WEBVTT - This file was automatically generated by VIMEO 0 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:10.400 I've always found the presentation of Jesus that we 1 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.400 have in the Gospel of Luke to be one who isn't 2 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:16.800 afraid to drop the truth to the Pharisees who 3 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.100 keep trying to trip him up and throw a bit 4 00:00:19.100 --> 00:00:20.400 of shade at the same time. 5 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:24.200 Whether it's a divisive teaching or healing on 6 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:27.200 the Sabbath, Jesus schools them and schools them 7 00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:27.400 good. 8 00:00:28.200 --> 00:00:31.300 In today's reading Jesus continues this 9 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:34.600 by giving them a lesson on humility and 10 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.000 the radical hospitality of the kingdom of God. 11 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:41.800 The great and the good at this dinner party were watching 12 00:00:41.800 --> 00:00:44.900 Jesus's every move. Just as 13 00:00:44.900 --> 00:00:48.000 suppressed and social media pundits watch controversial figures 14 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:48.200 today. 15 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:52.500 But he was watching them just as closely and with 16 00:00:52.500 --> 00:00:54.800 exactly the same purpose in mind. 17 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:59.000 They had all been brought up in the same tradition. They thought 18 00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:01.600 and reasoned in the same way and as 19 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.300 is so often the case the fiercest 20 00:01:04.300 --> 00:01:07.600 disagreements happen between people who look very similar to 21 00:01:07.600 --> 00:01:08.600 the outside eye. 22 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:12.100 In the verses emitted by the lectionary - 23 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:15.800 verses 2 to 6 - Jesus deliberately 24 00:01:15.800 --> 00:01:18.300 provokes the scribes and pharisees by 25 00:01:18.300 --> 00:01:21.700 healing a man on the Sabbath having first challenged them 26 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:24.300 to say if this was permitted by the law. 27 00:01:25.300 --> 00:01:28.300 Often it is the other way around they ask 28 00:01:28.300 --> 00:01:31.400 him the loaded question. But on this occasion, it's 29 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:33.100 Jesus that takes the initiative. 30 00:01:34.900 --> 00:01:37.700 The highest honor at most banquets is to 31 00:01:37.700 --> 00:01:40.900 sit at the head table near the host. A seat 32 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:43.400 many of us want and some would do anything to 33 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:43.900 attain. 34 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:47.300 We arrive at events early in order to get 35 00:01:47.300 --> 00:01:48.600 the best seats available. 36 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:52.500 We go out of our way to outshine others. We go 37 00:01:52.500 --> 00:01:54.700 over the top just to be noticed. 38 00:01:55.600 --> 00:01:58.300 And we feel no regret about it because we feel 39 00:01:58.300 --> 00:02:01.000 we believe we deserved it. 40 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:05.200 This is what Jesus observed while he and other guests were 41 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.400 gathering at a Sabbath meal upon a Pharisees 42 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:09.000 invitation. 43 00:02:10.300 --> 00:02:13.400 In the first century an invitation to a banquet was more than 44 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:15.100 just an offer to eat. 45 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:19.200 It has significant social and economic meanings 46 00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:19.600 tied to it. 47 00:02:20.600 --> 00:02:22.800 To be invited meant that you were someone special. 48 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:27.400 I'd like to think that at times the guest was 49 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:30.800 someone with a beautiful spirit. A kind 50 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:33.000 heart and a good sense of humor. 51 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:36.800 However, Jesus's words in the parable 52 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.500 lead me to believe that the special guest, 53 00:02:40.600 --> 00:02:42.700 may simply have had the right beliefs, 54 00:02:43.500 --> 00:02:46.300 the appropriate amount of status or something 55 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:48.600 the host needed or wanted in return. 56 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:51.300 Times haven't really changed. 57 00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:56.600 When Jesus noticed how the guests chose places of 58 00:02:56.600 --> 00:02:59.500 honor, he immediately went into teaching mode. 59 00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:02.100 No sooner has Jesus sat down, 60 00:03:02.100 --> 00:03:05.400 He starts criticizing both his fellow guests, 61 00:03:06.200 --> 00:03:09.400 and his host in a way that would have been the height of 62 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:13.500 bad manners in a culture. But which comes 63 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:17.000 across as being exactly what the Jewish dignitaries 64 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:19.300 expected and possibly even why 65 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:20.900 they had invited him. 66 00:03:21.700 --> 00:03:24.500 He was if not the guest of honor, an interesting part 67 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:26.000 of the evening's entertainment. 68 00:03:27.600 --> 00:03:29.600 Jesus' instruction to the host 69 00:03:30.200 --> 00:03:33.200 may seem to be a simple lesson about 70 00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:34.800 guest list etiquette. 71 00:03:35.600 --> 00:03:37.200 But it involves so much more. 72 00:03:38.100 --> 00:03:40.300 It is about the exploitation of power. 73 00:03:41.700 --> 00:03:44.200 Jesus says that a guest list should not 74 00:03:44.200 --> 00:03:48.100 include friends, family or rich neighbors - those 75 00:03:47.100 --> 00:03:50.800 in a position to give something in return. 76 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:55.400 By having this expectation the host abuses their power by 77 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:59.500 placing their guests in debt some oftentimes unbeknownst 78 00:03:58.500 --> 00:03:59.600 to them. 79 00:04:00.600 --> 00:04:03.500 Alternatively the host should invite 80 00:04:03.500 --> 00:04:04.300 the less fortunate. 81 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:08.800 The poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; those who 82 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:10.800 cannot return in like kind. 83 00:04:12.700 --> 00:04:15.100 Jesus says the host will be repaid at the 84 00:04:15.100 --> 00:04:16.700 resurrection of the righteous. 85 00:04:18.100 --> 00:04:19.200 This is Kingdom language. 86 00:04:20.200 --> 00:04:22.900 They will get their reward from God in heaven. 87 00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:28.400 The substance of this message wrongly described by Luke 88 00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:31.400 as a parable is a theme which occurs 89 00:04:31.400 --> 00:04:34.900 throughout the gospels and surely goes back to Jesus 90 00:04:34.900 --> 00:04:35.400 himself. 91 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:39.200 The reversal of existing hierarchies and 92 00:04:39.200 --> 00:04:42.300 the kingdom of God whose values are radically different 93 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:44.400 from those that work in the world. 94 00:04:45.700 --> 00:04:48.600 From The Magnificat in Luke 1 with 95 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:51.800 its toppling of the mighty and exalting of 96 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:52.300 the humble. 97 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:53.700 To the cross 98 00:04:55.100 --> 00:04:58.200 in Jesus' own words to the dying thief in Luke 99 00:04:58.200 --> 00:04:58.600 23 100 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:03.400 There are repeated promises to the poor, downtrodden, 101 00:05:02.400 --> 00:05:05.600 excluded and exploited and 102 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.900 threats to the powerful, rich and 103 00:05:08.900 --> 00:05:11.400 smugly religious that one day 104 00:05:11.400 --> 00:05:13.200 the tables will be turned. 105 00:05:14.200 --> 00:05:16.500 The places that the banquet will be swapped. 106 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:21.500 The first will be last and the last will be first as Matthew 107 00:05:21.500 --> 00:05:24.700 says. The disregarded beggar will 108 00:05:24.700 --> 00:05:27.700 dine in splendor at Abraham's table while the 109 00:05:27.700 --> 00:05:31.000 uncaring rich man endures eternal torment later 110 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:32.000 on in Luke 16. 111 00:05:32.900 --> 00:05:35.100 The frequent recurrence of these themes tells 112 00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:38.600 us both that they were central to Jesus' belief 113 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:38.700 system. 114 00:05:39.700 --> 00:05:42.500 And that the early church needed to be reminded of 115 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:44.200 them. Jesus' own disciples 116 00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:48.700 showed that they had completely missed the point when they squabbled 117 00:05:48.700 --> 00:05:51.900 over seating arrangements in the kingdom and Paul 118 00:05:51.900 --> 00:05:54.200 was outraged at the failure of 119 00:05:54.200 --> 00:05:58.000 the Corinthian Church to put social differences aside when 120 00:05:57.400 --> 00:05:59.300 sharing in communion. 121 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:03.600 So starting with The Magnificat in chapter 1 and the 122 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:06.300 blessings and woes in chapter 6, it is clear that 123 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:09.300 in this great overturning to come 124 00:06:10.200 --> 00:06:13.400 those who choose now to sit with the poor and lonely 125 00:06:13.400 --> 00:06:16.900 are destined for a high place when the 126 00:06:16.900 --> 00:06:17.300 kingdom comes. 127 00:06:18.400 --> 00:06:21.300 In this Kingdom will be recognizable by its radical 128 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:22.600 love and hospitality. 129 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:26.200 This is the cost of discipleship. 130 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:28.100 That others come first. 131 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:32.400 This passage raises numerous questions for us today 132 00:06:32.400 --> 00:06:34.400 in the church and in our society. 133 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:38.900 What would it mean to practice radical hospitality towards 134 00:06:38.900 --> 00:06:41.000 those our society and our church 135 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:43.200 often shuns and all overlooks? 136 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.600 Who do we really honor the most? The Aged 137 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.700 care and disability workers in carers? Whom we 138 00:06:50.700 --> 00:06:53.000 clapped energetically for during lockdown? 139 00:06:54.200 --> 00:06:57.600 Or the CEOs paid exorbitant salaries who squabble 140 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.200 over an 80 cents an hour pay rise for their lowest 141 00:07:00.200 --> 00:07:00.900 paid workers? 142 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:05.800 Most churches are happy to proclaim all 143 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:06.400 are welcome. 144 00:07:07.700 --> 00:07:08.600 But do we mean it? 145 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:13.100 Are all welcome to sit at the table, at the place 146 00:07:13.100 --> 00:07:14.700 of honor to fully participate? 147 00:07:17.200 --> 00:07:20.500 Are we prepared for the disruption that might follow if the 148 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:23.300 all were to come and take their 149 00:07:23.300 --> 00:07:24.100 place at the table? 150 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.200 Is there the same buzz of excitement when a homeless person 151 00:07:28.200 --> 00:07:30.000 arrives unexpectedly on a Sunday morning? 152 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:32.500 As when the moderator drops in? 153 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:36.400 As with much of Jesus' teaching 154 00:07:37.100 --> 00:07:40.800 we have a habit of seeing ourselves as the guests or 155 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:41.700 even as Jesus. 156 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:46.600 But I want to challenge you that in this story to see yourself 157 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:47.700 as the host. 158 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:52.400 I want to bring us back to Jesus direct challenge to the 159 00:07:52.400 --> 00:07:56.200 host of the banquet when issuing invitations, forget 160 00:07:55.200 --> 00:07:58.300 your relatives and your friends for you 161 00:07:58.300 --> 00:07:59.600 expect an invite in return. 162 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:03.300 Instead invite those who have 163 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:04.400 nothing to offer back. 164 00:08:05.400 --> 00:08:05.600 Well - 165 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:08.900 Nothing, except their company and who they are, 166 00:08:09.900 --> 00:08:11.100 which when it comes down to it, 167 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:14.100 is what truly matters - bringing who we 168 00:08:14.100 --> 00:08:15.800 truly are into the full love 169 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:18.000 and hospitality of God. 170 00:08:20.200 --> 00:08:21.000 The Lord be with you.