Proper 17 C
Dinner Party Discourse
St. Luke 14:1-14
28 August 2016 – Redeemer
I bet that Ruler of the Pharisees wished he had never invited Jesus into his house. Let’s call him Eli for the sake of the sermon. Eli invited Jesus for one reason and one reason only – to show Jesus how good he and his fellow Pharisees were. If Jesus wasn’t in agreement, Eli hoped to entrap Jesus and make sure no one ever wanted to dine with Jesus again. So the whole dinner party was a set-up, where manners were to be observed, places of honor were to be taken, and everyone was to behave themselves including Jesus. Remember, they were watching Him carefully.
If you’ve ever tried to throw that perfect party you know that in this broken and fallen world something always goes wrong. In the case of Eli, one of his guests showed up sick and to make matters worse he sat right next to Jesus. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. Dropsy is what we would call “retaining fluids.” This guy was all puffy. To make matters worse, there was a false belief that you got dropsy from being sexually immoral. You can imagine what Eli was thinking – why did I invite this guy? How did he get past my doorkeepers? Why did he sit next to Jesus?
Sometimes we can be tempted to believe that Church should be like Eli’s dinner party. We try to pull off the perfect Divine Service where the appearance of everything is right and proper. Then, to teach us what the Kingdom of God is all about, God seats a sinner right in our midst.
What does Jesus do? He asks a question. “Eli, would it be alright with you and your guests if I heal this guy? “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” No one answered because they were all thinking – well, it might be okay to heal someone, but not this immoral guy, because he doesn’t deserve it, and not today because it’s the Sabbath and we’re keeping it, and we simply don’t want to think about sickness and sinners in the middle of our party.
If you have ever listened to the Gospel accounts you know exactly what Jesus is going to do. What does Jesus do when He encounters an undeserving sinner in a crowd of “do-gooders?” He took [the dropsy man] and healed him and sent him away. This is wonderful news for you. The Holy Spirit had Saint Luke write this down just for you. For sometimes we pretend just like Eli the Pharisee. We put on a good show. Even when Jesus is in the house we do a lot of covering up of our sin and pain and fear. And yet you know you’re the dropsy man. Sometimes you can sit in church and think, “Everyone here is fine and good. Why am I such a mess?” Thank God the liturgy, by confessing God’s Word, helps us tell the truth about ourselves and Jesus. Jesus is here, by His Word, in His Supper, for you. No matter what others think of you, no matter what you think of yourself, even though you don’t deserve anything from Him, He is here for you. He takes you and forgives you and sends you away. That’s why Jesus came. It’s what He did in Eli’s house and it is what He does in this house we call Redeemer.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, to save you. He didn’t simply sit down with immoral men and promiscuous women. He didn’t merely heal dropsy and cast out demons and open blind eyes. He forgave sin. He took the sin of Eli and Mary, of Peter and Salome, He took your sin into His flesh and He carried it off to the cross, off to hell, to die with it, to take it away. As our Epistle for today says He took your sin outside the city to be sacrificed with it, to have your sin burned up by the fiery wrath of God directed at Him instead of you. You are forgiven. Jesus took hold of your sin and forgave you and let you go free.
Of course the reason this truly upset Eli the Ruler of the Pharisees is because this was his dinner party and it was on the Sabbath and he was trying to show this Jesus, this God-wanna-be how good he, Eli, was. If Jesus was God didn’t He know enough about the Sabbath not to work on it? But that is precisely the point. The reason God gave the Sabbath to His people was that you would rest so He could work on you and that you could receive His work. This also teaches us the true purpose of Christian worship. Our Lutheran Confessions state the highest way of worshipping Christ, of giving Him praise and glory, is to seek the forgiveness of sins from Him.
That’s where Jesus takes us with the little parable about wedding party etiquette. Jesus noticed that Eli’s guests were taking the places of honor, sitting themselves down at the head table, so he gave them a little corrective: when you are invited, go and sit in 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 table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.””
Now is Jesus really giving you instructions about seating arrangements at the next wedding you attend? Of course not! Jesus is the Kingdom of God – what He does is the Kingdom of God. What He says is the Kingdom of God. When He tells little parables it isn’t so you know “What would Jesus do.” He speaks so that you know who Jesus is and how His Kingdom comes to you.
The way into God’s Kingdom is not by your own wisdom, works, or worth. You’re in because Christ brings you in. You don’t deserve to be in. You’re the last person you know who deserves to be in – because you know your sin. The way into His Kingdom is by being absolutely last – death to self, repentance, confession of your sins. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. You know what Christ does with dead sinners. He raises them up to be seated with Him as the Sons and Daughters of God. That’s how Saint Paul describes your baptism. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Rom 6:5) You’re not in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb because you did anything. In fact the only way in is to realize you can’t get in. Only dead people can be raised to life in Christ, only sinners can be forgiven. That’s why “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Finally Jesus tells us what to do when we leave His party and, once again, He isn’t giving us guidelines for the next time you host a reception. So the world works in this way – when you have a big party, say a graduation reception for your son. You invite people you know so your child can get gifts – strangers aren’t going to give your son gifts. They’ll come for the free food and not leave the boy a dime. You want to make sure your rich uncle is there or at least knows about the party so your kid can have some spending money when he heads off to college. I mean who throws a reception for people who aren’t going to give gifts?
God does. That’s the way His Kingdom works. You’re in the party solely because of Jesus. He didn’t choose you because you could pay Him back or because you were an essential part of the Kingdom’s business plan. You are nothing, but a poor, miserable sinner, to whom Jesus amazingly says, “Let him in. I’d love to have him. There’s enough forgiveness to go around, who’s counting?” So as you leave the feast of our Lord’s body and blood today Jesus says, “Throw a party out there in the world, like I threw for you in here.” Don’t keep track of your husband’s sins or your child’s shortcomings, or your sister’s snarky comments.” I think Jesus said something similar in the Lord’s Prayer – forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. That’s sharing the feast with those who cannot repay. That’s giving a gift to the undeserving. That’s forgiving a sinner his sins. That’s taking the feast you enjoyed in here out there where God gives you the privilege of making the last first by forgiving sinners as God has forgiven you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
27 August 2016 Redeemer