Biblical Passages:
1 Corinthians 11:27–29
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For all who eat and drink without discerning the body eat and drink judgment against themselves.
Luke 14:21–23
21So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.
Reflection
The question is not simply who belongs at the table? The deeper question is: Who has been told they do not belong? For generations, the sacred texts have too often been used as a site of exclusion. Scripture has been interpreted to wound, communion fenced off, and the table of grace turned into a border patrol. Many queer siblings know this pain intimately.
In First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul warns against eating and drinking without discerning the body. Too often this text has been used to police worthiness, when Paul is confronting injustice at the table, some feast while others go hungry. The sin is not that certain people come to the table; the sin is when the body is dishonoured through exclusion.
Then Jesus interrupts exclusion in the Gospel of Luke. “Go out… bring them in.” Those cast aside become honoured guests. The banquet becomes a protest against scarcity, hierarchy, and respectability.
Who all belong? Everyone made in the image of God belongs. Queer people belong. Wounded people belong. Doubting people belong. People recovering from shame belong.
Who presides over? Jesus presides over, not fear, not doctrine (weaponised), not gatekeepers. Christ is the host, and Christ keeps setting extra places at the table.
Who is excluded? Often it is the church that excludes when it mistakes control for holiness.
But the gospel refuses a closed table.
The communion table is not only a place where we receive grace; it is where we practice justice. It asks whether our worship mirrors God’s abundance. A table where some are denied bread because of identity is not Christ’s table.
Jesus does not ask the excluded to earn a seat. Jesus commands: bring them in.
And perhaps the most radical truth is this: those once kept from the table are not merely invited as guests, they help reshape the feast.
Short Prayer
God of abundance and radical welcome, stretch our tables wider than our fears. Where we have excluded, forgive us. Where we have been wounded, heal us. Make your church a banquet of belonging, where queer lives are celebrated, where justice and communion embrace, and where no one is turned away from grace. In Christ, the host of every open table. Amen.
Author: Rev Elder Nokuthula Dhladhla
About the Author: Rev. Elder Nokuthula Dhladhla serves on the Council of Elders within Metropolitan Community Church and as Regional Coordinator for Global Interfaith Network, advancing justice, inclusion, and human dignity. She is a pastor, theologian, activist, and community builder committed to faith-rooted advocacy, LGBTIQ+ inclusion, and transformative leadership across Africa.
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