Sermon, Luke 14, parable of Great Dinner September 6, 2015 HPMF Parables of Jesus, part II: Invitations and Excuses Luke 14:12-24 12 He said also to the one who had invited him, When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. 15 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! 16 Then Jesus said to him, Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17 At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, Come; for everything is ready now. 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies. 19 Another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies. 20 Another said, I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. 22 And the slave said, Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room. 23 Then the master said to the slave, Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.
We should take note where this parable is told: First of all, this parable is told at a meal, it is told around a dining table. As professor Fred Craddock tells us, nothing is, for the author Luke, more serious than a dining table. The Lord s Supper and the revelation of the risen Christ happen around the table; it is eating together that the disciples receive the promise of the Holy Spirit, and it was by table fellowship that the Jews and Gentiles were able to be the church. It is told around a table, but not just any table it is around a table with a group of Jewish lawkeepers and Pharisees, in the home of one of their leaders. This is not early on in Jesus ministry but when he is already caused controversy, when the author Luke tells us that the Pharisees and lawyers were watching Jesus closely and when some were already, looking for an opportunity to arrest him. And so, the Christian peacemaker should here take note that Jesus is dining with those whom he disagreed sharing a meal in the home of one who has a fundamentally different view of politics and religion than he. While we of course remember and often remark how Jesus dined with tax-collectors, sinners, and prostitutes, we sometimes forget that he too frequently dined and talked with those whom He knew opposed his message and ministry. And so Jesus is in the home of one who is wealthy and prominent. He looks around at all who are there and sees other prominent and wealthy men, and to this gathered group of dignitaries he these dinner instructions: If you host a party do not invite your family and your wealthy friends and acquaintances, instead you should invite those who are disabled and cannot earn a living, you should invite those who are poor and do not partake in fancy dining you should invite those who in no way would be able to repay you. This will bless you, says Jesus. Inviting people into your home who cannot repay you: eating together, sharing your wealth, building a relationship. This is how to throw a party, says the son of God.
As with all of Biblical interpretation, whether they be parables, laws, poetry, letters or other stories, what we see depends on where we stand. How we view and interpret this story depends on who we are it depends on our position in the world, where we live, our socioeconomic background; it depends on how we were taught and educated. It depends on where we stand. It of course depends greatly on how we view the entire story of the Bible what we see as the larger picture taking place. I was surprised to find that this story has been used to justify some of the most shameful acts in Christian history. William Barclay notes that, Long ago Augustine used this text as a justification for religious persecution. It was used as a defense, and even a command, to coerce people into the Christian faith. It was used as a defense of the inquisition, the thumb-screw, the rack, the thread of death, and imprisonment, the campaigns against the heretics, for all those things which are the shame of Christianity. When I read that this week I was shocked, how can this story, which to me seems all about being in relationship with the poor, the marginalized, with those who can not provide for themselves how could this be used to defend and promote religious persecution? It is all because of one sentence, that the Master tells his slave to go out and compel people to come in so that my house may be filled. That one idea, that one word, compel. This was enough for Christians, when they began to have power, to use that power to try and convert people by force. That is not at all what I see happening in this story. Clearly, what we see in the scriptures depends on where we stand. It depends on who we are. It depends on our community and our teachers. What we see depends on where we stand.
This parable addresses one of the main questions of the gospels, why are some responding to Jesus ministry and message while others are not? And who are the people who are responding? In this way, it could be seen as similar to our parable from last Sunday, the Parable of the Sower what makes some better soil for receiving and thriving under the message of God s love? What makes some respond to Jesus and others reject the invitation? This parable offers some insight, those listening to the parable offer insight those who most benefit from the current system of religion, from the current economic method, those who have plenty these are the ones who seem most likely to offer excuses for not responding to the new thing that God is doing in Jesus Christ. Those who are like me, religious leaders and teachers those who have stature and position because of the current religious system they are the least likely to respond to this new initiative of God. We are the most likely to be conservative. Not politically conservative, but conservative meaning slow to change slow to be open to new movements and new things that God might be doing. The church as institution and churches leaders are usually conservative slow to change. This was true in Jesus day and it is still true today. And there are some good things about that, we should not just be jumping around from new idea to new idea, from new theological concept to concept. We should be thoughtful about change; we should be thoughtful about when God may or may not be doing something new when the Spirit of God might be blowing into our lives and into world in a new way. In some ways it is important for us to be slow and thoughtful for us at times to be conservative and ask whether this is really a movement of the God of liberation and love, or if it might be something else?
And we also must be open to new movements of God s Spirit; we also have to be open to listen to the God who is always at work to the Spirit of God who is always working in us and through us, and outside of us, and in spite of us. History tells us that it was people like me, and people like some of you, that were the very last in the western world to convert to Christianity. That most people like me, men with status and money did not become Christian until the entire Roman Empire became Christian. It was women, it was the poor, it was those who were not accepted under the Roman and Jewish systems that were the first to follow the message of Christ. These were the ones who responded to the liberating message of Jesus because it included them it was for them, it offered them status. It was a message that told them that they mattered. That they were somebody. That they were invited to the table. And I think this is what the parable means when the master tells the servant to go out and compel them to come it. They have to be compelled because they have to be convinced that they are actually invited they must be told that they actually matter and are considered worthy that the master truly desires them at the table. They have been told they are nothing. They have been told they are poor or unable to care for themselves because they are sinners. They have been misinformed by a system that has exploited them and pushed them out by a system that benefits from their being poor; from a system that benefits from the fact that they have to work all day just to literally buy bread. They have internalized these messages, they have believed them about themselves. And so they have to be compelled they have to be told that they are truly welcome that whatever their clothing may be, whatever their economic status, whatever their smell they have a place at the table. The kingdom of God is theirs.
This is not a story about aggressive evangelism. It is a story about the nature of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God, the belief that God is in control and we are to live as such; the view that God has ordered this world in a particular way As I quoted a few months ago, believing is simply acting as if something we true. And so if we believe in the kingdom of God, that is to say, if we believe that God is in control of this place, this time (now) and the future, then how do we act? This is part of what the kingdom of God means, I think for us to act as if it were so. To live as if all people truly are valued. To live as if all people truly are created in the image of God with limitless potential. To live on the earth as if it really were a sacred creation of God that is to be treasured and cared for. To live on this earth as if the last shall be first and the first shall be last. To live on this earth as peacemakers who dine with our enemies. To live on this earth where we do not just invite our friends and family to dinner, but where we also invite those who are down and out, those who we struggle with, those who are different from us, those who are impoverished. The challenge of this parable is not the same challenge as other parts of the gospels. The challenge here, in my view, is not the challenge of Matthew 25 where Jesus asks, when did we see you hungry when did we see you naked when did we visit you in prison. This is not a parable of charity. This is not calling us to take care of the needs of the poor, lonely, vulnerable and disabled. Jesus is calling us to be in relationship, to invite them to dinner. To know and be known. This is a parable of acceptance, of recognizing others as one s equal, of cementing fellowship. As Fred Craddock says, this parable illustrates to us that, in the Christian Community no one is a project.
This parable challenges the pare of me that needs to be needed. This parable challenges the part of us that wants to stop with charity to offer a meal or send school-kits and have that be the end of it. The parable challenges the part of us that simply wants to write a check. All of those acts of charity, mercy, and love are vitally important and we have to do them, AND these words of Jesus about who to invite into our homes for dinner parties these words challenge the part that wants to end there. These words challenge us to consider where we might take the step from charity to relationship, to knowing and being know. And this is not an easy thing to do. We do not have a lot of places set-up in our society to help people of different backgrounds and statures interact. We are set-up to keep ourselves separate, to keep a protective barrier between us and those different. Even when we try we are often separated by the barrier of the kitchen counter us serving the food to others. For me at Corpus Christi, I try to be in relationship, but I know that it is not equal. I have access to the Corpus checkbook and so it is in someone s best survival interest to be in relationship with me and be nice to me, because they might need to ask me for a check some day. I will not tell you that it is easy. It is much easier to be a resource bank than a place of relationship. Still, we are called to relationship. I took a class in Chicago about Christian Community Development, how Christian groups and churches can contribute to low-income neighborhood redevelopment rather than fleeing poor neighborhoods. In that class we read the book When Helping Hurts: how to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor or yourself. And in that book I learned about a simple concept that has helped me reshape my thinking about what it means to be a Christian within a
community what it means to try and help. It is a concept that I think matches closely with these words of Jesus. In this book they describe three types of Churches: 1. Church in the community. This is when a church just happens to be where the building is the congregants don t have much interaction with the community. Most people do not live there they drive or bike in. The church building could be anywhere and does not have much direct interaction in the community where they live. This type of church is increasing as more and more larger churches move from neighborhoods out to the edges of town in order to build larger buildings. 2. Church to the community. The authors say that this is where many churches end up when they are wanting to help and be involved in their communities. This type of church is often a station of resources the church becomes a place where people in the community might come for free goods and services: to a food pantry or a clothing closet or to receive other types of assistance. In this type of church the congregants try to do work for the community or serve the community. These are all important services that congregations offer as we try hard to fill in some of the holes in our social safety net. 3. Church with the community. This is, what the authors hope all congregations are on a journey to. This is a church that works to build relationship in the community to not just give goods and services but to build relationships with those being served. This type of church tries to serve with the community and to discern together with members of the community what might be needed. This type of church would not start a food pantry without first asking members of the community, is this needed?
And, if it is, how could we best do this together? This is the hardest place to get to because it takes time, effort, and uncomfortability. It takes lots of trial and error. a. Being a church WITH the community might mean having a joint community dinner once a week instead of having a food pantry a chance to sit and eat together. Or, it might mean having people from the community working with church members to assemble food boxes. b. We try to do this at Corpus, having guests do some of the cleaning and working, but it is tricky. Lots of dynamics at play. Hardest and most rewarding part of being there. c. MCC tries to do this, they try to work with and through local organizations. These school kits will not just be dropped off, but distributed through local groups who are working. I think this is a framework that is helpful for us to have in our minds both as a church and as individuals. We will not be all in one realm or the other, but it is important to think about whether all of our service and mission lands in the TO realm. Are there places we are in service WITH others in the community, where we are building relationship and learning together? Where we are working side-by-side with those were are serving (or, at least attempting to do this)? Places we are being pushed by new encounters and new relationships. As we seek to continue to be open to the Spirit of God, I think it is vitally important to strive to be the church WITH the community. As part of an institution that is inherently conservative, we need to take steps toward being people in loving service WITH those whom we seek to serve, and to alert each other to where those things are happening to places we might be able to work at
relationship building and learning. And it is important to dream together of where and how that might happen. Like the author Luke, we should not take lightly what happens around the table. We should not take lightly who we are and are not sharing table fellowship with. Let us renew our belief that Jesus revealed to us the ways that God wants us to live on this earth and so, let us act as if it were true. Amen.