On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.
7When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12He said also to the one who had invited him, “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. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
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This sermon was originally preached by me, Rev. Sarah Locke, on Sept 1, 2019 at Redeemer Episcopal Church. You can read the sermon below, or listen to it here.
God of over-abundant grace, we come before you with our hands outstretched, wanting to learn how to be in true relationship with you and with one another. Amen.
One thing that I have enjoyed observing in college ministry over the last several years, is relationships. As human beings, we are constantly being pushed and pulled and called into relationship with one another, but each relationship is not the same.
I remember in elementary school, I was friends with particular people because of what they brought to school for lunch every day. Some kids had really nice lunches. I became friends with the kids who had the fantastic lunch treats so that we could trade. My pudding cup for your fruit roll up. It was a bit transactional, even in third grade.
In college, things seem to stay largely the same. I spend every Wednesday on campus with students during Market Days. During that time, all the clubs and different shops are out trying to recruit students and get them engaged. Or, of course, sell them something. One of the keys of campus ministry is getting on students’ radars, so many different clubs will get the email addresses of the students in exchange for something— a free t-shirt, a water bottle, a snack. Anything for an email address. So when I’m out there with my students, that is often the threshold— give us your email address and we will give you a bumper stickers or a cup of coffee.
This is what people are used to in Jesus’ time— especially when it comes to relationships. Mentors and mentees had a transactional type of relationship. Marriages were almost always for the advantage of the families involved, not about love or relationship. The families weighed the advantages of a marriage and determined whether or not they would be worth joining the two people together.
Even children had a sort of transactional relationship with their parents— we can see that from stories like Jacob and Esau vying for the blessing of their father. It seemed that there weren’t many stories of people being in relationship simply because they craved relationship or simply because they liked the other person.
That’s not to say that this transactional type of relationship was bad in those times, it was how they secured their legacies and built up their wealth. Having connections and power was one of the only ways to guarantee a person’s safety in the time of the Roman Empire especially.
That’s why it seems so counter-cultural to do the opposite— to reach out despite an unequal exchange of good.
One of my favorite things we do on campus is on particularly hot or dreary days, we sit out on Wednesday afternoons and just hand out popsicles or snacks.
Those are my favorite days and it also breaks my heart because it confuses students so much. They’ll approach our outstretched arms, holding chips and rice krispie treats and pop-tarts. “Would you like a snack?” We ask. “Uh… sure… for what?” They say hesitantly. “Nothing, just take whatever you want,” we say. “For free?” “yes, of course, for free. We are practicing hospitality. Have a great day!” And we wave them off and get ready for the next group of students to walk by.
They don’t understand because students are so used to transactional relationships with clubs, society, and even campus ministries, that they can’t even wrap their heads around being given something for free— no strings attached.
We do that too, don’t we? I often find myself hesitating when something seems too good to be true and I ask, “what’s the catch?” I find myself sometimes even hesitating in relationships, wondering what is in it for them, or worse, what is in it for me?
That is the kind of thinking Jesus encounters when he is invited to this important dinner party. Instead of dealing in transactional terms, Jesus invites people to something new, something more like the Kingdom of God.
Jesus, of course, was already very good at these kinds of relationships. Jesus was regularly reaching out to those who could do nothing for him in return.
He healed many of the lowliest people in the community, those who society would say could never properly repay him.
He fed thousands with no expectation of a return on his hefty investment.
He regularly squandered opportunities to work with the most powerful— the religious elite— in favor of the poor, sinner, and hungry.
He was turning society’s norms upside down and saying, “in the Kingdom of God, there is no quid pro quo. There are only gifts, only grace.”
And thank God for that. Because it is never a truly equal exchange when it comes to our relationship with God, is it?
Imagine if we had to somehow repay God’s gift to us in Christ Jesus. It would be impossible. We would spend our entire lives striving to do something that we could never ever do. What if we spent out entire lives fearing that God would stop wanting to have a relationship with us simply because we can never repay God for God’s love. If we were judged by our actions and even our own love for God, we would never be able to make that exchange — we would always fall short.
Jesus shows us that God is uninterested in the kind of love and relationship built on exchanging goods and status. God desires a relationship with us, God’s children.
We want the Kingdom of God to be present here on earth, and indeed it is, when we reach out to those in need, when we are more generous than society tells us we should. When we do not hesitate to show hospitality to strangers. When we remember those who are in prison. When we devote ourselves to being in right relationship with one another, when we are free from the love of money, when we are content with what we have. Then we have the chance to get a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.
When we have the chance to sit at the banquet table, when we are the ones writing the invitations, Jesus encourages us to invite those who wouldn’t normally get a seat at the table, those who don’t always have enough food. The poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
After all, we all come to this table, hands outstretched, all one and all the same in God’s eyes. And we all ask for the same body and blood of Christ, the only thing that sustains us in this life. And despite our wealth, power, and status, God feeds us. God feeds us-- the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
Amen.
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