I can’t hear Jesus’ words in our gospel this morning and not think of Emily Post. Emily Post became famous in the early twentieth century for her writing about etiquette – manners and behaviors based on consideration, respect and honesty, and her standards were widely accepted and taught. I still remember the etiquette dinner my business college hosted for the seniors so we could learn how to engage in a professional setting, and, among other things, not order spaghetti and meatballs - with the potential hazards of splattered tomato sauce, slurped noodles and flying meatballs.
But Emily
Post wasn’t Jesus.
And Jesus wasn’t giving etiquette lessons.
In our gospel today, when Jesus joins the pharisee and his dinner guests at the table, first he watches them and sees them make completely predictable choices that are in keeping with the norms of their society and culture in the first century of the Greco-Roman world. A society based on rank and position and status. A culture based on hierarchy and patronage.
Then Jesus tells them a parable that challenges them to make different choices next time.
Because Jesus
envisions a kingdom that erases human divisions and appreciates differing gifts
and abilities and creates a place of belonging for all.
Jesus shows
the pharisee and his guests that the system they are operating within is exclusive
and unfair:
Guests
jockey for the best seat because their proximity to the host implies something
positive about their status.
And hosts
invite guests who can reciprocate or repay them with a similar gesture.
The system defines a person’s value solely based on what they can give or do for another person.
For those who have resources, the system works well. But if someone is a child or a woman or is differently abled – in the language from Luke “poor, crippled, lame or blind” – then they wouldn’t be invited to the table.
And that’s a big problem. For Jesus. And for us.
For decades, especially in the last century, Lutheran churches grew because generations of Lutheran families gave birth to more generations of Lutherans. Today, procreation is not a reliable church growth strategy. Similarly, in the mid-twentieth century, Lutheran churches grew because in part because the Church was at the center of white American culture and society. Today, it just isn’t. Another reality is that for a very long time, churches have been structured on the idea that we are first a community of believers, and that a person who believes what “Christians” believe and behaves the way “Christians” behave is welcome and “belongs”.
But what
happens when we meet a person who didn’t grow up going to church on Sundays and
Wednesdays and isn’t sure what Lutherans believe?
or someone
who isn’t married or doesn’t have children but wants to belong in a community?
or a young parent who loves worship, but they’re shushed when the baby babbles through the choir’s anthem?
Jesus’ vision is a prophetic vision of a beloved community that levels the uneven ground and smooths out the rough places (Isaiah 40:4) so that all are welcome.
“All are
welcome” is a big tent statement. I mean, it says that you are welcome
regardless of …you name it:
your
political beliefs;
your
language or country of origin;
what clothes
you are wearing;
your
education level;
your housing
status….and on and on.
It’s a long
list. And I think Jesus means it.
He wants us
to welcome all,
even the people who are different from me and from you.
You may remember that I didn’t grow up Lutheran. I remember two particular times when the Lutheran congregations where we worshiped welcomed my family especially well. The first was in the congregation where our children were baptized and where we became ELCA Lutherans. In that congregation, I would sit in the last pew. I’d bring my knitting and my coffee and participate in worship as best as a tired young mother could. And then in another state and another congregation, the pastor invited our elementary-age daughter to serve as the acolyte, and no one said anything when our youngest danced in the side aisle during the hymns. In both of those congregations, we found a place where we belonged and learned what it means to be Lutheran later.
Jesus’
vision for the Kingdom offers us opportunities to see
ourselves and others through the lenses of
compassion, equality and abundance, instead of productivity, rank and
scarcity. We are more than what we can offer someone else, and we don’t need to
be anxious about whether we belong at the table, or whether someone else is
going to take our seat or get an even better one.
Here at Grace, one of our goals for the new strategic plan is focused on supporting members and visitors in the Grace community, helping people know God’s love for them, and creating a supportive environment for all ages and backgrounds.
Even before the strategic plan was adopted last spring, we recognized that some folks have a hard time sitting for an extended amount of time, and others, like me, listen better when my hands are busy. So now we have a basket of fidget toys near the doors to the sanctuary. And anyone, child or adult, is welcome to use the noiseless toys and return them after worship.
Another conversation we’ve been having is how we can organize programming and activities that accommodate working adults and families, so that’s part of why we have reimagined Oasis this fall. We hope a later start time will make it more feasible for folks to come over to church or hop online on Wednesday nights at 6:30, take a deep breath and worship in community here at Grace.
As some of you noticed, we are also asking how we can have people with different gifts and backgrounds involved as congregation leaders here at Grace. We have a lot of older, white and retired members, and we are grateful for the many gifts you share, AND we want to listen well to others whose experiences and gifts are different from yours.
Some may
lament that the table isn’t big enough to include everyone, but the answer
isn’t to turn them away.
The answer
is to build a longer table, not only seeing and accepting the beautiful array
of gifts God gives us in each other,
but
appreciates how our differences are a blessing.
This is the
Lord’s table after all, and all are welcome.
Amen.
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