Community Church Sermons

Year C

September 1, 2013

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Downward Mobility

Luke 14:1-14

Rev. Martin C. Singley, III

Senior Pastor

I am proud to say that I was once the pastor of a fine Congregational Church whose slogan was not a theological statement like, “A Christ-centered, Bible-Believing Church” – nor was it a missional expression like, “Reaching The World For Christ” – nor was it even a functionary kind of description like, “We Have The Best Choir in Town.”

No, our slogan at the old First Congregational Church was not anything at all like the rather refined jingles you encounter on the front-lawn signs of many churches across the country. Ours simply said, “Where A Supper Is More Than A Meal…It’s A Tradition!”

Now it goes without saying that we were a Christ-centered, Bible-believing church where we reached out to others for Christ as we enjoyed the best choir in town. But along with all that, we were an eating church. Pot-luck suppers. Fellowship meals. And a whole series of dinners served to the public to help pay the bills. Ham and bean suppers with three different kinds of home baked beans, and cole slaw, and old Elsie Morris’ German potato salad. Mmmm hmmm. The Harvest Supper with tender roast beef and gravy, mashed potatoes, winter squash, Harvard beets and lots of other colorful Fall vegetables – all followed up with homemade apple pie. Mmmm hmmm.

Oh, theology is fine, but to tell you the truth, the essence of a church is located around the dinner table. And according to Luke the gospelwriter, some of the most significant moments in Jesus’ ministry occurred at supper. That’s probably why the central Sacrament of our faith occurs around a table. And, of course, that’s where we’re gathered today.

So I’m proud that our church was locally known as the place where a supper is MORE than a meal…it’s a tradition!

In today’s Scripture reading from Luke 14, Jesus is using a meal to teach us some important stuff about living the Christian life. There are really three parts to the teaching. In the first, the Lord is at dinner on the Sabbath. He is in the home of a religious leader when a man suffering from dropsy comes in. Dropsy was a form of what we call edema and results in the swelling of the extremities. It was – and is – very painful.

Jesus asks the folks whether they think it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not. They don’t say a word, but they are thinking, “No! The Sabbath laws of our religion allow no work – even healing – on the Sabbath.” But Jesus goes ahead and heals the man. Then he points out that their Sabbath law permits them to pull their child – or even their ox – out of a well or hole they’ve fallen into. So why not this man with dropsy? And they are shamed into silence.

It strikes me that what Jesus has done here is to point out that they have lost the very purpose of why we gather on the Sabbath and what we do at supper. In the home where I grew up, the supper table was where we all got caught up on each other’s lives. “What did you do today? How’d that test go? How’s your life working out?” Sharing around the supper table was where we became centered every day on one of the most important jobs we have to do in life – loving one another!

And one of the most powerful ways we can do that is by becoming attentive to what’s going on in the lives of others.

Sandy and I were driving home from New Hampshire at the tail end of our vacation time. We stopped for gas at a Pilot Travel Center and I went into the store to grab a snack. I was standing in line, waiting to pay, when I noticed the cashier – a young girl – was sniffling quite profusely. It looked like she was suffering from allergies or perhaps a bad cold and honestly, her sniffling didn’t seem very sanitary as she rang up prices on donuts, cups of coffee, and other things that people would consume.

When it was my turn in line I said to her, “Looks like you’ve got a pretty good cold going on. I hope it isn’t the flu season already.” She looked at me with liquid dribbling out her nose and tears spilling out her eyes and said, “No. I’m upset because my cousin committed suicide last night.”

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. There I was thinking one thing about her, and there she was, hurting over a terrible tragedy. Just opening up that conversation, she started telling me about the struggles her cousin had been going through. Finally – knowing I had to get out of line and let other people pay for their stuff – I said, “I’m so sorry. My wife and I will be praying for you and your family.” She said, “Thank you so much.”

But it wasn’t enough, you know. I left wishing I could have done something more. Those words seemed so very inadequate.

When I told Sandy about it we both reflected on how you never really know what’s going on in someone else’s life. And I think Jesus would tell us that part of being a Christian is learning to become attentive to others and what they are experiencing. Then perhaps we can lend a helping hand, or a listening ear, or some strong support.

And in this passage – being the Sabbath and sitting to supper – perhaps Jesus is telling us that when we come to church each week, we must always be on the lookout for those who may be suffering from dropsy – or any other of life’s many difficulties.

The second lesson Jesus offers is a lesson in etiquette – the proper etiquette to put to use at a wedding banquet. Now, Jay Leno also offers us some tips on wedding decorum. For instance, he says that waiting in line ten minutes to kiss the bride is good etiquette. On the other hand, kissing the bride for ten minutes is bad etiquette. Very bad etiquette.

But Jesus’ advice to us is much simpler. He says that when you’re invited to a wedding banquet, don’t try to edge your way up front to the seats of honor, but rather take a seat in the back row. Jesus points out that this will avoid the embarrassment of sitting up there in the front row when somebody more important comes along, discovers you sitting where the place holder with their name is, and has you forcibly removed. What a humbling experience that would be! And he also says that, if you take a seat way out in the bleachers, the host may well come along and say, “Hey, come get a better seat!” And that way, you’ll be exalted. And, of course, what Jesus is getting at here is that in God’s economy, those who try to exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Now the third part of  Jesus’ teaching about banquet etiquette is rooted in middle eastern hospitality tradition. When you give a dinner, it is given as a gift. So don’t invite people of note or people of means. After all, they’ll just invite you to their homes in return, and pay you back. And that may be fun, but it’s not Christian hospitality. Rather, Jesus says, go out and invite the poor and the disabled – people who can’t repay you. Someday, he asserts, God will pay you back at the resurrection of the righteous.

Now at first glance, these may seem like small points of ancient etiquette that don’t seem to have much meaning and application to our lives. But wait. Let’s see if we can tie them together, and apply them to life here in our community and time.

I believe that Jesus is teaching that the biblical test of authentic faith – and really the way to joyful living - is not so much discovered in what you receive, or achieve or even believe. No, the true biblical test of authentic faith is found in who you eat with!

In the first case, being sensitive to peoples’ needs in every circumstance you enter every day enables you to discover what power God has given you to love and help others. I didn’t know it then, but that cashier girl in the Pilot store and I were having supper together.

In the second case, going out to sit in the cheap seats is not only a good way to avoid the embarrassment of being kicked out of a place of honor by someone more important than you, but it’s a wonderful way to find yourself sitting among some of the people God most cherishes. People who hold little stature in the eyes of the world, but who are the apple of God’s eye!

And in the last case, inviting to your banquet people who are of such lowly means that they can never repay you, gives you the opportunity to become an instrument of God’s wonderful grace! To care for people who can’t care for you back, to feed someone who can’t repay, to help a person who cannot reciprocate is where Christian love begins.

And so as we draw near to the table today, Jesus directs our eyes outward. Not to the front, but to the back. Not to the places of note, but to the unnoticeable places. Note to the obvious, but to the hidden. He calls us to become DOWNWARDLY MOBILE to where we encounter God’s children in the realities of their lives.

It occurs to me that, even as we prepare to come to the Lord’s Table, there are some among us who may feel like outsiders. Someone feels lonely because they’ve just moved here – from Michigan - and they don’t know a soul. Someone else is painfully aware of the fact that this weekend is the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death. There is someone here today who is estranged from God because of a child’s disability. There are several among us who wrestle with alcoholism. There are those who are filled with doubt. And the list is long of those facing surgery this week, or undergoing chemotherapy, or wrestling with a terrible family problem, or mourning a loss.

So what does Jesus say? As you come to the table today, make yourself aware of those who – for whatever reason – are living outside the circle of success, achievement and honor. You probably know someone who is going through such a time right now. So this morning come and take some bread, and drink some wine, and then go to that person today – or tomorrow – or this week. Tell them you love them. Send them a card. Pay them a visit. Include them in your life. Leave the head table, become downwardly mobile, and go to where they are.

The real test of faith is WHO YOU EAT WITH!

So come to this table today, and eat with US!