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Luke 14:1-24
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Welcome to the CommonsCast. We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to commons.church for more information. Alright.
Speaker 1:Welcome to church. My name is Jeremy. I'm part of the team here at Commons, and we are in the season of Lent, which is why I'm wearing this purple again today. Reminds us of that season and that we are on our way toward Easter. But this is the fourth Sunday of Lent, so we have next week, then Palm Sunday, then Good Friday, and then the celebration of Easter ahead of us.
Speaker 1:And part of Lent is about dragging that out so that we are ready to properly celebrate when we reach resurrection. And trust me, I get it. This is a tough one to celebrate this year. But for the second year, our Easter services will be online and distanced and not at all what we hoped for. But yet we trust that Christ still comes to us and still meets us and still brings life back to us.
Speaker 1:But that is for a few weeks. Today, we continue with Jesus as he continues to make his way toward Jerusalem. Now last week, Scott looked at a passage in Luke 12 where Jesus is teaching with a parable. Today we're going to do the same but in chapter 14. Part of what we're seeing here is that the closer Jesus moves toward Jerusalem, the more buzz around Jesus builds and the more crowds are crushing in, so the more Jesus begins to teach in a sort of public form.
Speaker 1:If you remember in the first couple weeks of this series, we were seeing Jesus just sort of bump into people and interact with them, primarily his already close disciples. But now the crowd is catching on and it's sort of like we're seeing everyone want to get in on that clubhouse all of a sudden. And so Jesus starts adapting to that. He starts responding to questions but in ways that invite the entire audience to listen and reflect on his words. That's what happened last week.
Speaker 1:Jesus was walking along on his way to Jerusalem and a man yelled, teacher, tell my brother to defy the inheritance with me, which, first of all, is pretty strange, and Jesus' response is hilariously appropriate. He says, no. Actually, what he says is, man, who appointed me a judge between you and your brother? By the way, I I know the man there is a feature of the Greek language, but it just it just also it kind of feels right. Man, leave me out of this.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I do like this moment where we can see that Jesus' stature in the eyes of the public is growing. People are watching him. They're listening to him. They are appreciating the wisdom with which he navigates the scriptures. I mean, that's why people are coming to him with a request like this.
Speaker 1:They know that he will be just. I think about John Rawls here. He was a philosopher and an ethicist, and one of his major contributions was the idea that the most just society would be the one that you would agree to to all the rules of not knowing your place in that society. So you don't know if you're black or white or indigenous. You don't know if you are male or female or non binary.
Speaker 1:You don't know if you are rich or poor or beautiful or slightly less beautiful. But you evaluate the society and you agree to be randomly born into it, that is your imagination of the most just society. And we all might have slightly different ideas about what that society would look like. Would it include more freedom or more security, more access to opportunity, or more access to outcomes? But the point of the exercise is it helps us to remove ourselves from our own positional bias.
Speaker 1:That kind of reminds me of a situation like this because I can't imagine this guy approaching Jesus would expect him to be prejudiced. So that must mean he expects Jesus to be non biased, to be fair. And I wonder if we can be expected to act in the same way by those who know us. Can you and I as individuals be just? Can we as the church be fair?
Speaker 1:Can we be trusted to not elevate ourselves above those around us? Because it would seem that Jesus can be. And so even though he doesn't want to get involved here, he does recognize a teaching moment when he sees it. So Jesus tells a story to everyone who's watching. And it's about a man who has a lot, way more in fact than he needs.
Speaker 1:In fact, his barn is so full that he can't store all of his grain. So he enters into a building program to expand his ability to hoard more. That very night his life is demanded from him. And what now of all his wealth? So rather than weighing in on the specifics of who's going to get what, Jesus sort of elides the question and asks instead, why do you care so much exactly?
Speaker 1:And this isn't to say that wealth is unimportant or that inheritance is bad, I don't think. As much to say that before you can worry about the details, you need to perhaps think about the bigger picture. I like the way Scott phrased it. Before we can worry about more, we have to first confess how deeply blessed we are. But it does make me think about what wealth does to us.
Speaker 1:And don't get me wrong, I'd like to have a bigger barn full of grain. Who wouldn't want that? Metaphorically speaking, of course, I don't actually want a barn full of grain. Here's the thing. I think the more we have of anything good, the more that actually begins to sap our imagination of what else can be good.
Speaker 1:I mean, imagine imagine having a barn full of grain and thinking that the thing you want more than anything else is a second barn full of grain. What's that if not a loss of imagination or an atrophy of creativity, a surrendering of all that surrounds us for more of what we already have. Honestly, that just sounds like a kind of death. So let's keep heading for Jerusalem together with Jesus. But first, let's pray.
Speaker 1:God who comes near to us to journey with us, would you remind us first of all that we have been blessed with, all that we have been gifted? And then, God, in that, may we actually begin to embrace your creativity for more, not just for more of what we already have, not just for accumulating more barns full of more grain, but for all the ways that we can experience your goodness around us. Goodness in resources, goodness in relationship, goodness in generosity and gift and love, goodness in all the ways that you continue to pour your blessings on us. God, as we embrace all that is good, all the ways that you are good, may we then live in that story, blessing those near us with love and resource and generosity and kindness, giving back to those near us in a thousand different ways. May we be as good and generous as you.
Speaker 1:In the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay. Today, we're talking about kindness and challenge, sickness and greed, and making sure that the party is bumping. But first, let's read Jesus parable and then we'll go back and we'll set the stage.
Speaker 1:This is Luke 14 and we're reading verses 16 to 24 here. Jesus replied. So first of all, we know he's responding to someone here, but we'll come back for that. So let's listen to the story he tells first. A certain man was preparing a banquet and invited many guests.
Speaker 1:At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, come for everything is now ready. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, I have just bought a field and I must go and see it. Please excuse me. Another said, I have just bought five yoke of oxen and I'm on my way to try them out.
Speaker 1:Please excuse me. Still another said, I I just got married, so I can't come. The servant came back and reported this to the master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame. Sir, the servant said, what you have ordered has been done, but there is still room.
Speaker 1:So the master told his servant, go out to the roads and the country lanes and compel them to come so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get to taste my banquet. And again, this is a pointed Jesus and one that we see a lot in Luke. Not an unkind Jesus, I think. I think this is a story about how those who we don't expect find a seat at God's table after all.
Speaker 1:But this is not a Jesus who is afraid to ruffle some feathers. And I think we should understand this. There's a difference between being kind and being passive. Across the street from the church here in Kensington is the Louise Dean School, a school for young moms that are finishing their high school education, and we've had the privilege of partnering with them for years. We have a scholarship we fund for a graduating student going on to post secondary school where we are the muster point for that school if there's an emergency.
Speaker 1:You may have seen this on Facebook, but a few weeks ago, during the middle of that vicious cold streak we had in Calgary, there was a fire alarm at the school. That meant everyone had to evacuate until the fire department could clear the building. However, even ten minutes outside in minus thirty with a nursely full of little babies, this this was a bit of an emergency. So here came a line of cribs rolling across the street and into our gym along with moms and teachers and everyone that needed some warmth while the fire department rushed in to ensure that everything was safe. And this week, across the street from our Kensington parish was a huge display that was put out in front of the school that said choose to challenge.
Speaker 1:And this was part of the school's participation in International Women's Day, which happened to be this Monday. But the commitment was to challenge inequality, call out bias, question stereotypes, and help forge a more inclusive world. That's the motto from this thing, and that's what they were challenging their students and us to do. The point being, kindness is not to quietly tolerate all that is wrong because avoiding conflict for the sake of peace is not the peace of Jesus. Naming injustice, standing up for what is better, challenging what is wrong, and doing it all nonviolently, this is the grace that brings the peace of Jesus to all of us.
Speaker 1:So Jesus is not beyond making dinner uncomfortable if that's what's necessary. Because if we back up the story a bit and we go back to verse one of chapter 14, we find that this story is about banquets and guests and unexpected replacements, but it comes at the table of a prominent Pharisee. In fact, in verse one, we read that one Sabbath when Jesus went to eat at the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and the experts of the law, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?
Speaker 1:But they remain silent. So taking a hold of the man, he healed him, and he sent him on his way. So even before anyone can get seated, Jesus is already making this a little uncomfortable. And the context here is a Greek term, and that described a medical condition where the body retains water and and can swell up. It's quite painful.
Speaker 1:It's usually related to congestive heart failure or kidney problems. It used to be called drop c, but that term isn't really used anymore. But the interesting thing is that it was also a term that was used to describe abject greed in the ancient world. See, they took the image of a swelling, unhealthy body. They said this is what happens when your soul, when you keep gathering more and more to yourself, almost like what we saw last week in the story.
Speaker 1:There was a Roman saying, there's nothing more dry than a man with dropsy, and we could probably add there is nothing more poor than the one who is greedy. And this is important for two reasons perhaps. First, that Jesus is on his way to the house of a prominent religious leader. The term here is arcon, which meant a ruling Pharisee, which in the time would have likely meant that he was quite a wealthy man. And by the way, that should not be taken to mean that all Pharisees were wealthy any more than all of the myriad of controversies within celebrity Christianity should represent all that follow the way of Christ.
Speaker 1:Remember, Jesus is at least in the closest comparison a Pharisee himself. So Jesus is calling out an element within his own tradition. Good advice for those of us who want to go around looking for someone to dunk on. There's probably enough in our own backyard to clean up first. But if he is heading to the house of a wealthy man, it is interesting that he chooses a man afflicted with kudrapakos, a term that could signal greed, to start that conversation.
Speaker 1:And, Jesus is saying I can heal this man. And, yes, Jesus is saying the Sabbath is meant for you and for your good. But, yes, Jesus may also be saying that what ails you, what it is that has stolen your imagination, your greed, this is not terminal either. I can help you. And I like this, that even when Jesus challenges us, there is always an invitation for us as well.
Speaker 1:Now, we're still getting to why Jesus tells this story. So in verse seven, we read that Jesus arrives at the house and realizes that as everyone is finding their seat, everyone is jockeying for position, they they all want the best seat closest to the host, the most prestigious place at the table. I remember a few years ago, I was down in California to spend some time with this big time Christian writer, a chance to meet him up close in a small setting, and and it was great. But one night, we we went out for dinner, and there was about 20 of us there. And everyone was trying to figure out how they could sit closest to the star of the show.
Speaker 1:What what seat was he gonna take? How could they get close? And I thought to myself, well, I'm not gonna do that. First of all, it's silly. Second, maybe if I just sit at the far end, this guy will notice how humble I am and he will come and sit near me.
Speaker 1:But that never happened, by the way. I just sat at the other end of the table. However, I I did eat with a sense of self satisfied smugness about my own humility, which by the way is a very strange thing. We can turn even our humility into a weird source of pride. How messed up is that?
Speaker 1:But here, everyone is pushing positioning and trying to get the cool seats and Jesus tells everyone to chill. He says, look, if you're having a dinner, here's my advice. Don't even bother with your friends. Invite those who don't even know you, might not even normally talk to you. They might not even be able to repay you, but trust me, God will.
Speaker 1:And then he overhears someone say, yeah, that's right. Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. And this seems to be that kind of self centered setting apart, and it kind of sets Jesus off. I think I think it's sort of like what I felt in California. Jesus is trying to say, care about people who can't do anything for you because this is God's blessing to you.
Speaker 1:But around the table, what's heard is be nice to them so that you can one up them when it comes to God's blessing. I mean, listen to the language here. Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. I mean, it's not meant in the literal sense that only one person will eat with God, but it is absolutely meant within that exclusionary framework of this one and not that one will be welcome at God's table. Even here, competition is still the framework even when we talk about humility.
Speaker 1:And we've just the same way now, the same way I did, turned to Jesus' point into a weird humility competition. And so Jesus tells a story. And we read that story already, but to recap, a certain man, if you remember, we talked about this pronoun a few weeks ago, that certain is meant to imply that we all know who he's talking about here. And in this case, that certain man is the stand in for God. But that man wants to have a party, and so he invites everyone he knows.
Speaker 1:Interestingly, the party's on short notice, it seems. The manservant goes out with the invite saying, look. Everything is ready right now. Get to the table, which makes me think a lot about what we want and when we want it. Often, I think I think we're pretty aware of our instant gratification culture.
Speaker 1:No one wants to wait for anything anymore. I don't, which, by the way, is the point of Lent. It's forcing us right now to slow down and notice what we're waiting for. But just as insidious sometimes, I think it's our overly programmed lives that also can rob us of the joy of an unexpected gift. I mean, look, I I get it.
Speaker 1:Sometimes there are commitments and obligations and things we must attend to. But don't miss the moments that arise organically. And just last week, I was I was in the house. I was getting ready to come into the office to work on touching up a sermon. And as I was getting ready to walk out the door, my son came running down the stairs around the corner and asked breathlessly, do you have to go to work today?
Speaker 1:And I said, no, I don't. Now, do I always get to say that? Do do I always get to change my plans to play with my son? No, of course not. But sometimes what we need, maybe even what we want, shows up when we don't expect it to, and I think it's worth making room for that.
Speaker 1:But these guests are are caught off guard. And, of course, they would love to party with the host, but this isn't a good time. One has bought a field and wants to check it out. Another has just bought some oxen and wants to see what they can do. Another just got married and, well, he has that evening.
Speaker 1:You get it. So the servant comes back and explains the situation and the host says, well, I still wanna party. So go out quickly into the streets and the alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame. Now this is interesting because while the first group were invited to the table and chose to decline, this time the master says go out and find this second set of guests and bring them to the table. In fact, if you go back earlier in the chapter, Jesus exhorts those he is literally sitting around the table with to invite these same people to their tables.
Speaker 1:But here he says the master will do more than that. God will bring them to And and I wonder if Jesus' point here isn't built on the idea that when we fail to enlarge our parties, sometimes people actually begin to believe they're not worthy of an invitation. And perhaps the goodness of God, the grace of God is more than just making up for our lack of charity. Maybe it is actually about repairing the damage that makes us think we are unworthy in the first place. Trust me, if God needs to, God will bring you to the table.
Speaker 1:Even once this group is brought in, the servant says there's still more room and we're going to need to invite more people. And by the way, if you want to serve God well, be the one who constantly says, there's more room here. But when the master hears this, he says, go out to the roads and the country lanes and compel them to come so that my house will be full. So the original verb, invite the guests is kaleo. That changes to the next verb, bring them in, which is and now that changes to the final verb, compel them to come.
Speaker 1:There's this very clear and compounding sense of intensity in this story. Master is becoming more and more desperate, more convinced of the need to fill the house for the party. But at the same time, the way that the master engages the guests is changing too. Some of us, we we just need an invite. Others need to be brought to the table.
Speaker 1:Some of us need a compelling reason to come. And here's the thing, God is willing to meet all of us wherever we are. That's actually the last thing that I want to point out here today. The NIV says, go out into the streets and the alleys. Go to the roads and the country lanes.
Speaker 1:I think they're trying to capture that city, urban, rural divide to show the expansiveness of the welcome. I I I like that. But the ESV has gone with highways and hedges. Nice alliteration there. Points for that.
Speaker 1:And the NLT goes with country lanes behind the hedges. And I kinda like that one maybe the most because I think that might actually get closer to what Jesus is saying here. See, the Greek phrase here is actually, and literally, it's something like go out to the roads and the walls. And the meaning here is probably something like go out beyond the city limits, past the walls that protect us, out to where it's dangerous and unpredictable and bring those people back into my home. The point being, this is not just be nice to your agnostic neighbor who believes differently than you but lives in the same neighborhood and drives the same car and occupies the same socioeconomic strata as you, who who believes a little different than you but doesn't actually challenge anything for you.
Speaker 1:No. This is learn to invite those who make you feel uncomfortable, maybe even at your own party. In other words, make room for the full range of the human story because God already has. See, I think this is what Jesus has been getting at since he took the opportunity to interact with that swollen man on the way to this dinner. Touching someone who is sick is a risk.
Speaker 1:Inviting an invitation to dinner with a Pharisee is a risk. Challenging the invitation list when you get to that dinner is a risk. Dropping everything to accept an unexpected opportunity, this is a risk. Just like throwing open the doors and welcoming in and listening to and learning from those outside the walls that define your life and that you think are there to protect you. All of this is a risk.
Speaker 1:All of this is the way of God who risks everything to see the table full and joyous bubbling over with energy. As Robert Ferrer, Cape On, once wrote, God is not your mother-in-law coming to see whether the wedding present China is chipped. God is more like your funny old uncle with a salami in one arm and a bottle of wine in the other. We do indeed need to watch for God, but only because it would be a pity to miss so much fun. What we are watching for is a party.
Speaker 1:And that party is not just down the street making up its mind when to come to us. It is already hiding in our basement, banging on our pipes and laughing its way up our cellar stairs. The unknown day and hour of its final bursting into the kitchen and roistering its way through the whole house is not dreadful. It is all part of the divine lark of grace. Perhaps at times we have found ourselves too worried about who gets to sit at the table, and we've lost sight of the purpose of the party in the first place.
Speaker 1:To revel in the goodness of the God who loves us completely, who welcomes us with open arms, and who is willing to heal us even of our hesitancy to believe that we are the ones who need to be healed. And it would be a pity for any of us to decline such an invitation. Let's pray. God who journeys with us in this season, who walks with us through the dryness of Lent, through the isolation of lockdown, through the waiting for life to return? Would you remind us that what we are waiting for, what we are invited to, is a party.
Speaker 1:And it's not something to dread. It is something to run toward, to drop everything to be a part of, to invite everyone that we encounter into. Because it is full of laughter and joyousness bubbling over with energy when everyone is invited to the same table. And all of our diversity, in all of our difference, in all of our complexity, even when that scares us a little bit. But to know that in your house, in your grace, in your peace, all of that is celebrated and welcomed.
Speaker 1:May that be the story from which we live. May that be the story from which we throw our parties as well. In the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen.