Luke 14 1 and 7-14 2004
Pentecost 15, Luke 14:1, 7-14, September 12, 2004
“Things That Just Don’t Happen”
Introduction: Tomorrow night it begins. Most of us are looking forward to the watching the Green Bay Packer’s as they open their season against Carolina. Imagine for a moment that you are there, sitting in the stadium. It’s 8:00. The ritual coin tosses have been performed, the national anthem has been sung, and the game is about to begin - out, onto the field run the Carolina Panthers, stamping, and snorting, and looking’ fine. But then you notice something else. As Carolina comes on the field the cheers in the stands are not coming from the Carolina side. They are coming from the Green Bay benches! The cheese-heads are bobbing up and down and are cheering for the opposition! Now that really is strange, and you sort of look around to make sure you are in the right place. Can it be that the Packers fans are warming up to their opponents?! Wow!
Then when Green Bay storms into the stadium the Carolina folks whistle and cheer for them, you are truly amazed! Things have gotten turned around. Then there is the kick off. Green Bay kicks off, a nice slow kick that floats gently down into the arms of a Carolina receiver; that receiver begins to run toward the goal line, only to have the Green Bay players politely get out of his way, as he scores they offer him a sip of Gatorade... well, now you know you are somewhere in the twilight zone! This is not football. In football, people push and shove for the position. In football, sweaty, beefy men strive for a few inches of turf, and try to block others from taking it, straining every nerve to get over the goal line and be Number One. In real life Green Bay Packers only cheer for Green Bay. And so where do they come off with cheering the other team, getting out of the opposition’s way, and letting them score? Where does that come from? Somebody has rewritten the rules! Somebody has changed things so that the object is no longer to hold top place, but to give it away! Truly this is something that just doesn’t happen.
Imagine this situation, if you will: a husband comes home from work on a Friday night, say the Friday of Labor Day weekend. And as he drives into the driveway, he sees that there is a rented tent in the back yard. Under the tent are tables and chairs for about forty people, a bandstand and dance floor are assembled in one corner of the tent. Paper lanterns are hanging all around. What do you think the husband might think? A first reaction from some husbands might be one of panic: “Good Lord! It's our anniversary, and somehow I've forgotten! Then he realizes that it can’t be so and he thinks, "I guess all this must be for a Labor Day party, which I forgot."
Then imagine the husband walking into the back yard to find his wife furiously basting a dozen chickens and discovering a pile of choice steaks in a cooler nearby. What might he think then? Probably, "This one's going to cost me a bundle!"
Then his wife looks up, smiles sweetly and asks, "Guess who's coming to dinner?" Now his guess might have been: "Relatives, longtime friends, neighbors and business associates." But before he can respond, she answers: "I've invited twenty homeless men from the shelter in town, a family of boat people from Haiti, and all the residents of a group home. Don't worry, dear, you won't know a soul. And best of all, not a single one is likely to ever pay us back!" Given that situation, how do you think the husband might react? Don't you think he might think his dear wife was behaving a bit oddly?
Yes, God bless her, she is acting quite oddly. She is doing one of those things that just don’t happen. Still, she would only be literally following the words of Jesus: "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous" (Luke 14:12b-14, NRSV). Sounds odd, doesn't it? Jesus overturns the world's values. People generally stick to entertaining people in our their "social circle," people they know. And, one invitation to dinner is often reciprocated with another invitation to dinner.
Jesus isn't saying that it's wrong to want to entertain our family and friends. That's perfectly ok. No, Jesus is encouraging us to engage in what one writer calls "disinterested charity." We are being asked to give of ourselves, our time, energy, talents and treasure, and not look for any reward. This is true stewardship. What Jesus proposes is like that bumper sticker that says: Practice Random Acts Of Kindness And Senseless Acts Of Beauty. Have you seen it? A random act of kindness would be something like driving on the toll way through Chicago, stopping at the toll booth, paying your toll, and then paying for the next five drivers behind you in line. Can you imagine the looks on the faces of the next five drivers when they are told to "Have a nice day, the toll is already paid!" What Jesus is proposing has that kind of spirit, but goes even further -- for what Jesus is calling for is more than just an occasional act of kindness done for a stranger. This passage encourages us to make a special place in our hearts for the disenfranchised, for those on the margins of society, for the broken, weak, and poor. "When you give a dinner," Jesus says, "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind." In other words, have a "soft spot" in your heart for anyone who is needy, and do good for them, without expecting any "pay off" in return.
Why? The whole Gospel passage for this Sunday has to do with humility. The first parable, the parable of the Guests at the Wedding Feast, reminds us of the dangers in thinking too much of ourselves. Those who try to build themselves up, like the pushy guests at the wedding feast, who eventually get “put down.”
The second parable, the parable about who we should invite to invite to dinner, is also about humility. We are called to reach out to “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind,” because at various times, the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind are us. Perhaps we're not financially poor. But we can be “poor in spirit,” grieving or confused or angry or lonely or discouraged. And we may not be crippled physically. But sometimes we're crippled emotionally. And, while most of us have our sight, we can be “blind” about various aspects of our lives, like how much we're hurting someone who's near us. Jesus wants us to give generously of our time, our treasure, and our talent to the needy. And he wants us to do so in humility, realizing that we're needy ourselves.
Imagine, if you would, one of the angels returning from a hard day's work. Imagine that angel seeing Jesus, God's only beloved Son, working hard to prepare a feast. It's a banquet that offers every good thing God can give: joy and peace, satisfaction and grace, and the forgiveness of sins.
Imagine Jesus looking up at the angel and smiling and saying, “Guess who's coming to dinner!” And, when the angel shakes his head and says, “I don't know, Lord,” Jesus continues: “I've invited sinners. I've invited anyone who's ever broken God's laws. I've invited husbands and wives who have betrayed each other. I've invited children who have let their parents down. I've invited parents who feel like they have failed their children. I've invited people who have subjected their bodies to all kinds of abuse. I've invited those who are twisted up inside, crippled by all kinds of painful memories. I've invited those whose eyes are blind to other people's pain. I've invited people who say they love me, but whose actions deny me. I've invited all the people who, in any way, have ever failed me. I've invited anyone who has ever done anything that sent me to the cross.”
“Why, Lord? Why?” asks the angel. "Why would you invite those people? How could they possibly deserve you? How could they pay you back?” “They can't,” responds Jesus. “But still, I love them. And I understand their hunger and their need. Even as I feed them on earth with my Word and my holy supper, my communion feast, I hope that once they have been fed, they might just be moved to feed somebody else. You see, their world is full of people who are poor and crippled and lame and blind and lonely and hungry both physically and spiritually. In fact, they're all poor or crippled or lame or blind in some way. It's a world that needs to be loved with my kind of love, the kind of love that keeps on giving and doesn't count the cost.”
Of course this kind of love and this kind of giving, this kind of humility doesn’t come naturally to us because we are sinners. We have been given God’s Holy Spirit that works faith in our hearts. Through Him we begin to understand what God did for us through His Son, when He died on the cross for us. We see the ultimate reality of things that just shouldn’t happen, but it has happened. That a Holy God would leave the highest seat in heaven, to come to earth and die in the place of unholy sinners and make a place for us in heaven, is something that just shouldn’t have had to happened. But by God’s grace and love it did. Jesus came and paid the toll for all of us.
Conclusion: Therefore we hear and apply our Lord’s words to our lives, “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.” In other words, we give to others who can't pay us back. We look for nothing in return. We practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty. We do so out of humility, realizing we are poor and needy ourselves, but we have been fed here and at the Table of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Jesus said, “You will be blessed.” We have truly been blessed, blessed to be a blessing.