August 24th ~ is our table as open as God's?

Click above to listen to a recording of Sunday's sermon

Isaiah 66:18-21

Psalm 117

Hebrews 12:5-13

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon by Pastor Ronald Nelson

(filling in for Pastor Joel)

We Christians have often tried to make Jesus out to be something more than he was. For instance, a birth in a manger with animals and shepherds came to be a sterilized scene with no smells. But instead let us get real, Pat Marrin in looking at the Gospel story today said; “the word today invoked in me the memory of a classic tune written by Lou reed. The lyrics to ‘Take a Walk on the Wild Side’ invited me to reflect on just how radical Jesus must have seemed to his contemporaries.

Jesus was a poet and a storyteller who came from outside the theological establishment. He quickly gained a questionable reputation for associating with the society’s misfits and outcasts, and he had the audacity to say that God sought them out and loved them.” Do not worry, I am not going to repeat Lou reed’s lyrics.

Someone else said, “when Jesus was asked a question it was like the line, “a man walked into a bar…” In other words, we should get ready for a story that turns expectations inside out. Just think how easy it would have been to reject Jesus, this strange yet charismatic person when he came to Jerusalem and stirred things up. He called out the temple priesthood by disrupting the money exchangers and the animal market. And, in doing so, he provoked the Roman authorities, who took their cut from the revenue earned in the temple. [is it not sad to hear how so many of the American Christians today suck up to the government in power?]

Today’s story in the gospel spotlights a fellow whose inquiry subtly suggests that few people [other than himself] will be saved. But Jesus circumvents the discussion of numbers by switching the focus to the difficulty of gaining entrance to the master’s mansion. This story is a good example of just when we think we have this Jesus/God all figured out, things change. In today’s gospel, Jesus addresses the challenge of entering God’s kingdom through the “narrow gate”, and then said that many sinners would get in while those who thought they had an automatic pass would be too proud to fit through the gate. It is a curious image for me because it comes from someone who seemed to throw the gates of “heaven” wide open to anyone seeking God’s unconditional love, and yet it suggests a whole set of paradoxes that describe God’s mysterious ways. The first will be last and the last will be first, mercy and compassion, not sacrifice or legal purity seem to be what gets God’s attention. Have I just presumed God’s mercy without doing anything on my part? Ironically the “narrow gate/door” for entering God’s kingdom among us revolves around our developing a very “broad mind.”

Well as I said earlier, these lessons, including next Sunday’s have not made for a relaxing summer. [for the St. Peter’s congregation - the good news is next Sunday will be my last.] Now of course, God blesses virtue and discipline because they make for an orderly life. I will never forget a teacher, Mr. Woehl, at my school in Erskine, MN. He was different than the one Jon mentioned. He was a very active Christian and really just a ‘good guy’, but he could not handle a seventh grader coming to school with a “green head”, so I spent my lunch hour in his room at the school. You see Mr. Woehl’s version of life did not include that, God is also looking for the lost and the broken-hearted, life’s chaotic radicals, troublemakers, and yes, even crazy teenagers with green hair. Jesus’ many parables imagine God heading out into the night to roam the steamy underground of forbidden and dangerous haunts to retrieve a beloved son, a reckless daughter, or an abused child. But Jesus did do the above, and thus he became an outcast himself.

I could never listen to, The Lou Reeds, the Ozzy Osbournes and a host of others, [Willie Nelson and Frank Sinatra are ‘bad’ enough for me. But I have to admit, “What Made Milwaukee Famous Made a Loser Out of Me” is one of my favourites.] You see these ‘musicians?’ were/are using their music to invite listeners to consider the humanity of those left outside the mainstream. In the same way, Jesus’, God’s probe into the shadow side of human nature, went to the wild side to take upon himself the rejection that made his death on the cross inevitable. But he also did it/ does it for every one of us. Jesus sat at an ever-open table and encouraged people to keep knocking on the locked door, and to trust that someone would open the door for them/us. And we say, about the story, “what is up?” This story becomes even more comprehensible when we recall that the author of Luke wrote the gospel not as a documentary, but to help a practicing Christian community to deepen their living faith. In that context, we realize that the story focuses on teaching, eating and drinking, which are the key elements of the celebration of the eucharist. I apologize that you are not having the eucharist today. I hope your congregation and the ELCIC will figure out that not having an ordained pastor in the building will not destroy communion nor bring lighting bolts down from heaven.

Yes, in 2025 we still find ways to hinder the good news. It has taken us a lot of years to realize that the theme of the eucharist subtly permeates the whole gospel of Luke. From the hungry being fed in Mary’s Magnificat through the beatitudes and the teaching surrounding the lord’s prayer, which we heard on July 27, the writer of Luke emphasizes God’s role in feeding the hungry. Yes, the banquets that Jesus describes in the gospel are images of the reign of God. Whenever Jesus eats with the people and/or the disciples we have come to see, in the breaking of the bread, a symbol of the eucharist. The problem is we often make the eucharist more formal than it needs to be. Having said the above we must ask ourselves; What happens then when we hear, “we ate and drank with you and you taught us.” And yet the ‘master’ said, “I do not know where you are from.” Could it be a warning for all of us that it will never be enough to say, “I sat through those sermons and received communion every Sunday, is that not enough?”

In our first reading from third Isaiah we hear God say, “I know your works and thoughts.” God did not say, “I saw your church attendance card.” In Isaiah, just like Jesus in Luke, we hear the promise that all people of all nations will participate in the joy of the reign of God. In this last chapter of Isaiah, we hear God calling all the nations, not just a chosen people. The writer of Isaiah wants the people to come back to their home with a new mentality toward the gentiles. They must now understand God includes all people in his/her plan of salvation. Before that, priests and Levites were granted their special offices by privileges of birth. I am sure many pious Jews would have petitioned the bishop – had one existed back then – to have this writer of Isaiah declared a heretic. Quite simply the prophet was now demanding the people to be open to God working with all people. All of these lessons are telling us that “eating and drinking” with God is only genuine when our “table” is as open, and as welcoming as God’s table is. So our gospel today began with a question about “how many would be saved?”  A question that always implies ‘exclusion.’  Jesus replied by talking about how we get into the mansion. What he said was it is not a question of competing for limited spaces. What he was saying was; We need to understand how to be ready to enter into the banquet hall to which we have all been invited. Being known by God is not because we have followed some ritual. It is because we have listened so deeply that God’s word lives in us. It is us who must live and reflect and represent God in the context and the content of our lives. It is Luke’s version of, “I know mine and mine know me.”  What Jesus said to the questioner, who asked; “will many be saved?” was “are you seeking my way of life or a prestigious status?”

It is so amazing for me to see how we in Canada, highlighted by our premiers and prime minister, have come to realize that together we can do something. How long will it last? I do not know. But for now we are truly a nation from, sea, to sea, to sea. The basic message is that one cannot save oneself. We as Christians have such a basic message of the “good news.” Going through Jesus’ narrow gate we find ourselves beyond self-concern and into the realm of knowing we are loved and therefore we are free to love any and everyone else. It is not then, “how many will be saved,” it is “how many of us will let it happen to us?” Today’s readings remind us that not everyone in the church, or in the community, or in Canada, or even in the world responds the same way. Living in the gospel, and living in Canada, is a joy and a privilege. But we know there is no guarantee of a smooth journey. It might not be for everyone. All we can do is to embrace what we have been given and pray that countless others will join us when they are ready. You see, saying the right prayers or knowing all the rules and regulations will not save us.

The Jesus of Luke said, “people will come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south and will sit at the table of the lord.” “Some are last who will be first, and some who are first will be last.” Jesus says, “carpe diem. Seize the day.”  God’s desire is to gather everybody from every part of the world, evangelists and pagans, hostages, refugees, and yes even the U.S. immigration and customs enforcement agents [ICE], to eat at the banquet table prepared by God. What Jesus is asking of each of us is that we share in the banquet God prepares for all. Yes, Jesus offers communion to all. Do we have the desire to love as God loves?

Merciful God, you share your love with all people. Help us to be compassionate toward even those who choose not to accept your invitation. Help us to be steadfast in our commitment and strengthen us when we falter.  Amen.