“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

— Genesis 12:3

Many years ago a man received a message from God, and God basically adopted this man. Later God gave him the name Abraham, which means “father of many.” And yet Abraham had no children. Then God promised to bless Abraham with many children, and somehow, in some way, through Abraham’s family, God would bless all the peoples of the earth.

God stayed true to his promises to bless the world’s peoples through Abraham, even though Abraham’s descendants were quite dysfunctional. And God surprised everyone by keeping his promises through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, a descendant of Abraham. It turns out that Jesus was the Savior not only for God’s adopted people but also for all other peoples as well. And by faith, by trusting in Jesus, people from all nations, tribes, and languages can be adopted into God’s family.

So when we come to the Lord’s table, it is a family table. Just as we do not get to choose our families and all our relatives, there may well be people in our church family whom we might not have chosen. But God chose them—and us—to be a part of his family together. So we belong to God but also to each other. And at this family table there is grace.

Father, thank you for ­accepting us into your family. Just as you have received us in grace, help us do the same for one another. In Jesus’ name, Amen.