a sermon on Luke 14.1, 7-14
by David C. Mauldin
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Mobile, Alabama
Was Jesus a rude dinner guest? If someone came to a party at your house and
began telling other people where to sit and giving you unsolicited advice about
whom to invite next time, you would consider that person rude, wouldn’t you?
That just goes to show you how much we need to understand Jesus in his first
century Jewish context in order to understand the gospels. If you read this
passage and see Jesus as a rude guest or as a helpful, heavenly version of Miss
Manners, you have missed the point. Jesus isn’t giving useful social advice. He
is saying something profound about the kingdom of God. What is it?
Meals were a big part of Jesus’ ministry. He was notorious for eating with all
sorts of people, including tax collectors and prostitutes. It was his way of
saying God’s grace was for them and everybody is invited to the grand party God
is throwing—a party Jesus called “the kingdom of heaven,” meaning not a kingdom
in heaven but the reign of God in this world and every other. People like
Zacchaeus had life changing experiences while sitting around a table with Jesus.
We also find Jesus eating with the holy people too. He went to the homes of
Pharisees (very religious people) and ate with them. In today’s reading this is
where we find him: in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, on the Sabbath,
eating a meal.
You might be thinking, “Wait a minute! I thought the Pharisees were Jesus’
enemies. Didn’t they conspire with others to send him to the cross?” The answer
is, yes they did. As the gospels go along, we find rising tension between Jesus
and the Pharisees. In part this was because they had a lot in common. They both
believed in God. Both wanted God to do something to help his people. But they
had very different ideas about what that would be like and what God’s people
should do. Most Pharisees thought the best thing you could do to serve God was
to take up arms and fight the Romans. Jesus proposed a different way, one that
involved showing God’s love and giving his life for the whole world. As their
differences became clear, they clashed. They argued. And the Pharisees were
among those who sent Jesus to the cross.
That comes later, though, in the gospel story. Early on they were still checking
Jesus out. Jesus appeared suddenly on the scene in Galilee after John the
Baptist was arrested. He looked and sounded like a prophet announcing the
kingdom of God. That is what he was. He was more, but no one realized that yet,
in part because Jesus was slow to show his hand. So the Pharisees, ever zealous
to keep Israel on the right path, investigated Jesus. They listened to him,
questioned him, and invited him to dinner. “Who is this Jesus, anyway? What is
he about? Is he OK or not?” The first thing to realize then about our scripture
reading is that Jesus was not simply at dinner among friends. He is on trial in
a very informal way. We get a hint of this when Luke tells us, “They were
watching him closely.”
It was a busy evening. The few verses I skipped over tell how Jesus healed a man
on the Sabbath. This was a point of friction with the Pharisees because they
expected strict observance of the Sabbath. Jesus was too loose about the Sabbath
in their opinion, but he had his reasons. The kingdom of God was coming because
of his work. His healing was a sign of this. And Jesus was claiming authority
over the Sabbath, a claim that disturbed them very much. Only God has that kind
of authority.
Next we find Jesus offering advice about where to sit at a banquet. At first it
looks like practical wisdom. Don’t assume a place of honor for yourself; make
your host give you one. There is more to this, however, than meets the eye.
Jesus often compared the kingdom of God to a banquet or a party. He is doing so
here. Who were the people most likely to assume they would have a place of honor
in God’s kingdom? It was the Pharisees. They often complained about the kinds of
people Jesus associated with. Those people, in their view, had no place at the
table at all. And who should occupy the places of honor at God’s table?
Obviously the Pharisees themselves should! Jesus directed his remark against
their own spiritual presumption and their assumptions about God.
What Jesus said speaks to us at two levels. First, it warns us against pride
generally. We who follow Jesus cannot be concerned with pride and social
standing. If society puts you on a pedestal and that matters a great deal to
you, then you are trapped, because society can remove you if you displease it.
Second, it shows us something about God’s kingdom and his work in our lives. We
have a place at God’s table, but we must not assume that because God loves us,
he loves us more than others. When God calls you to faith, he does so both for
your own sake and for the sake of the world he loves. Christianity, then, is not
about status and privilege, but about receiving God’s grace and rejoicing when
others receive grace as well.
Having told the guests how they ought to sit, Jesus proceeds to tell the host
whom to invite. “When you cook a big meal, don’t invite your friends and
relatives, because they might repay the favor. Invite instead the poor and
others who cannot pay you back.” Why? Because then God will pay you back for
your kindness to others. These are encouraging words on a Sunday when we begin a
week of hosting families as part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network.
Again, this is about the kingdom of God, and again, I want us to think through
it at two levels. The first takes Jesus’ words at face value. Jesus often drew a
contrast between the way everybody else did things and the way he wanted his
followers to do things. In the Sermon on the Mount he asked, “If you love those
who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the
same?” [Mt 5.46] Most people establish friendships and base their invitations on
reciprocity. I host you; you host me. I give you a Christmas present; you give
me one. If you stop, I stop. I like to give. I like to host. But I want
something in return. Jesus says, “Fine. There is nothing wrong with that. But do
not imagine that you have pleased God or done something for his sake or that he
will reward you. You did it for yourself, and you have your reward. If you want
to do something really good, help those who cannot help you. Give to those who
cannot repay. Host those who cannot return your hospitality.”
Tomorrow is Labor Day. Whoever thought of setting aside a day to celebrate labor
by not doing any was a genius. You would have to be to think of such a paradox
of a holiday. But that’s what we do. We probably won’t think about labor
tomorrow, so let’s think about it for just a moment this morning. What, in your
opinion, is the greatest blessing of labor?
When I was a young man just entering the workforce, I probably would have
answered: The greatest blessing of labor is you can pay your own way. You are
not dependent on other people. That means freedom. You pay you own way, and you
call the shots.
Now my answer would be different. The greatest blessing of labor might be to
have a job you love that you find meaningful. I think what I do matters, and I
enjoy doing it (most of the time anyway). Labor can give our lives meaning and
nobility, and you don’t have to be a pastor to experience that.
Other people might give different answers. Labor makes it possible for us to
feed our families and keep a roof over their heads. That is a major blessing.
Looking beyond the necessities, labor sometimes allows us to afford luxuries we
enjoy: travel, tickets to see our favorite team, the latest high-tech gadget. We
could venture into questions stewardship here, but that’s not what I’m after. We
are asking ourselves: Among all the many blessings of labor, what is the
greatest? We can name many. Which maters most?
Let me tell you the answer I think Jesus would give. The greatest blessing of
labor is the chance to be generous to others. You are blessed indeed if your
labor allows you to provide your own family’s needs and leaves you something
left over with which to help others. What’s that little line we hear so often?
“We are blessed to be a blessing.” It’s true.
When Paul was on his way to Jerusalem in chapter 20 of the Book of Acts, he
stopped by Ephesus to say good-bye to the elders of the church there. He thought
it would be the last time he would see them, and they had a tearful farewell.
They reminisced about their time together, and among the things he told them was
this: “You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself
and my companions. In all this I have given you an example that by such work we
must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself
said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ ” [20.34-35].
I realize some of you may be skeptical at this point. Yes, you agree, helping
others is a blessing, but surely not greater than eating and living indoors. I
am inclined to agree with you, but look at the reason Jesus offers for his
advice in our scripture reading. He says, “Invite those who cannot repay you …”
Why? “You will be blessed, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the
righteous.” God will repay you. When you labor and then spend money on yourself,
that’s all well and good, but you get no reward from God, nothing that lasts
into eternity. When you give to those who give back to you, that’s fine, but
don’t think God will take notice. But, when you give generously—of your time, of
your money—to bless those who cannot repay you, God will take notice, and he
will reward you. You spend earthly money and receive heavenly reward. Where else
can you get a deal like that? Repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. What
greater blessing could we hope for?
Those of you who keep score must be thinking I can’t count. I promised to
consider Jesus’ advice on two levels, but so far I have only covered one. The
other is this: Jesus is not only telling us how to reap rewards in God’s
kingdom, he is telling us how the kingdom comes and what it is like. Think about
what Jesus says, “Invite to your banquet those who cannot repay you.” This is
exactly what Jesus does for us!
We are about to gather at his invitation around his table. This meal is more
than bread and cup. It is about Jesus’ death. When we eat his bread and drink
his cup, we receive the benefits of his death for us. We are not worthy of his
love or his life. Yet he died for us. He invited us to God’s kingdom, though we
cannot repay him. We might love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and
strength, and devote our lives to doing his will. Even then we cannot repay his
great love and sacrifice. He took his own advice. He invited those unable to
repay. That is grace. Praise be to God! Amen.
September 2, 2007
rev_mauldin@yahoo.com