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"An Open Invitation"
Luke 14:1-24
A sermon preached by the Rev. Douglas M. Donley
September 5, 2004
University Baptist Church
Minneapolis, MN
Welcome one and all to church on the lawn. Our Seminary Intern, Monique Venne’s church has an annual outdoor service that they call "mass on the grass". I’m not sure that’s an appropriate name, but it is nice to invite you here. It’s nice to do this out on the lawn for a number of reasons.
We can enjoy the fleeting summer warmth.
We can be a bit more relaxed than we can in the sanctuary.
We can mingle amongst the birds and the bunnies. St. Francis would be proud.
We can remember that we are part of a wider community—the kind that has students and busses, and big pits awaiting new possibilities.
But most important, we can extend the invitation to all who see us, and all who we see.
I like sitting on the grass. I like taking my shoes off and doing things a bit differently.
The best part of doing this from a preacher’s perspective is that it might encourage people to look at the world and at God with new eyes.
We can’t sit in our normal seats in the sanctuary. There are no reserved seats on the lawn. And who knows, with the new people who are here today, maybe they ought to have the first pick of seats anyway.
Let me tell you what I mean.
In today’s scripture, Jesus tells two party parables. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus often uses a meal to teach something about what God is like. Jesus goes over to Zaccheus’ house for lunch. The father throws a big party for the prodigal son where they eat the prized calf. And today, Jesus talks about being invited to two great parties.
Some neighbors down the street had a wedding yesterday. On Friday night, they had the rehearsal dinner at their house out in the backyard. It’s great to see people at a wedding. It’s such a joyous occasion and people do their best to put on a great show. You know one of the things that drives a bride and a groom nuts is figuring out who is going to sit where at the wedding reception. You know, uncle John can’t sit anywhere near aunt Mary because of some spat 20 years ago. Or this friend can’t sit with that friends because they used to date and, well it just might not be a pretty scene. People spend hours figuring this stuff out.
In ancient times, it was a bit easier. The rich always got the best seats. Period. If you were seated at a certain place, and someone of greater stature arrived, you were obligated to give up your seat to that person. Kind of foolish, isn’t it? Imagine that happening in a wedding you have been at. But that’s the way it was.
If you think about it, it’s not all that different than what happens in the economic and political world. Someone with more influence gets the better job, the better contract, the better standing in the world, and the one who used to hold that place doesn’t get it anymore. They are pushed aside.
You only qualify for federal financial aid if you register for the draft, if you are male.
I got into college not because of my grades nor my test scores, but because I had a long line of family members who went to that college.
If you are a parent, you had better have childcare available if you want that job, otherwise it goes to the one without children or with childcare.
If you’re a third world country, you will only get World Bank Loans if you restructure your economy, privatize utilities and other essentials and cow tow to the whims of CAFTA, NAFTA and the nongovernmental policies of the World Trade Organization.
If you are Halliburton, you get a no-bid contract.
The list goes on.
Jesus saw this practice happen at the feasts in his day and told people that they had it all backwards.
At God’s feasts there is an open invitation.
In God’s economy, no one is left out. No one is left behind. No one is told they are the wrong race, the wrong sex, the wrong sexual orientation, the wrong nationality, the wrong age. No one is told they don’t have enough money.
Twice in today’s parables, Jesus says "When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind."(14:13, 21)
God doesn’t worry about social standing. In fact, God turns social standing on its end. God says that all are welcome at the table. All are welcome in heaven. All are welcome in church, especially those who were not welcome before.
I hope our church can continue to be a place for people to feel that open invitation from God. I hope that our church can continue to be a place where people find respite, find a home on their journey of faith. I hope people can find renewal and strength for the journey here in this community of faith. I hope we can all find our place to sit here at the banquet table of God, for the feat is set and it is ready for all for us.
We are beginning a new church year today. Throughout the year, we will be looking at the concept of journey as a metaphor for our faith walk. Where are you on your journey of faith?
The journey has brought each of us here from different places, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We don’t expect everyone to be at the same place on the journey. We know full well that our journeys take twists and turns. All we ask is that you be attentive to the journey you are on and remember that God is mystically on the journey with you.
And if at some point you lose your way, I hope you will find here people that will gently encourage you to find our way back onto the path, or even to forge a new path with some people that might challenge you to look at the world with new eyes.
Here’s the good news. We start the year with an open invitation. We give an open invitation to start on the journey. And I’m not saying that only the new people join us on our journey. I’m saying that we are all on a journey. We invite everyone to be a part of the journey because we know that when two or three are together God it there. We know that when the journey is right, we will all learn something new about ourselves, as well as about others.
When Jesus invited the poor, the lame, the blind and the crippled to the feasts, he was inviting those who were seen as lower-class citizens.
He was inviting the outsiders.
He was inviting the outcasts.
He was inviting the so-called low-lives.
He was inviting those that the religious leaders called the sinners. Back then they thought you were blind or lame because of some sin that you or your family had committed. Jesus said that God’s banquet is for all of us. It’s an open invitation with no strings attached. All you have to do is recognize that we are all part of the family. All we have to do is make sure that no one gets left behind. All we have to do is implement policies that will make sure that no one is left out of the banquet table. All we have to do is radically reorder our lives.
For when we do, we will start to get a glimpse of the new community to which Jesus is calling us. It’s where the outcasts are given the seats of honor. It’s where we might see ourselves and the world with new eyes. It’s where we begin our journey of faith; with a renewed sense of our purpose and our mission.
We welcome students and others to this community of faith. We give you the seats of honor today. When it comes time for us to have our meal, we invite you to go first, fill up your plate and receive the open invitation that we give to you.
Jesus gives an open invitation to all of us. May we do the same with anyone and everyone we meet.
So whether you are new to town starting a journey in college life,
Whether you are still adjusting to life in the US having just moved here from Thailand and Burma;
Whether you are new to this community of faith;
Whether you have been burned by organized religion and you don’t know whether or not to trust church people;
Whether you have been here for years and are seeking a new insight;
Whether you are a pillar of this church or involved intimately in its life and ministry;
I say that you are all welcome. There is an open invitation from God to experience something new and surprising. I don’t know that this year will reveal. But I do know that if we take God’s invitation seriously enough, my own journey of faith will be enlightened and empowered.
May all of our journeys yield new meaning for our lives and for those we touch. May we see this new life each time we share a meal together. For a church meal, be it the communion ritual or the sacred raucous potluck is designed to create a new community as we gain nourishment on our journey of faith.
Amen.