Liz Larson
Imagine with me for a moment – you take the T to work and need to walk a few blocks to and from your stop. Everyday on your walk home you pass by a world-renowned restaurant with an award winning, famous chef – reservations are impossible to get, booked out years in advance. And even if you, by some miracle, could get a reservation, you’d never be able to afford a meal there. But even still, you walk by every day and you stop to glance at the menu for that evening, just to catch a glimpse of the exceptional food that they are serving each day. This particular day, you linger for a moment because the menu happens to be some of your favorite foods; you take in the moment as wafts of some of the delicious smells emerge from the building, while you imagine how these dishes are prepared.
Just then you’re interrupted by a friendly shout catching your attention, and notice – is it true? It’s the chef! The chef approaches you and says, “I’ve seen you walk by here and look at the menu every day. Today, no one showed up for their reservations. I want you to come in and dine here, no cost – it’s on me.”
The arts ministry invited its fellow makers to create and share something inspired by the parables of Jesus. Having participated in the Sermon on the Mount Art Share, I knew I wanted to contribute another song with my husband Kris (a great pianist and song-writer). However, I already had a song beginning to take shape as a result of our Lenten sermon series and the Vigil, inspired by the Table. I had been meditating on Isaiah 55:1-2 (“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.”). During Lent when we gave up additional noise, melodies started coming to me and I awkwardly recorded them as voice memos. As I stitched the bits of melody together, I continued to pull the thread of the Table and the Feast. The Word was coming alive to me, with images of a feast jumping out to me:
Psalm 23:5 – You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Song of Solomon 2:4 – He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love.
Revelation 22:17 – The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let everyone who hears say, “Come.” And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
Then I read this parable to Faye (our daughter) from her children’s Bible – Luke 14:15-24 – the parable of the feast where those invited didn’t show up so the host says “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” and the slave says there’s more room, so the host replies, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and COMPEL people to come in, so that my house may be filled.” – which inspired my preamble as a way to enter into imagining this feast as an invitation to delight in the richness of the Kingdom of God. This image has brought me great comfort and is shaping me in how I relate to Jesus.
Here are the lyrics of the song (melody and lyrics by me, chords and accompaniment by Kris):
Verse 1
Come, everyone who thirsts to the table of the Lord
And come, you who have no money to the table of the Lord
Pre-chorus
Why spend all your earnings on what does not satisfy?
Jesus has a feast inviting us to freely dine
Chorus
At the table of the Lord there’s communion, there is peace
Bread and wine, living water, you will never thirst again
At the table of the Lord Jesus begs you to partake
And delight in the abundance of an everlasting feast
At the table of the Lord
Verse 2
Come, you who are alone to the table of the Lord
Come, here’s where you belong – at the table of the Lord
Pre-chorus
Boldly take a seat your empty hands are just enough
Jesus hangs a banner claiming you are his beloved
Chorus
Bridge (2x)
The spirit and the Bride say “come”
Let everyone who hears say, “come”
Let everyone who’s thirsty come
And freely drink the water of life
Chorus
The invitation to co-create with God has been a rich source of discipleship and a pathway into deeper communion with God. This particular piece felt truly inspired, as God guided and directed me through practices of silence, discomfort, risk, and His Word. I am grateful for how the Arts Ministry at Church of the Cross continues to model and invite artists to use creativity to be formed into the likeness of Jesus and reflect the ultimate Creator.
Liz Larson is a Special Education Teacher for Somerville Public Schools who also happens to be a classically trained operatic soprano and musical theater enthusiast. She lives in Stoneham with husband Kris and daughter Faye, where they make music and host dinner parties as much as possible.