Pentecost XIV
By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Year C, Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17
2 September 2007
Text: Luke 14: 1, 7-14; Hebrews 13: 1-8, 13-15; Other Readings: Jeremiah 2: 4-13; Psalm 81: 1, 10-16
When Jesus went to a Sabbath meal at the chief Pharisee's house, our Gospel says that they were watching him closely. The passage then says Jesus noticed the guests choosing the places of honor, so he was watching them pretty closely too, wasn't he? Have you ever felt like you were being observed closely? My granddaughter Amelia watches me very carefully when we're together, & that certainly makes me want to set a good example for her. I wonder how often I'm the only Bible other people will ever see; what do they read of how a Christian should act by my actions? What kind of Good Book do you make?
As Jesus continues his journey toward Jerusalem in today's gospel, the Pharisees are trying to catch Jesus breaking religious laws. They are particularly critical of anything Jesus does on the Sabbath since Jews are prohibited from doing work on their holy day. I wonder if that's why they invited him to dine with them in the first place this Sabbath day.
Not only is Jesus' conscience clear at this meal, but he sees the other guests behaving in a particularly selfish manner. Jesus challenges the eagerness of the dinner guests to grab the best seats, the places of honor & wonders if they'll be embarrassed to be asked to move over for someone more important. He suggests they instead choose the lowest places whereupon the host might honor them by inviting them to a better place at table.
Jesus isn't really talking about good manners in this passage, however. In fact, this close to the time of his crucifixion, Jesus is telling the Pharisees—& telling us, too—what life is to be like when we're living in the kingdom of God, in the reign of God. The reign of God isn't simply a future event to look forward to after death. Jesus tells us over & over again that God's reign is breaking into our daily lives whenever we allow it, & even sometimes whenever we acknowledge its presence.
Do we hear echoes of the 2nd great commandment in Jesus' parable today: to love our neighbors as ourselves? Jesus is encouraging us to look at ourselves & to behave as givers who welcome others to the table with us, giving them places of honor. Today's gospel & epistle readings insist on the ancient gift of hospitality. When Canon Jaime Case visited several weeks ago, he was excited about the life we're living here at Hope, yet he also encouraged us to do all in our power to grow the church. Those goals which we have set which we feel God is calling Hope to do can only be accomplished if we are larger & stronger. Although the primary purpose of hospitality is not church growth, it will certainly be a by-product.
At Rally Day next week, we'll have a table marked "Welcoming! Radical Hospitality", & we hope a lot of you choose to make that part of your focus in the following year. In fact, we're all called to reach out to others, but this group will study & be focused on how we as parishioners of Hope welcome others & incorporate them into community should they choose to join us.
Speaking of Rally Day, next week we hope all of you return & bring a friend or two to our worship & to Rally Day. Our new youth group, Youth About Christ, will be holding their first fundraiser, & you will want to buy a sack lunch or a sweet from them. If you are involved with a group at the church, we hope you'll display your information about your group at a table, but we also hope you ask God to guide you to the ministry opportunities which are best for you this next year. As you are inviting folks, you might include Hope parishioners you haven't seen here in a while. It would be great to have a large turnout for Rally Day. And the 1st task of hospitality is to be alert to invite people who might not be church-goers to join us.
Since worship is at the heart of how we Episcopalians identify ourselves & form our faith, making sure folks are comfortable with our worship service is essential, too. You might choose to sit next to someone you don't know & help them with the Prayer Book & hymnals we use regularly here at Hope. If they are visitors, you can encourage them to sign the visitors' book in the back, introduce them to several other folks, & walk with them to coffee hour. Remembering their names the next time they are here will make them feel really included, too. What are some of their interests? Finding a group they can relate to & including them in the next church activity you attend is wonderfully welcoming.
In case we believe that it's only high-classed people who have a place at God's banquet table, look at Jesus' instructions to the host. He tells the host not to invite people to the banquet depending on who can return the compliment. The host is told not to invite his friends, relatives, & rich neighbors who will invite him to their own banquet later. Who should he invite? How often do we include those Jesus suggests for the guest list: the poor, the crippled, the lame, & the blind. All of us are included, but not because of any fine qualifications we bring to the table. We're invited because of the graciousness & the love of God—unearned & undeserved. We're invited to the banquet because God is good, not because we are. Jesus' ways are not human ways, are they?
Jesus gave us the guidelines in the gospels for how to behave in community, but each of the epistles, the letters to the 1st Christian churches, show us that from the beginning, Christians have had a hard time living together as loving brothers & sisters, as caring neighbors. Notice that none of this behavior is about how to act to earn salvation. Jesus' life, death, & resurrection have already won for us the victory; Jesus is the gold medal winner in conquering death. We can't do anything to earn God's love. God has already given us that—free for all, undeserved.
The advice the writer of Hebrews gives us is about how to act toward one another out of gratitude for the love which God has already given us, gratitude for the salvation which Jesus offers us. Jesus expects us to grow & mature as disciples in community, not as lone rangers. So, here in Hebrews, we're given a whole set of guidelines for living together faithfully. He starts with "Let mutual love continue." There may be some folks in the church community whom we like more than others, but regardless of our personal likes & dislikes, we're supposed to love each other the way Christ has loved us. Sometimes, we are stellar in showing Christ's love through our actions toward others. At times, however, our nerves get frayed & the person who gets on our last nerve receives the pent up frustration we have so righteously stored up from many small slights. I've observed such behavior even at Hope just recently.
I think it's curious that, before we're told how to act toward one another, we're encouraged to show hospitality to strangers. We're not to be a closed, elite community. The stranger is always to be welcomed as one of us. Have you ever thought the person coming in to ask for a helping hand might be an angel that you don't even recognize? I've been doing some serious thinking about how we treat those who come to us in need or our neighbors across the street who park on our property. What does Jesus call us to do in those situations? By the way, look at some of the choices Jesus makes for his companions—Zaccheus, Levi, the Samaritan woman, even Judas Iscariot. Jesus always chooses those who are the have-nots according to the world's values. We're also called to include everyone, even those who don't behave the way we think they ought to act. And Jesus always reminds us that we're not to judge. Only God can judge.
This week I had the opportunity to watch a rerun of an Oprah show which showed the results of her "pay it forward" challenge to her audience. She had given a previous audience $1000 apiece with the understanding that they would give it away within the next week. They were also given video cameras to record their donations. The usual group of people handed out bills of varying amounts to people in parking lots & gave generous tips to delivery persons coming to their homes. Even a woman whose baby was delivered during that week figured out a way to distribute the money personally to those she felt needed it. However, I was fascinated by the number of people who, like the man given 10 talents in Jesus' parable who used them to make 10 talents more, figured out ways to provide much more than the original $1000 for those in need. Some launched phone-a-thons, solicited help from radio stations & retailers, & challenged whole civic groups or children's classes to grow that money. They were able to provide surgery for a woman shot in the face by a crazed boyfriend, furnish an apartment for a single mother, send a Downs Syndrome child to camp, furnish a whole middle school basketball team's athletic shoes for that year. My mind boggles at what support might be possible for our own St. Michael's Day School or Black Middle School if we & other churches in the neighborhood were willing to "pay it forward."
The epistle today ends "Do not neglect to do good & to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." Jesus concludes "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, & the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Who are our neighbors? How many ways can we show hospitality to strangers? What hope can Hope provide today? This season?
Year C, Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17
2 September 2007
Text: Luke 14: 1, 7-14; Hebrews 13: 1-8, 13-15; Other Readings: Jeremiah 2: 4-13; Psalm 81: 1, 10-16
When Jesus went to a Sabbath meal at the chief Pharisee's house, our Gospel says that they were watching him closely. The passage then says Jesus noticed the guests choosing the places of honor, so he was watching them pretty closely too, wasn't he? Have you ever felt like you were being observed closely? My granddaughter Amelia watches me very carefully when we're together, & that certainly makes me want to set a good example for her. I wonder how often I'm the only Bible other people will ever see; what do they read of how a Christian should act by my actions? What kind of Good Book do you make?
As Jesus continues his journey toward Jerusalem in today's gospel, the Pharisees are trying to catch Jesus breaking religious laws. They are particularly critical of anything Jesus does on the Sabbath since Jews are prohibited from doing work on their holy day. I wonder if that's why they invited him to dine with them in the first place this Sabbath day.
Not only is Jesus' conscience clear at this meal, but he sees the other guests behaving in a particularly selfish manner. Jesus challenges the eagerness of the dinner guests to grab the best seats, the places of honor & wonders if they'll be embarrassed to be asked to move over for someone more important. He suggests they instead choose the lowest places whereupon the host might honor them by inviting them to a better place at table.
Jesus isn't really talking about good manners in this passage, however. In fact, this close to the time of his crucifixion, Jesus is telling the Pharisees—& telling us, too—what life is to be like when we're living in the kingdom of God, in the reign of God. The reign of God isn't simply a future event to look forward to after death. Jesus tells us over & over again that God's reign is breaking into our daily lives whenever we allow it, & even sometimes whenever we acknowledge its presence.
Do we hear echoes of the 2nd great commandment in Jesus' parable today: to love our neighbors as ourselves? Jesus is encouraging us to look at ourselves & to behave as givers who welcome others to the table with us, giving them places of honor. Today's gospel & epistle readings insist on the ancient gift of hospitality. When Canon Jaime Case visited several weeks ago, he was excited about the life we're living here at Hope, yet he also encouraged us to do all in our power to grow the church. Those goals which we have set which we feel God is calling Hope to do can only be accomplished if we are larger & stronger. Although the primary purpose of hospitality is not church growth, it will certainly be a by-product.
At Rally Day next week, we'll have a table marked "Welcoming! Radical Hospitality", & we hope a lot of you choose to make that part of your focus in the following year. In fact, we're all called to reach out to others, but this group will study & be focused on how we as parishioners of Hope welcome others & incorporate them into community should they choose to join us.
Speaking of Rally Day, next week we hope all of you return & bring a friend or two to our worship & to Rally Day. Our new youth group, Youth About Christ, will be holding their first fundraiser, & you will want to buy a sack lunch or a sweet from them. If you are involved with a group at the church, we hope you'll display your information about your group at a table, but we also hope you ask God to guide you to the ministry opportunities which are best for you this next year. As you are inviting folks, you might include Hope parishioners you haven't seen here in a while. It would be great to have a large turnout for Rally Day. And the 1st task of hospitality is to be alert to invite people who might not be church-goers to join us.
Since worship is at the heart of how we Episcopalians identify ourselves & form our faith, making sure folks are comfortable with our worship service is essential, too. You might choose to sit next to someone you don't know & help them with the Prayer Book & hymnals we use regularly here at Hope. If they are visitors, you can encourage them to sign the visitors' book in the back, introduce them to several other folks, & walk with them to coffee hour. Remembering their names the next time they are here will make them feel really included, too. What are some of their interests? Finding a group they can relate to & including them in the next church activity you attend is wonderfully welcoming.
In case we believe that it's only high-classed people who have a place at God's banquet table, look at Jesus' instructions to the host. He tells the host not to invite people to the banquet depending on who can return the compliment. The host is told not to invite his friends, relatives, & rich neighbors who will invite him to their own banquet later. Who should he invite? How often do we include those Jesus suggests for the guest list: the poor, the crippled, the lame, & the blind. All of us are included, but not because of any fine qualifications we bring to the table. We're invited because of the graciousness & the love of God—unearned & undeserved. We're invited to the banquet because God is good, not because we are. Jesus' ways are not human ways, are they?
Jesus gave us the guidelines in the gospels for how to behave in community, but each of the epistles, the letters to the 1st Christian churches, show us that from the beginning, Christians have had a hard time living together as loving brothers & sisters, as caring neighbors. Notice that none of this behavior is about how to act to earn salvation. Jesus' life, death, & resurrection have already won for us the victory; Jesus is the gold medal winner in conquering death. We can't do anything to earn God's love. God has already given us that—free for all, undeserved.
The advice the writer of Hebrews gives us is about how to act toward one another out of gratitude for the love which God has already given us, gratitude for the salvation which Jesus offers us. Jesus expects us to grow & mature as disciples in community, not as lone rangers. So, here in Hebrews, we're given a whole set of guidelines for living together faithfully. He starts with "Let mutual love continue." There may be some folks in the church community whom we like more than others, but regardless of our personal likes & dislikes, we're supposed to love each other the way Christ has loved us. Sometimes, we are stellar in showing Christ's love through our actions toward others. At times, however, our nerves get frayed & the person who gets on our last nerve receives the pent up frustration we have so righteously stored up from many small slights. I've observed such behavior even at Hope just recently.
I think it's curious that, before we're told how to act toward one another, we're encouraged to show hospitality to strangers. We're not to be a closed, elite community. The stranger is always to be welcomed as one of us. Have you ever thought the person coming in to ask for a helping hand might be an angel that you don't even recognize? I've been doing some serious thinking about how we treat those who come to us in need or our neighbors across the street who park on our property. What does Jesus call us to do in those situations? By the way, look at some of the choices Jesus makes for his companions—Zaccheus, Levi, the Samaritan woman, even Judas Iscariot. Jesus always chooses those who are the have-nots according to the world's values. We're also called to include everyone, even those who don't behave the way we think they ought to act. And Jesus always reminds us that we're not to judge. Only God can judge.
This week I had the opportunity to watch a rerun of an Oprah show which showed the results of her "pay it forward" challenge to her audience. She had given a previous audience $1000 apiece with the understanding that they would give it away within the next week. They were also given video cameras to record their donations. The usual group of people handed out bills of varying amounts to people in parking lots & gave generous tips to delivery persons coming to their homes. Even a woman whose baby was delivered during that week figured out a way to distribute the money personally to those she felt needed it. However, I was fascinated by the number of people who, like the man given 10 talents in Jesus' parable who used them to make 10 talents more, figured out ways to provide much more than the original $1000 for those in need. Some launched phone-a-thons, solicited help from radio stations & retailers, & challenged whole civic groups or children's classes to grow that money. They were able to provide surgery for a woman shot in the face by a crazed boyfriend, furnish an apartment for a single mother, send a Downs Syndrome child to camp, furnish a whole middle school basketball team's athletic shoes for that year. My mind boggles at what support might be possible for our own St. Michael's Day School or Black Middle School if we & other churches in the neighborhood were willing to "pay it forward."
The epistle today ends "Do not neglect to do good & to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." Jesus concludes "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, & the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Who are our neighbors? How many ways can we show hospitality to strangers? What hope can Hope provide today? This season?
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