February 2, 2025
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
“A Crowded Table: The Vision of Love”
by Rev. Trip Porch
February 2, 2025 Based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
I grew up in the South, where hospitality is something of an art form. And I can tell you, the heart of southern hospitality isn’t just a friendly wave or a well-set porch—it’s the table. Some of my best memories of love, of true belonging, happened around the table. Sunday dinners with family where laughter and stories were passed as freely as the biscuits. Church potlucks where everyone brought their best dish, and somehow, even if you didn’t have much to bring, there was always enough for you. The table was where I knew I was loved. Where I knew I belonged.
And I imagine some of you have memories like that, too—whether it was at a family dinner, a meal with friends, or a moment when you found yourself welcomed at a table that wasn’t even yours. There’s something about the table that speaks of love, of connection, of the way we were meant to live together.
But we also know that the world doesn’t always look like that. We live in a time when people are more disconnected than ever. We sit at separate tables—at restaurants, at work, even in our own homes. There’s a loneliness in the world, a fragmentation that is so at odds with the kingdom of God.
There’s a video I’ve been thinking about, from Canada’s “Eat Together” campaign. It starts with a young woman in an apartment building, watching as people move past each other, heads down, disconnected, caught up in their own worlds. She goes into her apartment, about to eat alone, but then something stirs in her. Instead of accepting loneliness, she and her roommate carry a table into the narrow hallway. And slowly, one by one, neighbors begin to join in—bringing their chairs, their dishes, their presence. Apartment by apartment, they build a long, crowded table, transforming their isolation into a feast of connection. A new reality unfolds. A different way of being. A vision of love.
That’s what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 13. This passage is often read at weddings, and its beautiful poetry—but Paul didn’t write it for newlyweds. He wrote it for the church. A church that, like the world around it, was struggling with division. A church that was fractured by status, by spiritual pride, by the human tendency to separate and elevate. And Paul says, no—none of that matters. If you have all the right beliefs but don’t have love, you’re just making noise. If you have all the right words, all the power, all the success, but don’t have love, you have nothing. Because love isn’t just an idea—it’s a way of being. A way of building a world where we are connected. A world where everyone has a place at the table.
This is what Jesus came to show us. Throughout his ministry, Jesus was always at the table. Eating with tax collectors and sinners. Sharing meals with the people society pushed aside. And when he gathered his disciples at the Last Supper, he gave them a meal to remember him by. Not a monument, not a doctrine, but a table. Bread broken, wine poured, a place where all belong.
That’s what we come to today in communion. We come to a table that isn’t ours—it’s God’s. And God’s vision for this table is not a small, exclusive gathering, but a great feast where the hungry are fed, where the lonely are embraced, where everyone has a place. It’s the vision in the song we heard today, Crowded Table:
"The door is always open, your picture’s on my wall, Everyone’s a little broken, and everyone belongs."
That’s the kingdom of God. A place where the door is always open. A place where we bring our brokenness and find belonging. A place where love is not just an idea but a lived reality.
And friends, that’s our calling as the church. To be the crowded table. To be the place where the lonely find community, where the hungry are fed, where love is made real. It’s easy to talk about love, but love is patient. Love is kind. Love takes effort. Love invites, even when it would be easier to stay in our own spaces. Love makes room, even when the table is full. Love looks like showing up, again and again, for one another.
So today, as we come to this table, let’s take seriously what it means. Not just for this moment, but for how we live beyond it. Let’s be the people who build long tables instead of high walls. Let’s be the church that embodies the love that Paul describes—a love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Because in the end, only three things will remain: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.
May our table be crowded. May our hearts be open. And may we live this love, today and always. Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE “Let Us Break Bread Together” arr. Kurt Meyer
INTROIT “With Joy, With Praise, With Love, With Peace” Emma Lou Diemer
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
One: This is the day that the Lord has made
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
*CALL TO WORSHIP
One: Come, all who are hungry for love, all who are searching for belonging.
All: We come to worship, where there is a place for all.
One: The apostle Paul teaches that Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not insist on its own way.
All: We come to be welcomed by divine love, to be shaped by love, to live in love, to share love.
One: Let us worship the God who crowds us around the heavenly banquet, to feast in love
All: Let us worship with joy and gratitude!
*HYMN 507 “Come to The Table of Grace” TABLE OF GRACE
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION Brian Roe
God of boundless love, we confess that we do not always love as You love. We build walls to divide instead of tables to welcome. We turn inward instead of reaching out. We hold onto fear instead of embracing trust. Forgive us, Lord. Open our hearts to the fullness of Your love, that we may love one another as You have first loved us. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 583 “Gloria, Gloria” GLORIA (Taize)
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
ANTHEM “Crowded Table” Natalie Hemby, Lori McKenna, and Brandi Carlile
arr. Andrea Ramsey
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Dorothy Kyle
SCRIPTURE 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 CEB
If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don’t have love, I’m a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all the mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains but I don’t have love, I’m nothing. If I give away everything that I have and hand over my own body to feel good about what I’ve done but I don’t have love, I receive no benefit whatsoever.
Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth. Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. As for prophecies, they will be brought to an end. As for tongues, they will stop. As for knowledge, it will be brought to an end. We know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, what is partial will be brought to an end. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things. Now we see a reflection in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known. Now faith, hope, and love remain—these three things—and the greatest of these is love.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
*HYMN 693 “Though I may Speak” GIFT OF LOVE
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
On Sundays where uncredited African American Spirituals are sung, any loose offering will go to support the Columbus Cultural Orchestra, whose mission is to advance a collective of multi-generational musicians of color by performing high-quality jazz, classical, and hip-hop music.
OFFERTORY “I’m Gonna Eat at the Welcome Table” arr. P.F. Tillen
COMMUNION
INVITATION TO THE TABLE
GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
SHARING OF BREAD AND CUP 205 Live in Charity (Ubi Caritas) UBI CARITAS
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
God of abundance, we thank You for feeding us at this table of grace.
May this meal strengthen us to love as fully as you do. May your welcome expand our welcome, and call us to live out your kingdom. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
*HYMN 770 “I’m Gonna Eat at the Welcome Table” WELCOME TABLE
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE & BENEDICTION
CHORAL RESPONSE “We Take the Love of God” Emma Lou Diemer
POSTLUDE “Now Let Us from This Table Rise” arr. Christopher Alexander
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452