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There is no unity without empathy. We can't bridge divides with people we refuse to understand. We can't love people whose experiences we dismiss or ignore. We can't be one body if we don't care about the pain other parts of the body are feeling.

When we drink from the same cup and eat from the same bread, we're declaring that we belong to each other. We're saying that what happens to one of us matters to all of us.

When we let our preferences, opinions, and even deeply held convictions become more important than our unity in Christ, we miss the point of what it means to be the church. We become just another divided group arguing about who's right instead of a community transformed by God's love.

From the car you prefer to drive to the way you like to spend your free time, our lives are filled with choices we make that can divide us. So how can we, as followers of Jesus, find a way to be united when there are so many things that try to pull us apart? At the communion table, we're reminded that no matter our differences, we are one body: the body of Christ.

Karl Barth was one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. He wrote volumes on complex doctrines and spent his life studying the deepest mysteries of faith. But when someone asked him the most profound truth he'd learned, his answer was beautifully simple: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

We like to think we're more inclusive than the religious people of Jesus' day, but we still struggle with this. We still have unspoken guest lists for God's table. We still think some people are more worthy of God's love than others. We still find ourselves surprised when God welcomes people we wouldn't have invited.

How many times have we been too busy for God? Too occupied with work to pray regularly. Too exhausted from our schedules to read scripture. Too overwhelmed with family responsibilities to serve others. Too stressed about our own problems to notice people in need.

Jesus loves to turn our expectations upside down. In the world's economy, you work your way up the ladder. You prove yourself worthy of promotion. You earn your seat at the big table through talent, effort, and strategic networking.

We still walk into rooms wondering where we fit. We still scan the conference table at work, wondering if we're important enough to speak up. We still feel uncertain at family gatherings, church events, or neighborhood barbecues, trying to figure out our place.

We live in a world that constantly tells us we have to earn our place at the table by being the strongest, the richest, or the most popular. But no matter how hard you try, there will always be people who seem to be better than you. But that's not how it works in God's kingdom. In God's kingdom, everyone has a place at the table...not because we've earned it but because God wants us to be there.