Banquet of joy

Isaiah 25 : 6 - 10

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces

We all love banquets, because each one is different and these days, there are themed ones where the food, decoration and program are tastefully matched.

On the mountain of the Lord, we will also experience a banquet, one that also has a theme - of our Sovereign Lord's own choosing. He promises that we will be filled with everything we have ever desired. The theme of his banquet will be one of great joy. The food will be a real 'feast'. But more than that, it will be a time of special restoration and healing for his people.

Yes, we look forward to the good cheer that is to come this Christmas. Already, various groups in churches are preparing programs that will help us share our joy with others. But there is also a solemn reminder, as we flip through the newspapers every day, that, there are still many tears falling in this world. There is still a shroud and a sheet that we frail human beings live under. There is physical death to face. It is inescapable for all. And more than that many suffer untimely and cruel deaths. We ourselves know that there are private sorrows we all bear, tears we shed, though with the Lord sustaining us.

The Lord's banquet theme will be "joy". I wonder how we would feel if we were invited to a banquet with such a theme. In our wildest imagination, what would the Lord's "joy" be like? Someone mentioned at the SD group today that she seeks true joy and true peace of the Lord, not a self-made one. And that joy and peace comes most likely by taking up the cross, the denial of self.....Amazing thoughts as we journey through this special liturgical season.