Table Grace: The role of hospitality in the Christian Life

by Douglas D. Webster

When we as Christians open our homes to friends and strangers, set the table, put on a meal, and break bread together, we invite God’s blessing. This pattern of hospitality is at the heart of the gospel. Food for the body and food for the soul can and does belong together.
Table fellowship fits into the New Testament narrative so unobtrusively that we can almost miss it. Jesus used simple hospitality and meal time conversations to share some of the most profound truths of the gospel.
Our Faith is often squeezed into a corner of life reserved for church services and Bible study groups. But God desires to be at the center of our ordinary, every–day life together and never more so than in a home open to others.
Table grace is food for the mind, a metaphor for communion with God.
Table grace is food for the body, a means for sustaining physical strength.
Table grace is food for the soul, a method for understanding God’s values
Table grace is food for the hungry, a model for serving Christ and his Kingdom.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Douglas D. Webster is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Preaching at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.

Reviews

[Paul]

In the Old Testament there is a clear connection between eating and worship, combining a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for the grace of His acceptance and provision, together with the joyful and celebratory consumption of food God has provided. And this celebration is communal, eaten together in the family of God.

Many things stand out from “Table Grace,” but the most impressive are the examples—with practical exposition—of multiple Bible accounts of how in ordinary meals God reveals His gracious presence—sometimes to confront, then teaching and edifying the faithful.

The book covers various aspects of Christian fellowship and hospitality. And it all comes together in the deep significance of the Lord’s Supper. One of the strengths of this book is that it helps me realize that every meal, and especially in the family of faith, is a reminder of both the Last Supper and the coming Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

[Rachel]

The first 2 chapters were on hospitality. The rest was a long and drawn out sermon on I don't know what.

[J.Aleksandr Wootton]

I wanted and expected to like this book, hospitality being a passion of mine, but while Webster had many fine things to say it really wasn't a book about hospitality. Two of its ten chapters were on-topic; the other eight were sort of explications of biblical texts featuring tables and/or food, and rather muddled ones at that (Webster kept going off on tangents or little side-eddies of theological free-association).

What this book really needed was a bold development editor: Someone with a strong vision for the final product, capable of forcing Webster to revise, rethink, and stay focused.

[Dana]

This book had some gems amongst the pages but overall was just okay. Also, not sure I agreed with all his theology.

[Christina]

I didn't finish reading, very dry.