Open Table

 I remember meals at my grandma's and grandpa's farm house when everyone was there. Even though she had this table that could expand like an accordion, there was still the kid's table, a card table, because we couldn't all fit around it. What a big day in our family when you got go to the big table. It was like a graduation from childhood to adulthood. We waited and dreamed of that day. What an honor. 

Jesus begins his teaching sounding like Dale Carnegie on, "How to Win Friends and Influence People." He gives some practical advice on how to not only save face but even to gain honor in front of everyone. Sit in the lowest spot, far from the host, so that the host will come to you and bring you closer to him. There was a social ranking that the closer you were to the host, the more esteemed you were and the farther you were from the host, the less important you were to them. So yes, it would be very embarrassing to be sitting there and asked to take a seat farther from the host so someone more 'important' would take your seat. Better to be brought closer than to be pushed away. 

Those around the table would think this is good advice and that these are wise words for Jesus to share with them. Jesus has just baited the hook. You want to get ahead in this world, listen to this advice. You all can agree this is good advice. Are you paying attention and listening to what I am going to say next? Good. Now, to get ahead in God's kingdom here is what you do: when you host a meal, a gatherings, a banquet, do not invite your friends or those who seek to curry favor with; instead invite the poor, the blind, the crippled, and the lame and you will be blessed. Invite those who cannot repay your generosity and your hospitality. It's not getting the right spot at the right party with the right people. It's loving those whom society and the powerbrokers of the world say don't matter. It's those who Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew proclaim are the least of these, "As you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me, giving food to the hungry." I do imagine that many were perturbed, if not offended by such advice. How does that help me, my business, and my family? I can more than imagine that many of us are asking, what if we just want to hang out with our friends and family because we truly like them?

The setting of the this scene is that Jesus is going to the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees. First of all, Jesus was invited otherwise he wouldn't have been let in the door. So, all Pharisees must not have hated Jesus and opposed him if he was welcome at their table. He might have been a curiosity, the new guy in town, and this was a way to check him out. Maybe there was a plan to trap Jesus to get him declared a heretic and a blasphemer. But, let's take this at face value that the local religious leader hosted a meal on the Sabbath and all the movers and shakers in the community were invited, and that also included Jesus. It was a business meeting, religious business, but a business meeting none-the-less. So this gives Jesus the opening to talk about God's business. The setting wasn't an informal gathering in which a bunch of friends were just in the right time and place. 

Jesus was famous, or infamous, for eating and drinking with sinners and tax collectors. It appears that he rarely turned down an invitation to break bread with others, even going so far, at times, to invite himself over to someone's house, "Zaccheus, come on down, for I'm going to your house to stay." Jesus wasn't saying that we only had to invite to our house who were unable to invite us back. But, however, if we were going to make a list of those who could help us gain favor in the eyes of God, well then it is simple, it is the least of these who should sit at your table, for you may be entertaining angels unaware. 

In our Open and Affirming, Just Peace church that hosts a food shelf, a bicycle program for foreign workers, and space for those who working on recovering from their addictions, we could pat ourselves on the back, maybe even have some pride that we are listening to this advice. I am thankful that I am a part of this church and community. I am thankful that we have payed attention to Jesus' stories and have applied them to our faith, our church, and our lives. I am aware that we are only doing what Christ and God have asked us to do, not to be praised or lifted up, but to love with all we have, all we are are, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

Let us continue to be the church where no matter who they are, where they are on life's journey. They are welcome here. Amen!