Around the meal

"Seeing this, all murmured, and said : He went to lodge with a sinful man. But Zacchaeus, standing before the Lord, said to him : Behold, Lord, I give to the poor half of my goods, and if I have done something wrong to anyone, I will restore him fourfold." (Luke 19: 5-8).

When we find ourselves with unbelievers, we can not behave as with Christians, or rather, we can not talk to them as we would talk to Christians. So far, they are everything except Christians. They can go to the Catholic or Protestant church, but as long as they have not become children of God by faith, they are just as lost as a demon. A person who is not saved is called in the Word of God a sinner. But it is not because a sinner is a sinner that he must be despised and imagine that his heart will not change. However, we must be vigilant in our words and actions, in their company, "around this meal". We must not become an opportunity to fall. One sentence is enough for the sinner to imagine himself as you are. It is enough for him to see you drink a few glasses of wine around a meal to think that you are like him. But, you are not like him.

A woman told me one day that she had been invited by Christians, and, never having received love, she burst into tears when her guests prayed for the meal thanking God for her presence. She could not imagine that anyone could thank God for just being around this table. Sometimes Christians invite sinners and do not dare to pray. However, to honor God in prayer will bring a presence and a grace of God on this meal and the exchanges that will take place.

When a sinner sees us around a meal, he is surprised to notice our difference. He knows we are. He sees our love, our joy, our simplicity, our character, our words, and that will often work his conscience.

Jeremy Sourdril