Proper 17, Yr C (August 28, 2022) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Proper 17, Yr C (2022)                                                          

Jeremiah 2:4-13                                                                         

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Luke 14:1, 7-14

In the name of the one, holy, and living God:

in whom we live, and move, and have our being.  Amen.

Martin Luther King Jr. said:

            “Our goal is to create a beloved community…

this will require a qualitative change in our souls

as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”

That seems to sum up today’s readings pretty well.

Creating beloved community requires transformation…inside and out!

Paul says, “Let mutual love continue.”

Not just mutual love among those we know, but….

“Show hospitality to strangers…

            remember those in prison as if you yourself were there with them…

      remember those being tortured as if you yourself were being tortured…

                        honor fidelity in marriage…

keep your lives free from the love of money…

            be content with what you have…

    do not neglect to do good and to share what you have.”

And the reason Paul gives for living such ways is that God says to us:

            “I will never leave you

or forsake you.”

It seems to me that these are the most important words in all of today’s texts…

the ground upon which all else is built…

God is with us.

            God will never leave us.

When we are in our darkest days and feel utterly alone,

            God will not leave us.

When we get caught up in our own pride and judgements,

            God will not leave us.

When doubt and confusion carry us away,

            God will not leave us.

When we are overcome by fear and anxiety,

            God will not leave us.

When we are swept up in utter joy and delight,

            God will not leave us.

So, if we will truly root our lives in the fact that God is with us - always,

            then how can we not have a “qualitative change in our souls”

and thus a “quantitative change in our lives”…in our actions.

Over and over in Scripture God says,

            “Do not be afraid.

                        I am with you.”

In today’s reading from Jeremiah God wonders…

            Why did my people wander from me?

Do they not remember I brought them up from slavery in the land of Egypt?

            And I sustained them in the wilderness where no one lives?

I brought them into a plentiful land and blessed them.

And yet, they turned to their own ways.

You can hear God’s heart breaking

much like a parent who watches their child make harmful choices.

So God continues to say,

            “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

      “Root yourselves in this truth.”

“Orient your lives from this truth:

I, God, love you and will sustain you…always

even when it doesn’t feel like it.”

If we will take God’s sustaining presence to heart,

            and find our rest and grounding in God,

                        then we may courageously live out transformed lives of love.

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus speaks to both the guests and the host about how such a “qualitative change in their souls” might manifest in their actions.

He noticed how the guests at the dinner he attended were choosing the places of honor, and he tells them that instead of taking the “higher” places at the table (the places of honor) to instead sit at the “lower” places – the places of humility.

This was turning cultural values upside down in Jesus’ day!

In the first-century Mediterranean world,

"honor" was necessary under many circumstances for survival….

If your family was seen as without honor,

people would not do business with you.

And that could make it difficult for members of your family to be placed into a decent marriage.

And remember that in that day being married and having children who would care for you when you were old or sick was the only form of social security or retirement.   

So, without marriage, you could end up in utter poverty…at least for women.

So, you see, honor was important.

Jesus not only spoke to the guests but also spoke rather boldly to the dinner host saying that he should not invite only those people he considered to be “honorable” – his family or friends or rich neighbors. 

He should widen his circle of invitation to include everyone – including the sick, the poor, the weak and the disenfranchised (in other words those who might be considered “dishonorable” in the culture).

Here, Jesus is speaking of a radical upheaval of norms…

            a quantitative change in their lives…in our lives.

We know that Jesus practices what he preaches:

He sits at the table with everyone…

                        with tax collectors and prostitutes as well as with Pharisees and leaders.

     And he invites us to do the same.

Jesus advocates that everyone take the lowest seat at the table –

behavior that would be dishonorable for everyone but the “least.”

What is required is that we all arrive at the banquet table in humility,

            and perhaps that requires a qualitative change in our souls.

What if, when we look at everyone we meet on this journey of life,

we see standing before us “God’s beloved”…

      a human being created in the image of God,

perhaps bearing gifts we don’t have?

We can always learn something from “the other” who shows up in our life…

if we will have the humility to be quiet and listen.

God became vulnerable,

joining the human condition,

so that we all may have a place at the banquet table!

Jesus is the Way of Life for all…not just for a select few.

That message was certainly threatening to the Pharisees and others in power in Jesus’ day…so threatening that he ended up on a cross. 

It is no less threatening today.

But, why should it be threatening to have everyone exalted to the honorable status of “child of God?”

Let mutual love continue, Paul says.

Show hospitality to strangers,

            for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Remember those who are suffering

            as if you are the one who is suffering.

Honor one another,

            be content with what you have,

                        do good

                                    and share what you have.

Live with humility and love…

            because we are one body in Christ.

It is a truly radical notion:

            one which will change our lives

                        and in turn affect the lives of everyone with whom we come into contact.

I pray that we, as a community of faith, will continue to welcome all people to this place

            and that we will continue to find ways of going out to serve our community.

How do we share our gifts with each other and our community?

Opportunities abound:

            helping with Godly Play,

      cooking and serving food through Holy Smoke,

Backpacks of Love,

                  the Canton Community Kitchen, and Pathways.

Perhaps this year we will be able to again help some of our neighborhood kids with reading.

The pastor at Central Methodist is interested in working for more affordable housing.

A couple of other Methodist churches want to help folks in recovery, particularly young adults…to find affordable housing and other resources.

I invite you to look around and listen for the needs in this community,

            including folks in our own congregation who feel alone and long for connection.

Let us listen for where the Spirit is calling us to live in mutual love.

And this we can do because God loves us – all of us –

            and God will never leave us.

So…may our mutual love continue

            as we offer hospitality to strangers…

                        as we are content with what we have…

                                    and as we do good and share our gifts.

The gospel is difficult,

but it offers the way to abundant life!

So, come –

            drink of the fountain of living water

      and you will be refreshed for the journey.

Amen.