“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”

These were among the final words delivered by President Ronald Reagan during his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office on Jan. 11, 1989.

As senior pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church, the church that the Reagan family attended before, during, and after those historic two terms of leadership in the White House, I am particularly drawn to those words from the Oval Office.

I believe they not only are a lens through which to understand our nation’s 40th president, but also a reminder of the transformation that can occur in our lives and society today.

Reagan’s faith in God was not leveraged to appeal to a certain block of voters.

Rather it was well documented and authentic, beginning in his childhood and extending throughout his entire life.

Bel Air Presbyterian Church was the community of faith that, for decades, was the spiritual home for both he and his wife, Nancy.

The longtime senior pastor, Donn Moomaw became close with the family when Reagan was an actor and not only gave the prayer for each of the President’s Inaugurations but also flew immediately to Washington D.C. after the assassination attempt on Reagan’s life.

Over the course of those decades, many meals were shared together where relational capital was built, perspectives were shaped, and as Proverbs 27:17 says, “as iron sharpens iron, so one sharpens another.”

That iron sharpening iron even caused President Reagan to speak out against national leadership within his own denomination, the Presbyterian Church USA.

There was a time when the PCUSA was supportive of the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua because they refused to see evidence that went against their pro-liberation theology worldview.

President Reagan had intelligence that the Sandinista regime was not only oppressive to the people but also wiping out local church leadership.

Drawing on that relational capital built over decades, President Reagan sent a letter from the White House to his pastor that included these words:

“I don’t mean to be-labor you but these two articles are very definitely confirmed by our own intelligence and on the spot observations.

“There is no question but that the Sandinistas have a very sophisticated disinformation network which seems to have taken over much of our news media.

“You’ll recall that I told you of meeting the clergymen whose ears had been cut off. His story is in the enclosed clipping.

“I also met with one whose face was a gargoyle mask the result of burns as part of his torture. Well, enough already. Nancy sends her love.”

There are many stories that have been passed down through our church family about the kindness, joyfulness, generosity of President Reagan and especially his large-heartedness towards the children who would approach him.

While people referred to him as a great man, he knew that he was simply a man that served a great God and great things could be accomplished as he led with boldness and faith.

I recently gave the invocation at the Reagan Library, on the 20th anniversary of Reagan’s passing and had the opportunity to hear two panel discussions that reflected both on his foreign and economic policies.

Members of his cabinet were there, and we were all given an inside view of Reagan’s humanity that was both in opposition to Communism at all costs and for every American citizen’s livelihood.

Like all, he made mistakes, and was imperfect.

Yet it was his relentless pursuit of connecting his humanity to the humanity of others for the greater good that enabled his legacy to materialize and to endure.

During that gathering at the Reagan Library, I was reminded of the close relationship with President Reagan, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Thatcher’s daughter and Mulroney’s son shared stories about the three of them sharing meals together and building that same relational capital, shaping perspectives, and sharpening one another in the same manner that Reagan had experienced with his pastor.

Could it be that Reagan noticed something about the life of Jesus that he aimed to emulate?

It was at meals where Jesus most often taught, healed, welcomed, confronted, and transformed.

It was at a wedding feast where Jesus performed his first miracle.

It was through a meal that thousands were fed from five loaves and two fish.

It was a Passover meal that became his Last Supper where he demonstrated the lengths that he would go to demonstrate his love through his body and blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.

It was at the table, both public and private, where transformation occurred in and through Jesus to others.

It is at the table where we can equally share in the humanity of another, build relational capital, have perspectives shape, and to sharpen one another.

Now, more than ever, we need to come together at the table.

And not just with people who are like us and who are easy to be with, but with those who see the world differently.

The great counter to the division we see highlighted on social media, in the news, and in political discourse is something that is woven into the fabric of all of human history, shared meals.

Sadly, we have forgotten how to do this well and we are seeing the effects of it all around in our personal lives and in the public arena.

This concept has impacted me so greatly that I am devoting an entire sermon series, “At the Table, and launching a podcast in the new year. I am doing so not just because society at large needs it, and not just because our church family needs it, but because I need it.

The Rev. Dr. Drew Sams, the pastor of the Ronald Reagan’s church. He notes of the relationships Reagan cultivated with other world leaders around tables, which is where relationship transformation can begin with people who view the world differently.

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