Our third “Engadine@5” service was not videoed but here is the bible reading, the message brought to us by Kathy, and our sharing of holy communion.
Luke 14:1 – 24
14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6 And they had nothing to say.
7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honour at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honoured in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Parable of the Great Banquet
15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yokes of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
MESSAGE by Kathy
Much of what Jesus taught, by word and action, was summed up by who he ate with or, as it is often, called table fellowship.
We know Jesus frequently ate with those who were unacceptable and unimportant in his society in his time – tax collectors, lepers, women with unsavoury backgrounds. Sometimes he ate, as in the reading today, with those who were important in society . And when Jesus was preparing to leave his disciples, he left them a meal to eat together that we call the Last Supper– bread and wine, flesh and blood.
One of the first things that the world knew about Christians was that they ate together. At the beginning of each week they gathered – rich and poor, slaves and free, Jews and Gentiles, women and men – to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. While each community worshipped a bit differently, it appears most practiced communion by enjoying a full meal together, with special prayers of thanksgiving, for the bread and wine. They remembered Jesus with food, stories, laughter, tears, debate, discussion. They thanked God not only for the Bread that came from the earth, but also for the Bread that came from God to nourish the whole world.
Jesus began this radical table fellowship well before his Last supper. He ate with those who would engage. And he ate with those most others of note would not. Jesus’ most consistent social action was eating in new ways and with new people, encountering those who were oppressed or excluded from the system. And it seems Jesus didn’t please anybody by breaking rules to make the table bigger. He was criticised for eating with sinners, for eating too much, for dining with lawyers and Pharisees. Still, Jesus continued to eat with all sides: he ate with lepers; he received a woman with a poor reputation at a men’s dinner; he invited himself to a “sinner’s” house. In today’s reading Jesus was going to the table of a leader of the Pharisees. As so often, Jesus turned this meal into a teachable moment. He continues the theme we touched a few weeks ago , of healing on the Sabbath with an emphasis on the responsibility to take care of family no matter what day it is. Inferring of course that the poor and sick are family to God. Pretty radical stuff.
Jesus says that true hospitality is in inviting those who cannot reciprocate. Now reciprocity was the nature of normal social behaviour of the time – still is – investing in those who are our equal or better in the expectation of equal returns, both material and emotionally. We enjoy the company of like-minded souls. We enjoy a good dinner party with witty, warm-hearted folk who serve us delicious food? And when deciding who to invite to a dinner we take into consideration, who has recently fed us and who we would like to get to know better?
Jesus also teaches that true hospitality is to invest in relationships with those who may not be able to, or might not want to, reciprocate. And then he adds the delightful other layer that of course we cannot actually tell who is our equal, our better and therefore we would do well to be humble and to take the lower seat. In other words, those we might assume to be our lesser by worldly standards may, in the eyes of God, be our betters.
This has implications for us in our time and in this place. As the body of Christ, a fellowship of believers, we are reminded to keep on inviting others into our midst, including those who may not seem likely to accept. And then having invited others we are to welcome them and to make room for them at our table, room in a good seat, for they may just be our betters! We need to welcome people not only in the front door but into the heart of our community.
The call of the gospel is not to stay still and comfortable. How do I box others in and refuse to let them grow and change? Where do I silence the unknown and unfamiliar, instead of leaning into newness with curiosity and delight? Do I allow people to simply be? Do I allow myself to be invited and welcomed with all hopes and dreams, doubts and despairs? We need to keep on meeting, eating with and making room for those who may be different to us, those who are new or not known to us with confidence in what we have to share. And as a nation we are called upon to keep on welcoming the outcast and the refugee and making room in our country, our community, and our homes for those who have come seeking refuge and safety and respite from war and trauma and despair.
Jesus invites us into a larger and more inclusive table fellowship where he is both host and meal.
We are welcome and we belong and are loved simply because of who we are. The communion table says that we are one, we are equal in dignity, we all eat of the same divine food, and become one with Jesus. We meet Jesus and each other in the mess, distress, everydayness, despair, joy, the comfortable, the uncomfortable of our lives. Jesus makes room for us. We make room for each other. It is a place of welcome, Grace and abundant Love. There are no barriers, because the table belongs to God who has no fences. Jesus continues his radical table fellowship here in this place and continues to make room for you at his table and eat with anyone who wishes to engage. Amen.
*With thanks to commentary from Debbie Thomas, Brandon Brown and Bob Cornwall
Communion
God is with us and invites us to this meal. Jesus is present in this meal as we reflect his love towards one another. Come encounter the grace of God who loves you
Loving God , we bring our stories, we bring our community, we bring all that has gone before us, and all that is hoped for after us to your table. Thank you for your beautiful welcome to each of us. In this community of Your people,
We acknowledge and greet the One who comes among us,
Bread of Life, hope of the world.
Christ is with us, Christ is one with us, as we share in the celebration of this holy meal.
We are community because Christ is, we celebrate the story, the presence, and the gift of grace, that you invite us to, with the breaking of bread and sharing of wine. Creator Spirit be present to us in the blessing and breaking of bread, present to us in the sharing of wine, your covenant of blessing for all of Creation. The Easter story is one of Death to Life, brokenness to wholeness. Injustice to justice. Hurt to healing. Jesus had gathered with his disciples. It was a celebration meal; God had been with the people before and brought them to freedom and covenant as they fled Egypt. They feasted, they recalled stories and they came close to God.
When the feasting was done, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it. Each one is invited to eat. This is my body, Jesus said. As the bread is broken so too will my body be broken. This will be a new covenant.
We are invited to share broken bread together because in Christ community happens.
After the eating, Jesus took some wine and blessed it as he had blessed the bread. This is my blood Jesus said. This the coming towards God’s covenant made with all. That in suffering will come hope, in hurt will come healing, in injustice will come justice, and in brokenness will come wholeness. (Cup is upheld)
This will be a new covenant God makes with us all across time and space. A new community wrapped in light, love, grace, hope and healing. We are invited to share in wine together because in Christ community happens.
Invocation of the Holy Spirit
God who knows us all
may this bread and this wine
be infused with the Christ-presence, that we may be bearers of this presence in our life together, and our life in the world.
a moment of silence
Christ has died,
Christ has risen,
Christ will come again
Jesus, redeemer of the world, show compassion and grant us peace
Let us receive what we are, let us become what we receive –
The gifts of God that make you God’s people The body of Christ
Jesus loves you and is glad you are here to eat at His table.
DISTRIBUTION
Jesus loves you more than you can ever understand, this is his body broken for you. The cup of hope – The blood of Jesus poured out in solidarity for you.
Lets pray:
Holy and Loving God,
we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ,
for the nourishment of his life and teaching,
the power of his death and resurrection,
and for his invitation to enjoy
life in all its fullness.
Invited and fed at your table we are remade, repurposed.
May we continue to make room for others here at Church and beyond these walls, meeting each other in the glorious mess of our lives.
May God’s presence
be revealed through our lives. Amen.
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