Sunday Sermon: Luke 14:1, 7-14 – God’s Table Etiquette

In recent years many people have criticized the decline of etiquette and manners in our world. To many, it seems that society has grown accustomed to things that would have been considered incredibly rude only a decade or so before. My Grandma was always in charge of patrolling this area for my family. Even though Grandma and Grandpa didn’t have much in the way of material things, this was by no means an excuse to be uncivilized! There would be no elbows on the table, the forks were always on the left, and you most certainly did not come inside the house without taking off your hat or cap! So this morning, in memory of my Grandma Pauline, I want to give you a little reminder of some important Table Manners. So, here are ten simple table manners from Emily Post’s daughter Lizzie, who has updated them just a bit for this generation: 1.) Chew with your mouth shut. 2.) Avoid slurping, smacking, blowing your nose, or other gross noises. (If necessary, excuse yourself to take care of whatever it is you need to take care of.) 3.) Don’t use your utensils like a shovel or as if you’ve just stabbed the food you’re about to eat. 4.) Don’t pick your teeth at the table. 5.) Remember to use your napkin at all times (contrary to popular belief, this is not the reason shirt sleeves were invented – that addition is from Grandma). 6.) Wait until you’re done chewing to sip or swallow a drink. (The exception is if you’re choking.) 7.) Cut only one piece of food at a time. 8.) Avoid slouching and don’t place your elbows on the table while eating (though it is okay to prop your elbows on the table while conversing between courses.) 9.) Instead of reaching across the table for something, ask for it to be passed to you. 10.) Always say ‘excuse me’ whenever you leave the table.

We won’t take a poll on how many of those you all follow, because today I want to talk about a different kind of table etiquette – a kind that comes from a significantly higher authority than Emily Post’s daughter! Someone once said that in the book of Luke you always find Jesus coming to a meal, at a meal, or leaving a meal, and that is true in this passage. Jesus had been invited to the home of one of the leading Pharisees, but it wasn’t just your average social occasion. The passage shares the real reason for the invitation – they were watching Jesus closely.

This group of Pharisees and religious scholars probably wanted to give Jesus a very thorough test, but in a surprising twist, the only observations made at the table came from Jesus himself, as he began to comment on their table manners. You see, the religious and social culture of that day had very strict and well-developed list of social rules for eating together, and there were an incredible number of do’s and don’ts. The ways you interacted in these settings were very much tied to your social standing and your place in society. The place you sat at the table was incredibly important and determined your social rank, so we may not be surprised to find that as they sat down to eat, there was a great deal of jockeying for position.

Lest you think we’re above this kind of behavior, and social ranking has nothing to do with your seating, just think about your last family Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering. Maybe your family has a “kids table” that still has thirty and forty year olds sitting at it?! At Nanci’s family gatherings, those of us who are the younger adults in the family had to wait until we had enough kids to populate the kids table with grandkids in order to get to sit with the adults! In my family, my Dad sat in the same spot at the table for as long as I can remember! And even though we might think these kinds of things don’t really matter in our day and age, it was a little bit awkward the first Thanksgiving after my Dad’s death, because no one else had ever sat in that place.

Jesus noticed how the people put a great deal of effort as they jostled for position at the table, so he began to teach through a parable. He told the people gathering around the table the best way to go about choosing a seat. “If you’re invited to a banquet, don’t simply sit in the place of honor. You just might not be the most honored person there, and it will be incredibly humiliating when your host asks you to give up your seat and you have to traipse back down to the children’s table…” Instead, Jesus says, “Sit at the least honorable place, so that your host can invite you to the higher place. Then you’ll receive a great honor.”

Now what happened next is the most surprising, because Jesus doesn’t stop with what may have been accepted as reasonable and practical advice. Instead he challenged the very notion of what honor and privilege were all about as he turned to look at the host and challenged the practical wisdom and etiquette of the day.

Meals like this one were not just occasions to gather, eat, and talk; they were occasions to build your own reputation and connections. Gifts, such as an invitation to a meal, weren’t free but were tied to obligations to those who accepted the invitation. If you gave out an invitation, you expected to receive one in return. In a way, these dinner invitations were a lot like political rallies. You’re invited to attend, but there are expectations that are tied to the invitation. But Jesus turned this on its head when he said, “When you have a big meal, don’t invite all the people you’d normally think of inviting, just because they can invite you in return and pay you back. Instead, when you throw a party, invite the poor, cripples, lame, and blind because they can’t repay you. And in the end, you’ll receive your reward, not from them, but at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Jesus gave them, and he gives us, a completely different kind of table etiquette. In those days, common wisdom and social etiquette said jockey for position. Jesus said God’s etiquette calls for something completely different – all who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. In those days, common wisdom and social etiquette was to invite those who can give in return. Jesus said that God’s etiquette reminds us to invite the very least: the poor, lame, and blind. And when we show generosity to those who can never give in return, Jesus says that we’ll find out something incredible. You won’t be repaid in the usual way, but you’ll be repaid by the very God who created every man, woman, and child. God himself will be the one who gives in return for those who are unable in the resurrection of the righteous.

Jesus shows us that God’s table etiquette operates with an entirely different way of looking at the world, and I believe that is directly connected today with our celebration of Holy Communion today. At God’s table, everyone is welcome. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, able or disabled, young or old, white, black, Asian, or Hispanic. As we kneel at Christ’s table today, we are shoulder to shoulder and elbow to elbow with people from all walks of life. Because around Christ’s table, we are all one receiving the very same grace, love, and forgiveness that only God can give. Kneeling at the feet of Jesus Christ, we are all loved, we are all cared for, and we have all been offered the same gift of forgiveness and Salvation. As we prepare our hearts and minds for communion today, let us pray that God will give us the grace to practice the kind of etiquette we learn at God’s table outside these walls in our daily lives – that’s the kind of etiquette that will truly be rewarded…

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sunday Sermon: Luke 14:1, 7-14 – God’s Table Etiquette

Meals like this one were not just occasions to gather, eat, and talk; they were occasions to build your own reputation and connections. Gifts, such as an invitation to a meal, weren’t free but were tied to obligations to those who accepted the invitation. If you gave out an invitation, you expected to receive one in return. In a way, these dinner invitations were a lot like political rallies. You’re invited to attend, but there are expectations that are tied to the invitation. But Jesus turned this on its head when he said, “When you have a big meal, don’t invite all the people you’d normally think of inviting, just because they can invite you in return and pay you back. Instead, when you throw a party, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind because they can’t repay you. And in the end, you’ll receive your reward, not from them, but at the resurrection of the righteous.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Elightening Children’s Sermon

L.L. Bean Flashlight Some of my best children’s messages come at the last moment as I’m walking out the door, and I think, “Oh man, I need something to say to the kids this morning!!” This morning, I had an idea that went with the L.L. Bean Wind ‘N Go flashlight that I had sitting above my computer desk.

My kids had been playing with this flashlight and left it on all night long. After a long night on the shelf, the light was about as dim as it could possibly be while still being on. In a way, it looked a little like I felt! All of a sudden, I had a spark of enlightenment.

I took the flashlight to Church this morning, and showed it to the kids, asking them what was wrong. With a little direction, they correctly answered that the battery had gone dead. At that point, I showed them that it was a special kind of flashlight that we could recharge by winding the crank. As you may have guessed, I made the analogy with the way we sometimes lose our light and run out of steam and feel like we’re not connected with God (O.K. smarty-pants, I know this was over the heads of all but about three kids – children’s messages are for the adults & pastor too, you know!).

I then gave each of them a turn at the crank while I said things like, “We pray, we study the bible or listen to bible stories from our parents or grandparents, we go to Church, we sing songs,” and then I wound the thing like crazy while I said, “We listen to the sermon!” You can kind of hear the light whir pretty loudly, so this got a big laugh here from the adults.

I then pushed the on button and the thing nearly blinded the poor girl sitting in front of me! Two of the smaller kids yelled, “There’s a light!” There was a slight “Ohhh…” in the crowd, and I said, “Don’t get ahead of me now!” I then talked about how all these things we do help us be closer to God, and when we do we become lights in the world – shining out the message of God’s love. Trust me, it was much better than my sermon!

Elightening Children’s Sermon

Sunday Sermon – Luke 12:13-21 – Rich in the Eyes of God

Eustace Conway is the subject of a book called The Last American Man written by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert describes his life as a modern mountain man who still lives like our ancestors lived in the early frontiers of our nation. She tells about his extraordinary adventures such as walking the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia living almost exclusively off of what he could hunt and eat along the way and his legendary journey on horseback across the United States. Out of a passion for this way of life, he now operates a camp for children and adults in a 1,000 acre sanctuary he calls Turtle Island in the hills of North Carolina. One of the things he cares deeply about is trying to help people, especially grade school children, understand their connection with the natural world. At one of his speaking engagements, he asked fifty sixth graders to talk about the meaning of the word “sacred.” No one seemed to know what this meant, and so Eustace asked them to write down a list of what was valuable to them. He remembers only one out of fifty having a real idea of sacredness. After reading paper after paper filled with things like money, new cars, and telephones, one boy in the class said “life.” Eustace later wrote in his journal, “Only one small soul in the class was on the right track away from greed as a motivator, and thank goodness for him…”

Unfortunately, greed is a powerful motivator in our society. In order to understand what a powerful motivator it is, you only need to look at the number of states who sponsor lotteries as a sure-fire way to make money off of their people! If we just had a little more, then things would be better. Our advertising companies realize this and if you just watch a few commercials this afternoon, you’ll realize how much your life is lacking and how much better it would be with just a few more strategically purchased products!

Even though Jesus lived in a time with far fewer resources and considerably fewer choices of things to buy, he still faced many of the very same issues. In fact, a significant portion of Jesus message dealt with serious issues of wealth and possessions, even though at times we tend to shy away from the things he had to say. Or maybe even worse, we try to explain them away to make them easier to take! Luke’s twelfth chapter is packed with Jesus’ teaching about wealth and possessions. When we first see Jesus in this chapter, he is surrounded by a crowd of people so thick they are stepping on each other’s toes. A few moments before our passage, he had just been talking about the ways his followers could expect hardship and maybe even martyrdom if they kept following him faithfully.

So it seems totally random when a man steps out of the crowd to ask him about inheritance law! To be fair, this man wasn’t totally out of line because Jesus was a teacher – a Rabbi – and one thing Rabbis were able to do was understand the complicated legal issues surrounding the Law of Moses and apply them to everyday life. Since Mosaic Law described the ins and outs of inheritance, rabbis were often consulted on these issues. So, this stranger from the crowd simply wanted a quick ruling on a legal dispute with his brother – hopefully in his favor! But as Jesus does so often, he bypasses the question the man was asking on the surface and gets to the root of what he is really asking inside. He uses this as a teaching moment for his disciples and undoubtedly for the crowd gathered closely around. “Take care!” Jesus says, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” The common wisdom, then and now, seems to suggest that life does consist in an abundance of possessions. But Jesus reminds us that this is not the kind of script our life is supposed to have. To say it as simply as possible, there is much more to life than having lots of stuff.

And then, to take things deeper, Jesus tells parable. There was once a very wealthy man whose crops had such a good year that he couldn’t even store the harvest. So he said to himself, “I’ll tear down the barns I have, build bigger ones, and store up all my grains and goods. That’ll be perfect! I’ll say to myself, self you’re doing just fine. In fact, after you build those big new barns and fill them up with the harvest, you’ve got it made for the next several years – so sit back relax, eat, drink, and be merry.” He thought he had it made…but there was one variable he hadn’t figured into the equation… God came to him that very night with very strong words, “You fool! This is the very night you’re going to die! Now who’s going to get all of the stuff you’ll have in storage?!” Jesus then says, “That’s the way it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich in the things of God.”

Our first reaction might be to come to the guys’ defense here (or maybe it’s to defend ourselves!) We’d like to be there so we could say to Jesus, “It’s not like he’s doing anything other than simply practicing good business sense! He isn’t stealing from others, is he?!” But Jesus’ words are a clue to what he’s saying at a deeper level. The word fool is not a word that’s used lightly in Scripture – in fact it’s only used two times in the gospel of Luke – compare that to nearly 70 times in Proverbs. The foolish person is always talked about in contrast to the person who exercises the very wisdom of God. In Scripture, the word fool refers to those people who live their lives as if God does not exist. Jesus parable reminds us that we’ll never get the formula for our lives right unless God is at the very center. Jesus didn’t believe that wealth or possessions were evil in and of themselves and neither are the people who have them; Jesus simply knew that wealth and possessions offer us a great temptation to put our faith and trust in them rather than in God. That’s what was wrong with this farmer – he calculated his life without including God in the equation. Richard Foster describes the temptation this way, “…[when] we lack a Divine Center our need for security [leads] us to an insane attachment to things.” That’s why there are warnings throughout Scripture. Psalm 62:10 says, “if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” Proverbs 11:28 reminds us that, “Those who trust in their riches will wither, but the righteous will flourish like green leaves.” There is much more to life than having lots of stuff.

A minister preached a sermon along these lines and tried to emphasize everything, including our possessions, belong to the Lord. An old farmer skeptically sat in the congregation, listening to but not agreeing with the sermon. That afternoon he invited the preacher to Sunday dinner with him and his family. After dinner they walked outside, the farmer made a point of showing the preacher around his house, barns, tool shed, and pointed to his beautifully kept farm. Then he asked the preacher half jokingly, “Pastor, I worked all my life on this land. Do you mean to tell me that it’s not my land, that it’s the Lord’s land?” The minister reflected for a moment and then quietly said to the farmer, “…ask me that same question in a hundred years.” The story is a good illustration of the old phrase, “you can’t take it with you.” Martin Luther, the great Reformer, put it this way, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands – that, I still possess.”

Just like that old farmer, the only things we can take with us are those things that we place in God’s hands. Our faith and trust in God, the good we do for our neighbor in the name of Christ, the devotion we have to God, the sacrifices we make for the sake of God’s Kingdom, and the time spend carefully and quietly listening to God’s Holy Spirit. These are the things are sacred, these are the things that last, these are the things that make you rich in the eyes of God.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

God’s Mission & Preaching

Brian Russell has a great post on Missional Preaching. I especially like the way he deals with distinctions between insider and outsider. It seems that truly missional preaching is inclusive in the way it invites those outside the community to participate in the ongoing narrative of God’s work in the world. Now, that’s a description of inclusivity that I really resonate with!

I think my preaching is less faithful when I stray from some of the key commitments Brian talks about here. To be honest, when I preach a sermon series I tend to violate some of these commitments far more often than when I stick with the lectionary. While I’m sure this isn’t necessarily the case for everyone, when I preach a sermon series it’s easier to start with a concept and find scripture to support it rather than letting the message be formed, shaped, and driven by the scriptural narrative. I think when I’m finished with the series on prayer that I’m preaching now, I’m going to stick with the lectionary for the rest of this Season after Pentecost.

God’s Mission & Preaching

A Few Tips for Preachers

If you’re like me, you’re always trying to be a better communicator. Preaching is definitely an art, and I sometimes think we neglect ways to improve ourselves. I know most pastors spend a lot of time thinking about and preparing our message – shouldn’t we spend some time reading and thinking about the way we present it? This link: Speaking as a Performing Art (h/t Jedi Pastor Ken) will give you a few ideas to improve your communication skills.

Pentectost Sunday Sermon

A few months ago, I was sitting in our kitchen as Nanci got off the phone with the soccer coordinator for Eufaula’s kids leagues. As she hung up the phone she looked at me with a big smile and said, “Guess what honey!? You’re going to be Emma’s soccer coach!” So, in a matter of seconds I became the coach of The Cheetahs, five girls ranging in age from four to six who had never played soccer in their life being coached by me, a man who had never played soccer in his life! Our season started off with a bang.

Our girls were so excited to be playing their first game, even if it was against a bunch of boys with a few seasons of experience under their belt. Our girls ran up and down the field, but didn’t score a single goal. That was OK, because we knew what we needed to work on: everything! A few weeks later, we were still desperate to score a goal. A few games later, in the last half of a game, little Amelia broke free from the pack and began moving toward the goal. As she closed in, all of our Soccer-moms had to restrain themselves from running out and kicking the goal for her! By the time she neared the goal, most of our parents were three steps over the foul line screaming, “KICK IT AMELIA! KICK IT!” And in that moment of sheer exhilaration, we scored our first goal of the year. Excitement filled the air…this was the first of many more to come. Instead our schedule got more and more difficult, and it seemed that the boys got taller, faster, and stronger…three more games, four more games, five more games…zero goals. Now, I like to think of myself as a leader of sorts, and I tried my best to keep the girls motivated. Its OK girls, you really improved your kicking this week! But the frustration was mounting…week after week no more goals. The drought was unbearable…one girls decided she wouldn’t play against boys and sat out a few games. Another showed up with her head hanging. Of course some just wanted to make sure they looked good in their uniform: win, lose, or draw!

Before the final week, I gave it everything I had. We were about to play one of the other girls teams, and I hyped it as if it were the NBA Finals, World Series, and Superbowl all wrapped into one. I pumped them up and we practiced like crazy the last week. The morning of the big game, our girls marched in like little 5 & 6 year old soldiers. Even our little AWOL soccer girl told me, “I’ll play this game coach.” We were facing the “Little Divas,” but they looked huge! They were beaming with confidence…looking taller and bigger than any of our little Cheetahs. After seven games and only one goal, I held my breath and waited for the whistle to blow. Our girls held hands as they stood in a line for the coin-flip. Immediately after the whistle, their biggest girl took the ball down and kicked it toward the goal like a rocket. Our entire side winced as the ball bounced out of bounds off the goal. All of a sudden, the girl who had sat out the last three games took the ball and got a look of determination on her face…she kicked it down the field like a professional and kicked it through the goal with authority! Our side erupted – jumping up and down in excitement! But our girls didn’t quit…they looked like the Brazilian national team blocking goals, stealing the ball, and eventually scoring eight goals! I almost felt sorry for the Little Divas. What happened? Our girls played with passion and determination – they played like they were on fire…there is only one way to describe the way they went out and played. They were inspired, and as everyone who has ever watched a sporting event knows: there is a huge difference between “just playing” and “playing inspired.”

You all have heard enough sermons to know that this story isn’t just about girls soccer. : It’s a story about life…it’s a story about the Church…and it’s a story about who we’re called to be as Christians. Sometimes it feels easy to be a Christian when you first start out in a life of following Jesus. We start off our faith journey just like our girls began the season. We’re excited; we’re resolved to start doing things the right way. You share your faith, you bring friends to church, you’re a different person…but then you stumble the wind is gone from your sails. There have certainly been times in my life where I’ve felt like I’ve been spiritually dry. In fact there are times when every Christian would like to get down and sit it out on the sidelines of faith forgetting about the struggle to live daily as a Christian.

But today’s scripture is the story of a different way to live. Today’s scripture is the story of inspiration. In our final game, our little girls played like they were different people because they played inspired. On Pentecost, God inspired the Church by pouring out the Holy Spirit on normal men and women just like us. The disciples were waiting in an upper room after Jesus’ Ascension. All of a sudden, the room was filled with the Holy Spirit – the event was so indescribable that all we read is that the sound was like a rushing wind and there was something like tongues of fire that deeply touched everyone who was there. As soon as these disciples were touched and filled by God’s Spirit, they began to witness in an inspired way. In fact, they were able to share the testimony of God’s work to people whose languages they didn’t even know! The fire of the Holy Spirit lit the fuses of the disciples and the Christian Church spread like wildfire from a little upper room in Jerusalem to all parts of the earth…and it began right there that day!

And just as there is a difference between “just playing” and playing inspired, by the power of God’s Spirit, there is a world of difference between just living and “living inspired.” When I baptize anyone, I ask the Holy Spirit to work in their life to make them faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. I ask the same for each person here. The Holy Spirit can and will inspire you to be the person God has created you to be if you’ll receive God’s call to live inspired. Sometimes we don’t talk about the Holy Spirit because we’re afraid of sounding too “Pentecostal,” but being filled with the Holy Spirit is more about empowerment and inspiration! It’s about being enabled to do more together with God than you can ever do on your own. When you are filled and inspired by the Spirit of God you can do things beyond your own power and ability, things that are heroic. I’m not talking about comic book stuff like outrunning a speeding locomotive or leaping a tall building in a single bound. I’m talking about us performing spiritually heroic acts because of the power of God’s Spirit poured out on the Church at Pentecost!

Several years ago, while I still worked in a research lab, I had several difficult experiences with my boss. There was one person I worked with that often did things that were blamed on other people in our lab. One day, during a lab meeting, I was accused of leaving several things unfinished and several mistakes that were actually the fault of this other person. Every bone in my body wanted to stand up and let them have it with both barrels. At the very least, I was ready to walk out. But for several months, three of us who were Christians had been meeting for prayer and bible study before we started work. Everyone else knew we did this and watched us very carefully to see how we lived. As badly as I wanted to respond, something in me said, “Don’t say anything…just sit there.” So, against my own inclinations, that’s what I did. As I was walking out to my car that day, my friend Lance said, “I don’t know how you did that. You know you weren’t responsible for what they blamed you for.” By the power of God’s Spirit, I was able to say, “You know you’re right every bone in my body wanted to let them have it and tell them whose fault it was. The only reason I didn’t is because I’m a Christian, and I felt as though God didn’t want me to respond.” Instead, by the power of the Spirit, I was able to understand a little more about Jesus and how he endured so much and suffered for things he never did. I would have missed that blessing if I had responded under my own power. I was able to receive that grace only because of God’s Spirit. I was given the opportunity to grow as a disciple because of God’s Spirit. Today, I have something I want to offer you. It’s a prayer to God’s Holy Spirit.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and every enjoy Your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

When we pray this prayer to be attentive to God’s gentle, yet surprising, Holy Spirit we’ll see changes in our lives. We’ll see deep spiritual changes: the ability to respond to evil with kindness, the ability to let things go, the ability to witness and share our faith in natural ways, the ability to see the difference between “just living,” and “living inspired.” 2000 years ago, God poured out his Holy Spirit on a group of Christ followers and the world has never been the same. What would happen here if we did the same?

This afternoon, I’m heading to Annual Conference, and I have a request to make for this week. This is a strategic and important time as we’re preparing for the General Conference of 2008 where United Methodists from around the world will come and work together shaping the future of our denomination. We’ll be electing delegates for that this week. Pray this prayer daily with those of us who represent United Methodism in Oklahoma in mind. Pray this prayer daily, thinking of our bishop, our lay delegates, our clergy, and the future of our denomination. If the Holy Spirit will ignite Godly fires in each of our hearts and gives us wisdom and guidance, the UMC will be a different Church and we’ll be a different people. We’ll quit “just living” and start, by the power of God’s Spirit, “living inspired.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon Publication

I sent a sermon in last year to Preaching Magazine, and lo and behold, it ended up being printed in their extra online material. So, awhile back I sent another in. I’m really excited that it has been included in this month’s online content!

If you have a subscription you can check out From Crisis to Confession, a sermon on Numbers 21:4-9 here at Preaching Online.

One of my goals in life is to write and publish, and I feel that this is a great step in that direction. If nothing else, this makes me feel like the editor of this magazine believes these two sermons are worthy of being read by my peers. That is really exciting for me, and I hope this is the beginning of more to come!