When I was turning 21—and broke—my parents thoughtfully asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and—though surprised—they honored my request for three 1 x 12s. Those boards were an essential element for staging the musical Godspell. The youth group I worked with was preparing to present that exuberant contemporary portrayal of Jesus as the parish’s central liturgy of Holy Week in 1976.
Godspell was written by another 21 year old, John-Michael Tebelak, and is based largely on the Gospel of Matthew, though it includes 3 parables from, and I like to think, the implicit staging of Luke. Luke’s Gospel gives us Jesus the itinerant preacher, proclaiming from table to table, life in the Reign of God.
Thus the need for a those few boards, to imply a table, or other setting.
This image of Jesus, a homeless man without possessions eating at the mercy and homes of those who would invite him. still resonates deeply with me.
Reflecting on today’s readings I was reminded of those 3 simple boards, how portable and versatile. I can’t help but wonder how we followers might called to be itinerant too, how we might pop up tables and host meals in the midst of all the fear out there, all the real need, and feed our hunger for justice and peace in our communities.
Because as Christians we are not, as some would claim, “what we eat”, rather, we are “who we eat with”. But how do we find our way to the stranger and the outcast and the poor?
Humility and good table manners are values passed over millennia. The Wisdom of Solomon found in Proverbs is likely 3000 years old and each culture has it’s own expectations. Hosting a meal is a role with deep universal significance. Offering hospitality is central to most world religions and cultures, that is, it would seem, until recently!
Early this month I spent 5 days sitting (quietly) asa guest in a teaching lodge on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, at the invitation of Kathy Heskins in the the Women, Water, Spirit Symposium. I felt honored to hear the stories of so many strong women, and both observed and hosted as guest in several gracious healing rituals. I saw how several First Nations bless the water they will drink by pouring a small amount to the earth; how they bless their food (though I didn’t understand the words I did recognize the reverence and gratitude) and how elders are served by the younger women. (I noted as well that as the food was served on each plate or bowl, it was simple heaped on with no concern for venison in one’s cake, or watermelon in the rice.) And each dish was received gratefully.
In Luke’s 14th chapter, under the scrutiny of the Pharisees Jesus seems to parrot the conventional practice of avoiding embarrassment by hanging back until the food chain, the social hierarchy, is established by the host.
That is, until he injects his words with great depth as he invites his companions to avoid seeking honor and blessing, in favor of the lowliest place. There Jesus teaches, with the least is where we will find original blessing: God’s providence, giving all that we need.
Sit among the humble and the poor; invite these and not the familiar or the wealthy to lunch or dinner in your home:
Jesus brings to the table not judgement, but a revelation that the Grace found among the vulnerable has greater value than any coveted social or career posturing might gain one.
So, who Do we eat with? Who do we share our food with, invite for lunch or dinner?
In the mid 80’s, the community of La Samaritaine initiated the purchase and repurposing of a deteriorating building at 310 S Ingersoll to feed the hungry. The daily sandwiches in the dorm refrigerator Ralph kept in his Christian Bookstore weren’t adequate to the need. When the deed was done, Cathy Middlecamp looked up the new address in each of the Gospels. She found that Verse 3 chapter 10 in Luke’s gospel reads: And the multitudes asked him, “What then are we to do?” followed by Jesus saying, “He who has 2 coats, let him share with that one who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
Thus was Luke House born, and with a Community Block Grant, many, many volunteer work hours, and donations, a lot of education and organization, the Community Meal Program had a home.
Five days a week volunteers continue to provide and bless the food, and set the tables. Then they join the day’s guests for a meal that is an encounter of the human kind. And Jesus is present, every meal, Jesus the same yesterday and today and forever.
If you are a Luke house volunteer please stand briefly, so that later others who are interested might ask you about it. Thank you.
I have been reflecting on our meals a lot this summer; which is probably funny to Jim because I’ve cooked so much less since he retired. I’m just eating, and thinking about Who we invite.
Throughout the summer we were fortunate to welcome several friends old and new around our storied table.
What a privilege it is to share one’s food, don’t you think? Who is at the edges that we can bring in? Sometimes I find it worth setting an extra place at the table to open our prayer and invite the question.
I particularly cherish that Jim and I found opportunity to spend several hours over a meal with dear friends who have suffered unspeakable grief, amplified by greater isolation in each passing year.
I suspect that we all have people in mind for whom our hearts ache. We live in a society where the grieving are sometimes rather shunned because of our discomfort. Do we really believe that our meals are to be a foretaste of life in the New Creation? Then how important these mealtimes become.
Yesterday’s MOSES picnic was a meal of that New Creation.Over 50 people provided a seasonal feast, enjoyed a lively drum circle and listened reverently while persons formerly incarcerated shared the stories of their transformative journeys. We also heard updates from a member couple who have gone through years of rage and grief as their son’s mental illness got him caught up in and abused by the prison system. In those moments I felt us claim Aaron as our own. Each person who spoke voiced deep gratitude and love for all who have supported them and worked on their behalf. Two of those speakers insisted that the efforts we were making were heard about, from the inside. Not via television or the internet, but that through the jails and prisons the men talked of the actions of WISDOM and MOSES, and they know when we are standing up for them, and how powerful an effect that has. As they spoke, I felt that we all knew, with them, that God has not left nor forsaken us.
At times our presence is the only mercy we have to give, and it is powerful. We each see so much need.
What then are we to do? That prayer is a good beginning.
Today’s Scriptures remind us of our duty to show hospitality to strangers, and hospitality is often born of a deeply rooted sense of community.
Around this table, in our defining ritual, we weekly reject whatever would divide us. From each other, and the larger human family. We are attentive to the gifts and needs of others. We carry these regularly in our prayer.
And we share them. That’s one reason why it’s a good idea to mix it up in our after worship fellowship; take lead from the Sisters and make a point to sit with people less familiar.
Over one meal shared with a few people of this circle recently, we wondered whether it is time to reclaim the sanctuary movement on behalf of Central American and Syrian refugees.
Talk to Wayne if you are intrigued; his twin is leading the way.
I’m afraid that we may be losing a part of an already fragile safety for homeless newborns and their mothers in the area this fall. I trust that once I know more, I will find people here to bring that concern to.
Over many years I have found this to be a tremendously gifted circle, enriched by our sharing of what is important to us.
And oh how this circle has grown!
When I came up this driveway today, I noted as I sometimes do the bow-like architecture about which I once teased as the Ark on Mt. Arafat.
But no Ark will save us in the next flood!
We have but a few planks to gather around; they could be a table, or a bridge…
May we continue to find blessing in coming together; in sharing our hunger for unity and peace around this and our every table.
Petitions:
Let us pray for refugees who are have lost their homes due to war, violence, poverty. May communities of faith throughout the world, and in our city be leaders in extending welcome, sustenance and support when traumatized families and individuals reach out.
For all who feel apart from the embrace of family or community, and those who are grieving or fearful, that they may find invitation and refreshment through the hospitality of others,
For what else..
Trusting in a God ever faithful and creative, and breathing in the Spirit of the Risen Christ, let us step even deeper into a world made new in great love and improbable hope.
And let us offer one another a sign of Peace.