Values Found within
a Community
By Rev Steven R
Mitchell
Mountain View
United Church, Aurora, CO 9/01/2013
Based on Luke 14:1,
7-14
“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your
brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors;… 13 But
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed.” As we come to this table this morning, we are
once again reminded by Jesus’ words about “who” is invited to this table. And by extension of this table, “who” is
invited into this faith community, and finally, “who” is invited into the
Kin-dom of God.
We read this morning that Jesus has been
invited to a dinner party given by one of the Pharisees, a member of a
religious group that most of us have been taught to be the “bad guys” that
Jesus was in constant conflict with.
Yet, Pharisees were the “good people” of their day. They never missed a religious meeting, they
studied the Scriptures, they tithed, and they set the moral standards for their
culture. Today, we would consider them
faithful, solid church members. It would
do us well to remember that the Pharisees were operating through one set of
lens of how God expects God’s people to act, and that Jesus was operating
through a differing set of lens in how he understood the laws of God.
The very first verse sets the mood for
that particular Sabbath meal, “… he was being
carefully watched.” I don’t know how many of you ever have been
invited over to somebody’s house for a social gathering and feel like every
move you make is being scrutinized, but as a pastor, I know this feeling. Pastors by the very nature of the position
that they hold in a faith community are always under scrutiny; the cloths that
they wear, the type of car that they drive, the house that they live in, the
sermons that they preach, even the friends that they keep. Yet Jesus never seems to be intimidated by this.
In fact, Jesus would see these opportunities
as what we call, “a teachable” moment.
In
this story, there are two teachable moments.
The first deals with knowing your place at the table. One of the first lessons that I learned in
Kindergarten was to stand in line, not to shove, or push, or to “cut in” front
of somebody. Today, I observe little of this
social ettiquette, especially when driving on the freeway. Often, when there is a merging sign due to
construction, I often see drivers driving as far up that lane as possible in
order not to wait their turn in the lines where most drivers have gotten
into. This is a perfect modern day
example of what Jesus was talking about trying to rush up to the best seats of
a dinner party. Where Jesus is saying
you might very well experience humiliation when someone more important than you
arrives and the host asks you to move down to the back of the room, if you are
the driver of the car that feels you have the right above everyone else to cut
into the head of traffic, should there be a policeman there and he gives you a
ticket, not only do you lose time by being forced to sit on the side of the
road while the officer takes longer than needed to write you up on an
infraction of the law, but you realize, everyone passing by you is giving you
the eye as they drive by you.
The
second part of today’s parable talks about who we should be inviting to the
banquet. This is the truly difficult
lesson for most of us to actually incorporate into our lives. Jesus talks about the merits of inviting
friends and family who can repay your invitation by inviting you over for a
meal as well, to that of when you invite those who are viewed as marginalized
or seen as disadvantaged over for a meal, those folks who would not be able to
repay your kindness. It is in this
discussion that Jesus starts to teach about who God is eager to have included
into the kin-dom. The reality is we, just
like the Pharisees those “solid church folks”, would not invite the socially
unacceptable into our homes to dine with us.
At the very best, we might buy someone a meal, but would we be willing
to sit down with that person and become acquainted with them while they ate?
The
book of Luke is full of parties and fellowshipping around food, which gives us
a pretty good understanding of what God is looking for. The importance of breaking bread together around
a table is a way in which we take the opportunity to get to know someone. Once we have become acquainted with that
person, that person ceases to be “one of
them” and becomes “one of us.” There is something that compels us when we
sit and eat with a stranger to visit with them and learn who they are. There are people who are said to have, “never
known a stranger”, they just seem to have that ability to meet people at any
level. Most of us however have to work
at extending our hand to a stranger, not that we are unfriendly, but mostly
because we are shy.
I
would like to read a portion of an article written by Frank Rich for the New
York Times in August 15, 2010, about the recent death of a wealthy, prominent
woman, Judith Dunnington Peabody. Mrs.
Peabody enjoyed the highest place at the tables she graced, and we might think
that she would be one of those people who chose to remain in her own circle of
privilege and comfort. The truth is, ”power and wealth are morally neutral, but
“how one uses these privileges, that is what matters most to God.” The article reveals a woman who understood –
deeply- what it means to be a blessing, and what it means to love the strangers
in our lives, not from afar, but sitting right down, next to them. In addition to the traditional fundraising
that most society matrons engage in, Judith Peabody worked with and for those
in need, those whom most folks would have avoided, including, for example a
Hispanic youth gang in East Harlem. Mrs.
Peabody understood Jesus’ instructions about whom to invite to one’s table, if
the surprise of the doormen at her guest list is a good indicator. There are those who recall her courage and
generosity of spirit, when she also worked hard during the 1980’s as a
caregiver for gay men with HIV/AIDS, while others stayed away out of fear.
The
blessings that Jesus speaks about in this reading are not the blessings that
come to us, sitting around with our hands out praying for them. Rather, the greatest blessings come when we
give of ourselves, unselfishly to those who cannot help themselves. Several weeks ago, I went back to KS to help
care for my mother for a week, to give a break to my sister-in-law who was not
only working a job outside of the home, but trying to care for mom as
well. Besides being at beck and call of
my mother for things like getting her news paper, refreshing her water, helping
her into her wheelchair so she could go to the bathroom, I also had to apply
several topical ointments to her whole body, some parts which were pure raw
skin. It was one of the most difficult
things that I as a son have been called on to do, but it also was one of the
greatest blessings that I received in being allowed to do this. Where historically, I as a son, had always
relied on moms strength, I was given the honor to switch roles and become the
strength that she was needing during that time.
As
we come to this table this morning, think about who is missing and how can you
be instrumental in inviting them to the next banquet? Amen.
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