Within a year, Halima's family was worshiping alongside the congregation that almost turned them away.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Peter had eaten with Gentiles, they were scandalized — until Peter told them what God had actually done. Sometimes the Spirit sets a table we never planned, and the most faithful thing we can do is stop arguing with God about the guest list.