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“Whoever is thirsty, let him come.”  Revelation 22:17

I noticed something new during last Sunday’s communion.  The pewter goblet my pastor held up to represent the Passover cup was embossed with a small pineapple at the top. Since the juice inside didn’t come from the fruit on the outside, why the decoration?

The story goes something like this:  When Christopher Columbus and crew arrived on our side of the world for the second time, they came across a fruit Columbus described in his ship’s log as having the shape of a pine cone and the sweetness of an apple—hence, the pineapple.  This delicious fruit became a luxury item in the courts of Europe and, later, in the finest homes of the United States.  Since growing the fruit in cool climates was impossible, the few fresh ones that were shipped to New York or Boston were often rented out as decorations for fancy dinner parties. After several evenings of gracing tables as stunning centerpieces, a pineapple would be purchased by a wealthy family and finally cut and served as a rare delicacy.  Dinner guests who saw a pineapple at their party knew that no expense had been spared in providing them the best. This generosity of hosts and hostesses, combined with the Caribbean practice of setting a pineapple outside the door if receiving visitors, turned the pineapple into the international symbol of welcome and hospitality.

My pastor had not purchased a pineapple cup on purpose, but the symbol could not be more fitting for nowhere on earth can a table be found where the host is more generous and the guests more welcomed.  The One who invites us to His supper paid for the meal with His very life, and He will never turn away any who come. “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”(Jn 6:35).  “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’  Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life”(Rev 22:17).

The door has been flung open wide, and any who desire may walk right in. No expense has been spared in providing the very best, and no meal has ever cost so much.  “He took the break, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you…In the same way, he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you”(Lk 22:19-20.) 

Because Jesus went to the cross, we can come to the table.

You’re very welcome.