EVERYONE IS WELCOME AT GOD’S TABLE Luke 14:15-23
Rev. Paul Wrightman 3/20/22
IN HER BOOK MYSTERY IN THE DESERT, MARIA REICHE DESCRIBES
A SERIES OF STRANGE LINES MADE BY THE NAZEA TRIBE
IN THE PLAINS OF PERU, SOME OF THEM COVERING
MANY SQUARE MILES.
FOR YEARS, PEOPLE ASSUMED THESE LINES WERE THE REMNANTS
OF ANCIENT IRRIGATION DITCHES.
THEN IN 1939, DR. PAUL KOSOK OF LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY
DISCOVERED THAT THEIR TRUE MEANING COULD ONLY BE SEEN
FROM HIGH IN THE AIR. WHEN VIEWED FROM AN AIRPLANE,
THESE SEEMINGLY RANDOM LINES ARE ENORMOUS DRAWINGS
OF BIRDS, INSECTS, AND ANIMALS.
IN A SIMILAR WAY, PEOPLE OFTEN THINK OF THE BIBLE
AS A SERIES OF INDIVIDUAL, UNCONNECTED STORIES.
BUT IF WE SURVEY THE SCRIPTURES AS A WHOLE,
WE DISCOVER THAT THEY FORM ONE GREAT STORY
OF GOD’S LOVE – FROM THE OPENING SCENES OF GENESIS
TO THE FINAL CHAPTER OF REVELATION.
AND THE HIGH POINT OF THIS ONE GREAT STORY
IS JESUS’ TEACHING ON THE MEANING OF GOD’S KINGDOM.
EACH OF JESUS’ PARABLES EXPLORES A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FACET
OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
THE PARABLE WE ARE CONSIDERING TODAY,
THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT BANQUET, EXPANDS ONE
OF THE MAJOR BIBLICAL PICTURES OF GOD’S KINGDOM.
WHEN JESUS APPROACHES THIS SUBJECT, HE PARTICIPATES
IN A CONVERSATION THAT HAD BEGUN
OVER SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS EARLIER
IN THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH.
SO OUR PARABLE THIS MORNING
IS ACTUALLY A SCENE FROM A MUCH LONGER MOVIE.
THIS SEVEN-HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD CONVERSATION
BEGINS IN ISAIAH CHAPTER 25, VERSES 6 THROUGH 9,
WHERE ISAIAH IS INSPIRED TO ENVISION A GREAT BANQUET,
THE MESSIANIC BANQUET, TO BE HELD AT THE END OF HISTORY.
AT THIS BANQUET THE LORD OF HOSTS PREPARES THE FEAST
AND SERVES THE FOOD OF KINGS.
IT WILL BE HELD ON THE HOLY MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD
AND THE GUESTS WILL INCLUDE PEOPLES
FROM ALL THE GENTILE NATIONS.
ACCORDING TO GOD SPEAKING THROUGH ISAIAH, THEN,
ALL PEOPLES WILL BE PRESENT, NOT JUST THE JEWISH PEOPLE.
DEATH WILL BE AT AN END, TEARS WILL BE WIPED AWAY,
AND IT WILL BE A GLORIOUS DAY OF HOMECOMING FOR EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO BE PART OF GOD’S KINGDOM.
ONE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN FIND OUT WHAT MANY
OF JESUS’ JEWISH CONTEMPORARIES WERE THINKING
IS BY TURNING TO A SET OF SCROLLS CALLED THE TARGUM.
AROUND THE TIME OF JESUS, AS THE SPOKEN AND WRITTEN
LANGUAGE OF ISRAEL EVOLVED FROM HEBREW INTO ARAMAIC,
A LOOSE TRANSLATION WAS MADE – THE TARGUM –
SO THAT THE PEOPLE WHO NO LONGER READ HEBREW
COULD UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES.
BY JESUS’ DAY, ISAIAH’S VISION OF A GREAT BANQUET
TO WHICH GENTILES WERE INVITED HAD BECOME SO UNPOPULAR
AND SO UNACCEPTABLE THAT THE TARGUM TOTALLY CHANGES
ISAIAH’S VISION TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
“THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL MAKE A MEAL ON THIS MOUNTAIN
FOR THE GENTILES. AND ALTHOUGH THEY SUPPOSED IT AN HONOR,
IT WILL BE A SHAME FOR THEM. GREAT PLAGUES,
PLAGUES FROM WHICH THEY WILL BE UNABLE TO ESCAPE
SHALL OVERTAKE THEM, AND THEY SHALL COME TO THEIR END.”
ANOTHER WAY OF LISTENING IN ON WHAT JESUS’ CONTEMPORARIES
WERE THINKING IS TO CHECK OUT THE QUASI-BIBLICAL BOOKS
WHICH CAME INTO BEING AFTER THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
HAD BEEN WRITTEN AND BEFORE THE NEW TESTAMENT
WAS COMPOSED.
ONE OF THESE INTER-TESTAMENTAL BOOKS, THE BOOK OF ENOCH,
ALSO SPEAKS OF A GREAT BANQUET WITH THE MESSIAH
AND STATES THAT THE GENTILES WILL BE INCLUDED.
BUT THE ANGEL OF DEATH WILL ALSO BE PRESENT
AND WILL USE HIS SWORD TO DESTROY THOSE GENTILES.
THE BANQUET HALL WILL RUN WITH BLOOD
AND THE JEWISH BELIEVERS WILL BE OBLIGED TO WADE THROUGH
THE GORE TO REACH THE BANQUET HALL WHERE THEY
WILL SIT DOWN WITH THEIR MESSIAH.
A THIRD WAY TO HEAR WHAT MANY OF JESUS’ CONTEMPORARIES
WERE THINKING IS TO CHECK OUT THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS.
THERE WE ARE TOLD NOT ONLY THAT NO GENTILES
WOULD BE PRESENT, HAVING ALREADY MET THEIR DEMISE,
BUT EQUALLY UNACCEPTABLE WOULD BE “ANYONE PARALYZED
IN FEET OR HANDS, OR CRIPPLED, OR BLIND, OR DEAF,
OR SMITTEN IN THE FLESH WITH A VISIBLE BLEMISH.”
THE TARGUM, THE BOOK OF ENOCH, AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
GIVE US A GLIMPSE INTO JUST HOW EXCLUSIONARY
GOD’S MESSIANIC BANQUET HAD COME TO BE UNDERSTOOD
IN JESUS’ DAY.
IT HAD BECOME JUST AS EXCLUSIONARY IN JESUS’ DAY
AS MANY CHRISTIANS MAKE IT IN OUR DAY: HEAVEN BEING
LIMITED TO THOSE WHO ACCEPT A PARTICULAR BELIEF-SYSTEM
AND/OR SET OF RULES.
IN BOTH JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN CONTEXTS OF EXCLUSION,
JESUS IN TODAY’S PARABLE COMES ACROSS QUITE REALISTICALLY
AS A BULL-IN-A-CHINA SHOP:
HE CLASHES AND CRASHES AND SMASHES
THE STRAIGHT-JACKETED THINKING OF HIS AND OUR
CONTEMPORARIES AND OPENS THE DOORS OF HEAVEN
TO ANYONE DESIRING TO STEP IN.
(PAUSE)
THE SETTING OF OUR PARABLE IS UNMISTAKABLY MIDDLE EASTERN.
A TRAVELING RABBI PASSES THROUGH A LOCAL VILLAGE.
THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS INVITE THE VILLAGE GUEST TO A MEAL
DURING WHICH THEY INVESTIGATE
HIS POLITICAL AND THEOLOGICAL VIEWS.
IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE JESUS IS THE GUEST
AND THE PERSON WHO MAKES THE OPENING STATEMENT
WANTS TO BRING OUT JESUS’ VIEWS ON THE TOPIC
OF THE COMING KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE MESSIANIC BANQUET.
TO GET THE CONVERSATION GOING, ONE OF THE DINNER GUESTS
MAKES THE LEADING STATEMENT “BLESSED IS ANYONE
WHO WILL EAT BREAD IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD!”
THIS IS AN OPENING FOR JESUS TO EXPRESS HIS VIEWS
ON THAT TOPIC.
THOSE AROUND THE TABLE WOULD EXPECT JESUS
TO SAY SOMETHING RATHER CONVENTIONAL, SUCH AS,
“OH, THAT WE MIGHT KEEP THE LAW IN A PRECISE FASHION
SO THAT WHEN THAT GREAT DAY COMES, WE WILL BE COUNTED
WORTHY TO SIT WITH THE MESSIAH AT HIS BANQUET.”
THE RECLINING GUESTS, ALL MEN, WOULD HAVE NODDED
APPROVINGLY AND THOUGHT TO THEMSELVES,
“FINE, HE PASSED THAT EXAM. NOW LET’S MOVE ON
TO THE NEXT TOPIC.”
BUT THIS, OF COURSE, IS NOT WHAT THEY GOT.
INSTEAD, JESUS RESPONDS BY TELLING A PARABLE THAT
LITERALLY DEMOLISHES THEIR EXCLUSIONARY UNDERSTANDING
OF WHO IS WELCOME AT GOD’S MESSIANIC BANQUET.
THE INTRODUCTION TO THE PARABLE,
“SOMEONE GAVE A GREAT DINNER AND INVITED MANY,”
BRINGS THE HEARER AT ONCE TO THE TOPIC
OF THE GREAT BANQUET.
AS IS OFTEN THE CASE WITH JESUS’ PARABLES,
THE “SOMEONE” MENTIONED REPRESENTS NO ONE LESS THAN GOD.
IN A TRADITIONAL MIDDLE EASTERN VILLAGE
THE HOST OF A BANQUET INVITES A GROUP OF HIS SOCIAL EQUALS.
ON THE BASIS OF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE
WHO ACCEPT THE INVITATION, HE DECIDES HOW MUCH
AND WHAT KIND OF MEAT HE WILL SERVE.
ON THE DAY OF THE BANQUET ANIMALS OR FOWL
ARE BUTCHERED AND THE BANQUET PREPARED.
WHEN EVERYTHING IS READY THE MASTER WILL SEND
HIS SERVANT AROUND THE VILLAGE WITH THE CLASSIC PHRASE,
“COME, FOR EVERYTHING IS READY NOW.”
THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THIS PARABLE IS TO BE ABLE
TO IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZE THE INCREDIBLE LAMENESS
OF THE EXCUSES GIVEN –
JUST AS JESUS’ ORIGINAL HEARERS, BOTH THE HIGH-STATUS
SCRIBES, PHARISEES, AND PRIESTS GATHERED AROUND THE TABLE,
AND THE LOW-STATUS MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN, POOR, BLIND, DEAF, CRIPPLED, AND DISFIGURED LEANING AGAINST
THE COURTYARD WALLS LOOKING ON –
WOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED THE INSULTING
IMPLAUSIBILITY OF THE EXCUSES GIVEN.
THE EXCUSES ARE SO PATENTLY LAME THAT THEY COME ACROSS
AS NOTHING LESS THAN A SLAP-IN-THE-FACE
TO THE GIVER OF THE BANQUET.
THE NONSENSE OF THE FIRST TWO EXCUSES IS THAT A PIECE OF LAND
IS BOUGHT WITHOUT HAVING FIRST SEEN IT;
TEN YOKE OF OXEN ARE PURCHASED WITHOUT HAVING FIRST
TRIED THEM OUT.
LISTENING TO THIS STORY, THOSE LEANING AGAINST
THE COURTYARD WALLS – PRECISELY THOSE WHO WOULD
HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED FROM THE MESSIANIC BANQUET
ACCORDING TO THE MAJORITY THEOLOGY OF THE DAY –
WOULD HAVE BEEN BURSTING OUT WITH LAUGHTER
AT THE TRANSPARENT INEPTITUDE OF THE EXCUSES.
AND THOSE RECLINING AT TABLE –
THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT OF JESUS’ DAY –
WOULD HAVE BEEN BEGINNING TO GET ALARMED.
THE THIRD EXCUSE IS A DIRECT INSULT TO THE HOST.
MIDDLE EASTERN CHIVALRY ASSUMES A DIGNIFIED
AND RESPECTFUL MANNER OF TALKING ABOUT ONE’S WIFE.
THIS THIRD REFUSER IS VERY RUDELY SAYING
“I HAVE A WOMAN IN THE BACK OF THE HOUSE,
AND I AM BUSY WITH HER. DON’T EXPECT ME AT YOUR BANQUET.”
THREE REFUSALS IN A ROW WOULD HAVE INDICATED
THAT THERE WAS A MOVEMENT AFOOT
TO SHUT THE BANQUET DOWN.
THOSE RECLINING AT THE TABLE WITH JESUS, THE RELIGIOUS ELITE,
WOULD BE BEGINNING TO GET THE IDEA THAT FOR JESUS
THEY WERE THE ONES GIVING THE EXCUSES.
ACCORDING TO THE ETHOS OF THE DAY,
THE INSULTED HOST IN THE STORY WOULD BE EXPECTED
TO GET EVEN, EVEN TO GET EVEN THROUGH THE USE OF VIOLENCE.
THE HOST HAD BEEN CHALLENGED TO A DUEL, SO TO SPEAK,
AND ONE WAS EXPECTED TO ENGAGE VIOLENTLY
FOR THE SAKE OF UNHOLDING ONE’S HONOR.
AT THIS POINT IN THE PARABLE THE ASSEMBLED PRIESTS,
PHARISEES, AND SCRIBES WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPECTING TO HEAR
AT LEAST A VEILED THREAT FROM THE HOST.
WHAT INSTEAD THEY DID HEAR WAS, FOR THEM,
EVEN WORSE THAN THE THREAT OF VIOLENCE.
THE INSULTED HOST – REMEMBER THAT THE HOST
REPRESENTS GOD – REPROCESSES HIS ANGER INTO GRACE
AND BIDS HIS SERVANT BRING IN “THE POOR, THE CRIPPLED,
THE BLIND, AND THE LAME.”
BOTH GROUPS LISTENING TO THE PARABLE –
THE “IN-GROUP” OF RELIGIOUS ELITES, AND THE “OUT-GROUP”
OF THOSE EXCLUDED FROM THE BANQUET –
WOULD HAVE BEEN EQUALLY SHOCKED AT THE UNEXPECTED
TURN OF EVENTS IN THIS PARABLE, BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
THE RELIGIOUS ELITES WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOCKED –
AND DEEPLY OFFENDED – AT THIS IMPLIED EXTENSION
OF GOD’S GRACE TO THOSE SO UNWORTHY OF IT.
THE EXCLUDED -- WHO HAVE GOTTEN SO USED TO BEING EXCLUDED –
WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOCKED TO FIND THEMSELVES
SUDDENLY INCLUDED, LITERALLY TAKING THE PLACES
OF THOSE WHO EXCUSED THEMSELVES OUT OF THE BANQUET.
BUT FOR THE RELIGIOUS ELITE, THOSE WHO IN JUDAISM
OR CHRISTIANITY COME UP WITH EXCLUSIONARY RULES
TO KEEP PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE BANQUET,
THINGS GET EVEN WORSE.
AFTER THE TABLE IS NEARLY FILLED WITH THE POOR,
THE CRIPPLED, THE BLIND, AND THE LAME, THE BANQUET-GIVER’S
SERVANT NOTICES THAT THERE IS STILL ROOM AT THE TABLE,
AND REPORTS THIS TO HIS MASTER.
WHEREUPON THE MASTER DOES THE UNSPEAKABLE, AND ORDERS HIS SERVANT TO BRING IN THE PEOPLE FROM
THE “ROADS AND LANES” – A COMMON PHRASE DESIGNATING
PRECISELY THE DESPISED GENTILES MENTIONED IN THE BOOK
OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET.
PROBABLY BY THIS TIME EVERYONE LISTENING TO THIS PARABLE –
INCLUDING JESUS’ DISCIPLES – WAS OFFENDED BY JESUS
AND ANGRY AT JESUS.
INVITING THE POOR, CRIPPLED, BLIND, AND LAME OF THE
HOUSE OF ISRAEL WAS ONE THING.
OPENING THE DOOR TO UNCLEAN AND UNGODLY GENTILES
WAS QUITE ANOTHER.
JESUS WAS, IN EFFECT, ISSUING A SERIOUS CHALLENGE
TO REPENT, TO TURN AROUND, TO ALL WHO HEARD THIS PARABLE,
BOTH THE ORIGINAL HEARERS, AND EVERYONE WHO HAS HEARD
THIS PARABLE SINCE THEN, VERY MUCH INCLUDING OURSELVES:
CHANGE YOUR HEART AND YOUR MIND
AND IDENTIFY WITH GOD’S IDEA OF HOSPITALITY –
A GREAT BANQUET WHERE EVERYONE IS EQUALLY WELCOME.
I’D LIKE TO CLOSE THIS SERMON WITH A PARABLE ON THIS PARABLE
BY DALLAS WILLARD IN HIS BOOK THE DIVINE CONSPIRACY.
“AS A CHILD I LIVED IN AN AREAOF SOUTHERN MISSOURI
WHERE ELECTRICITY WAS AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE FORM
OF LIGHTNING. WE HAD MORE OF THAT THAN WE COULD USE.
BUT IN MY SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL, THE REA
(RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION) EXTENDED ITS LINES
INTO THE AREA WHERE WE LIVED, AND ELECTRICAL POWER
BECAME AVAILABLE TO HOUSEHOLDS AND FARMS.
WHEN THOSE LINES CAME BY OUR FARM,
A VERY DIFFERENT WAY OF LIVING PRESENTED ITSELF.
OUR RELATIONSHIPS TO FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF LIFE –
DAYLIGHT AND DARK, HOT AND COLD, CLEAN AND DIRTY,
WORK AND LEISURE, PREPARING FOOD AND PRESERVING IT –
COULD THEN BE VASTLY CHANGED FOR THE BETTER.
BUT WE STILL HAD TO ACCEPT THE ELECTRICITY –
AND TAKE THE PRACTICAL STEPS INVOLVED IN RELYING ON IT.
YOU MAY THINK THE COMPARISON RATHER CRUDE,
AND IN SOME RESPECTS IT IS.
BUT IT WILL HELP US TO UNDERSTAND JESUS’ BASIC MESSAGE
ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IF WE PAUSE TO REFLECT
ON THOSE FARMERS WHO, IN EFFECT, HEARD THE MESSAGE
‘REPENT, FOR ELECTRICITY IS AT HAND.”
REPENT, OR TURN FROM THEIR KEROSENE LAMPS AND LANTERNS,
THEIR ICEBOXES AND CELLARS, THEIR SCRUB-BOARDS
AND RUG BEATERS, THEIR WOMAN-POWERED SEWING MACHINES
AND THEIR RADIOS WITH DRY-CELL BATTERIES.
THE POWER THAT WOULD MAKE THEIR LIVES FAR BETTER
WAS RIGHT THERE NEAR THEM WHERE, BY MAKING RELATIVELY
SIMPLE ARRANGEMENTS, THEY COULD UTILIZE IT.
STRANGELY, A FEW DID NOT ACCEPT IT.
THEY DID NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF ELECTRICITY.” (End Quote)
(PAUSE)
COMMUNITY CHURCH HAS OFFICIALLY ENDORSED
THE INCLUSIVE STANCE OF JESUS IN OUR MOTTO:
“NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, OR WHERE YOU ARE
ON LIFE’S JOURNEY, YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!”
AND WITH THE BANNER HANGING FROM ONE OF OUR
OUTSIDE SANCTUARY WALLS:
“JESUS DIDN’T REJECT PEOPLE. NEITHER DO WE.”
MAY GOD BLESS US ON OUR ON-GOING JOURNEY AS A CHURCH,
THAT WE MAY CONTINUE TO GROW MORE AND MORE LIKE JESUS,
REFLECTING HIS HOSPITALITY, HIS OPENNESS,
AND HIS GRACIOUS ACCEPTANCE OF OTHERS.
AMEN.