Sermon Sept. 2, 2007

Sermon-C Proper 17 –September 2, 2007
The Cloud of Unknowing, “O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
How many of you drive US 23 on at least a semi-regular basis? If you get on or off at Geddes or Plymouth Road, there are almost always these guys there with signs asking for help. They hold up signs that say something like, “I’m homeless” “I’m a vet” something like that. When we were in Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago, there was a guy holding up a sign that said, “Why lie? I want money for beer.”
Everyone I know wants to help the poor, the needy, the hungry, the hurting. But what goes through your mind when you see someone standing beside the road with a sign? My guess is you’re like me-you’re torn. You want to help-but you don’t want to be taken advantage of. We want to help people in need, but it really bothers us when maybe someone isn’t really in need-maybe they’re a con artist, maybe they’re lazy, maybe they go home at night and laugh at all the suckers who stuffed their pockets with dollar bills-and here’s the one we wonder about a lot-maybe they use the money for alcohol or drugs. Maybe all I’m doing is helping someone in their addiction. You wonder that, don’t you?
This isn’t a new worry. People in Jesus’ day wondered the same thing. If you listen to the miracle stories in the Bible, people often wondered if the people Jesus healed were really lame, blind, hurting. People who faked injuries or illness went back long before the gospels. People were always accusing the recently healed of being nothing more than shills for Jesus.
Go back to the gospel for today. Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath…
In the gospel of Luke there are 19 references to meals, 13 of those stories only happen in the gospel of Luke-and no other gospel. This is the third meal on Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. Luke loves to write about meals. Why? Because, they were great opportunities for Jesus to do his most difficult teaching. Think about it-the feeding of the 5000, the last supper, Jesus appearing to the disciples after the resurrection, all these references to meals. Luke talks about them all the time. Think about how often you hear about Jesus and food. No wonder everyone leaves church and wants to go out to eat right away. You hear about Jesus eating ALL THE TIME. But it’s more than just food. Jesus uses meal times constantly to confront, argue, teach, explain, even heal. Why? Why at meals? Why do eating and drinking-and the discussions that happen occur so often?
And don’t think people didn’t notice that Jesus and his friends liked to eat
Luke 7: 34the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, (a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!”)
I think it’s because for Jesus-and for the evangelist Luke, meals were supposed to be symbols for what the Kingdom of God looked like. A perpetual feast, a banquet, a party. This is the Kingdom of God-a place, an event, a celebration. Where everyone is having fun. The theologians even have a phrase for all this-they call it-“table fellowship”. One of the most interesting Jesus’ pictures I’ve ever seen was Jesus as a short fat man. For Jesus, the closest thing to heaven is the meal, the place where people are filled, where everyone is happy, where children, and men and women gather together and simply enjoy. That’s the kingdom. In the post communion prayer in the burial office, we say: Almighty God, we thank you that in your great love you have fed us …and have given us a foretaste of your heavenly banquet.
Our Eucharist is supposed to be a taste, a sample of what heaven is. But it doesn’t end there.
“Dr. Alan Culpepper in the New Interpreter's Bible says " The greatest crisis the early church faced, moreover, was not the delay of the parousia (second coming) but the burning issue of whom one ate with”.
It’s not just the food, and everyone being happy-there’s even more. It’s about a meal where everyone is treated with dignity, everyone is honored, everyone is fed with more than just food.
I was reading what other pastors wrote about this passage, and one of them had this interesting story:
Several years ago I tried something new at the church to help people get to know each other. One Sunday we chose to worship in our fellowship hall around the tables where we would share lunch and fellowship. One member walked into the fellowship hall, went to a table and was told the seats there were saved for other family members not yet at the church. She was then told this a several other tables. In the end she became angry and left - vowing never to come back.
Meals in the gospels are moments when Jesus can teach what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. It’s where we can “show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” It’s where no one is embarrassed, where everyone is welcome, it’s where people come to receive hope, and comfort, and strength-and not just food. Meals are where Everyone eats their fill. And everyone, regardless of the life they’ve led, their condition, their health, their wealth, their disability, regardless of their character-everyone, everyone, gets to sit at the table-where they want. Meals in the Kingdom of God are where especially those who are poor, crippled, hurting, and get to eat the best. The Eucharist is supposed to be like that-where everyone comes and kneels or stands-shoulder to shoulder-all with the same amount, all in the same place-all receiving as much love as they can stand.
I have thought long and heard about these guys by the exit ramps in Ann Arbor and other places. Most of my trips, I know when I’m going to be there, when I will likely encounter them. I think next time, I’m going to buy an extra sandwich before I go-and give it to them. I won’t worry about what they will do with the money-instead, I’ll simply give them a meal.

The Lesson Jeremiah 2:4-13
Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the LORD: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? They did not say, "Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?" I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, "Where is the LORD?" Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit. Therefore once more I accuse you, says the LORD, and I accuse your children's children.
Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God

Psalm 81:1, 10-16 Page 704, BCP
1 Sing with joy to God our strength *and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *"Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."
11 And yet my people did not hear my voice, *and Israel would not obey me.
12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *to follow their own devices.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me! *that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I should soon subdue their enemies *and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, *and their punishment would last for ever.
16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *and satisfy him with honey from the rock.

Second Reading: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?" Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God


The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according Luke 14:1, 7-14
Glory to You, Lord Christ
On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, `Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, `Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to You, Lord Christ