When I started high school, I had just moved to a new country. I’d never met any of my classmates before and I had no idea what type of crowd I’d fit into. On my first day of school, a gracious student invited me to eat lunch at her table with her and her friends. She was noticeably a part of the “cool” crowd and I was pretty clearly a quirky choir kid, but she didn’t seem to mind.

When the time came for lunch, she had a place saved for me and I sat down next to her. That's when things got awkward. Apparently, her buddies disapproved of her invitation based on their sideways glances. They generally ignored me and spent the rest of the lunch hour judging the “types” of people seated at other tables. But as the discomfort endured, the girl who’d saved me a seat invited me to join them again the following day. I couldn’t believe it.

We had very little in common and I didn’t end up becoming close friends with her (or her tablemates), but I’ll never forget her willingness to invite a stranger into her world. It was clear she was more concerned with my inclusion than the judgment of her friends. We were in an unlikely high school cafeteria but she showed me the heart of Jesus that day.

Jesus truly “sets the table” for this same kind of love. Appearances and social standing do not exist in the Kingdom of God. Perfect religion and good reputations don’t earn us a seat next to Jesus. He saves those seats for sinners, the broken, and the weak. In Luke 5, Jesus is questioned for dining with sinners and he answers in verse 31, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus doesn’t call us to isolate ourselves and refuse the company of those we don’t deem worthy. Instead, He calls us to look past the order of the world and seek the Kingdom of God instead. He calls us to serve people, no matter where they’re at. Who can you invite to your table today?