Luke 14:12-14 Common English Bible
Then Jesus said to the person who had invited him, “When you host a lunch or dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return and that will be your reward. Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. And you will be blessed because they can’t repay you. Instead, you will be repaid when the just are resurrected.”
Earlier this week Nancy and I were invited to join two other couples for a “formal” dinner party.
The men all wore coats and ties, and the women were dressed to the nines.
It is so much fun to get together with friends,
break bread
and to be able to share life together.
One of the things that Nancy and I really enjoy is going on cruises.
We have cruised with family
And we have cruised with friends.
But probably the most memorable cruise we ever took was our first.
It was to celebrate Nancy’s fortieth birthday and it was just the two of us.
We picked the Holland American line because they had a reputation for being a bit more hoity toity and we were looking forward to a week of being pampered.
What we didn’t expect, was when we departed from the cruise port --- that my suitcase would not be on the ship.
For the first three days
I had the clothes that I had embarked on (Khakis and a Hawaiian print shirt)
A bathing suit and Holland American Tee Shirt that I bought
Every night they would come and get my clothes and wash them for me and deliver them first thing in the morning.
It was CRAZY!
But I can also tell you --- it was better that it was MY suitcase and not Nancy’s!
The biggest challenge was --- before my suitcase would arrive --- they held the first formal night.
I was very active with the Chamber of Commerce in Northwest Indiana --- and as a result of that Nancy and I would attend a number of black-tie events each year.
What always surprised me, is how few people wanted to get “dressed up”
And over the years, the number of people wearing a tux, or a formal dress seemed to become smaller and smaller.
We, however, love it.
There is something special about getting all dressed up.
It came to be the formal night --- and I still did not have my clothes.
Fortunately, the cruise line lent me a tux, so that I could be appropriately dressed.
As we got to dinner, we met our table companions
It ended up being one of the most fascinating evenings of my life.
It was two couples --- who were both in the seventies or eighties
One of the couples, he had been a professor and had marvelous tales to tell
The other, I left convinced had been a spy of some sort for the British government.
Regardless, his tales were fascinating.
You never know who is coming to dinner!
But there are other times --- where we have gone, when we feel like we are not a part of the group.
Everybody seems to know each other
Everybody seems to be huddled in little groups talking amongst themselves
And if you have ever found yourself in that situation --- boy, it can feel uncomfortable.
For those of you who are extroverts --- you may never have sensed that isolation or loneliness that can come from feeling like a fish out of water.
But for the rest of us, who are introverts --- it can be terrifying.
Our Gospel story this morning is set in the midst of typical first century life.
We are told that it is a Sabbath, and Jesus has been invited to dinner at the home of a leading Pharisee
At the meal, Jesus observes “how the guests chose the places of honor” (14:7).
You have to love Jesus’ response to how the people found their seats.
He offers two suggestions to us.
First, he tells a parable in which the point seems to be to discourage his listeners from seeking the most prestigious seat at the table to avoid the humiliating situation of being displaced by someone of greater importance (14:8).
Instead, they are to take the lowest place so that they might be elevated to a more honorable seat by their host
The reality is --- meals were situations that highlighted the social disparities in the first century world.
If you sit down and read contemporaneous documents ---
You can find all kinds of advice about how one is to act at such a meal.
In the Jewish wisdom book, Sirach, we are told to be deferential at such meals. (Sirach 31:12-18)
Jesus goes even further than Sirach in warning against seeking out the most favored or honorable seats.
Humility --- as you know --- is one of the hallmarks that Jesus taught to his followers.
If you read the whole of Luke chapter 14, what will probably strike you is that Jesus DOES NOT castigate the system of honor at meals.
Instead he seems to assume that it is normal.
As we move to our passage this morning --- we hear a slightly different message from Jesus.
Certainly one that address the fabric of the honor and status structures of the first century world --- by turning things upside down --- as Jesus seems prone to do.
[Jesus] turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.” (The Message)
Jesus calls for inclusion of those who cannot return the invitation.
Jesus is inviting us to live by a different social system than the ones dictated by society.
Jesus is inviting us to live by kin-dom values which is marked by radical inclusion.
One of the main reasons that I am a United Methodist
Other than I grew up in this tradition
I appreciate the fact that we have an OPEN TABLE
What I mean by that is that we understand that Christ’s table is open to EVERYONE!
Not just those who are members
Not just those who live by our expectations
Christ’s table is open to EVERYONE
I truly believe that you are a child of God
And that God makes room for YOU at God’s table.
But I also believe that those that I struggle with (OK, sometimes just plain don’t like) that they too are children of God
--- and that God has made room for them at God’s table as well.
And what God desires is for me and you --- to make room for them as well.
Before the pandemic --- Nancy and I regularly hosted dinners at our house and invited you to come.
Somewhere between 50 and 100 of you came and joined us at our home
As the evening approached it wasn’t always comfortable for Nancy and I
We didn’t always know some you when we you came
We didn’t know where the conversation would lead us
But what we found --- is that if we relaxed and trusted in God’s grace and offered hospitality --- that when the evening was over we made new friends
People who we now knew
People who we could share life with
If there was anything that the pandemic stole from ME more than anything else
It was the ability to sit down with people --- some I really didn’t know --- and break bread together and share in the love of God.
We all have something special to contribute to the conversation of radical hospitality
Imagine a world where our differences don’t have to divide us and we can celebrate both what brings us together and what makes us diverse.
Being the Body of Christ does not mean that we will not have uncomfortable experiences
Instead, it offers us the possibility that we all can work toward making space for the uniqueness that exists within the Kingdom of God.
You all have no doubt seen the silly Planet Fitness commercials staring Dennis Rodman and Lindsay Lohan. Two people who generally don’t fit into the mainstream of our society.
Their tagline for the ads seems to be one we can learn from.
They say that their goal is to be a “Judgement Free Zone.”
May we --- As the church, also seek to be place where people don’t feel judged but rather know that they have a place at the table.
That they my know that they are a child of God
This morning we welcomed Simon into the family of God.
Think of the vows YOU made
You promised to nurture each other --- as well as Simon with the love of God
A love that knows NO bounds
May it be so! Amen.
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