Eating with Jesus – A seat for everyone
I want you to take a moment to think about a meal that you’ve had during your life time that is particularly meaningful to you. This meal is about more than the food served or the way the table was set and decorated… the meal was important because of who was seated at the table with you. Maybe the meal was a celebration – a birthday, a milestone, an achievement maybe. Perhaps the meal was a moment of reconciliation and an act of relationship rebuilding. Maybe it was a reception at a wedding or a funeral where you reconnected with family. At the most basic and simple level, maybe the meal was a time when you felt fully seen, welcomed and loved… close your eyes for a moment and bring that memory forward….
Sharing a meal together, regardless of number of courses or location, shape us, hold cultural and societal meaning, and more than anything, sitting at table with others fosters belonging and connection. It’s no wonder we love share food with others. Who we eat with holds meaning – especially in Jesus’ time.
When Jesus shared a meal with someone it wasn’t just a casual thing. It was a symbolic act and in Jesus’ case particularly, it was an act of defiance, of social change, of radical love. Who sat at your table was a public declaration of who mattered, who was accepted and acceptable. So it is A BIG DEAL who Jesus breaks bread with – for in the eyes of the religious elite, Jesus has a nasty habit of knowingly showing up at the wrong tables with the most questionable people and then has the gall to say that it’s God’s work.
Take today’s gospel lesson for example. A short passage for sure but what it lacks in length it makes up for in shock value – at least it would have when heard by the people of Jesus’ time and place. Jesus has been busy collecting disciples, healing lepers and helping the paralyzed walk, and now, Jesus does the unimaginable… he invites Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. A tax collector – a traitor to his community, a collaborator with the Roman Empire, embezzler of his people’s money, a corrupter and a religious outcast. Yup, Jesus sees him, and without any preamble, says “follow me.” There’s no skill testing question here friends. No request for repentance and certainly no moral vetting. Just an invitation that Levi readily takes – he leaves his booth behind. What’s more, Levi hosts a banquet for Jesus and a bunch of other tax collectors.
And Jesus accepts the invitation and ate with them. This is where the shock comes in – to eat with some means you see them as an equal – in space, status and even in a kind of spiritual solidarity. Think about that for a moment… what is Jesus saying when he eats with the lowly and least and calls it holy work?
This is why the Pharisees get all upset, asking the disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” It’s not so much about wanting to punish the tax collectors and sinners, but they were desperately trying to cling to and protect their religious identity, which is even more crucial in a time of occupation.
Jesus doesn’t give the disciples a chance to answer… “who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders – an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.” (The Message) Friends, this isn’t about who is “good” or who is “bad”, about status or holiness… this is about how Jesus radically redefines community. He doesn’t pass judgement on religious rules, he just moves beyond them. He doesn’t separate being holy from being human. He looks beyond status, sin, separation and introduces compassion, welcome and inclusion. By sitting at table with Levi, by sharing meals with a variety of characters, Jesus introduces us to a God who unconditionally says “You don’t need to earn your place at the table – you already have one and you are welcome.”
Jesus tells us that all are welcome at the table, in fact, a place has been set for each of us. We just have to find our way to it. Friends, this is good news. I would hazard a guess that one or two of us has experienced the hurt that comes with a missing invitation. We know what it feels like to be misunderstood, to be labeled, to be told that we aren’t worthy, to be denied a seat at the able for any number of reasons. At God’s table, the invitation is given with heart wide open and remains open as we find way. This is the grace of God… a grace that is not only for the insider, but it is a gift of presence for the outsider as well. Grace is not just for the perfect, but is a gift freely given to the imperfect as well (Thanks be to God for that gift!).
This radical invitation of welcome, to find a seat at the table is at the heart of our work here at Westworth and St. Andrews, and in the United Church nationally. Think of the 100 table project that has launched – united churches all over Canada placing picnic tables in their outdoor spaces with the understanding that all are welcome to join whatever it is happening at the table. Westworth has signed up to participate… can’t wait to see what we do with our table. Whatever we do, it is a symbol of the inclusion, compassion and welcome that God calls us to offer to the world. We are moving from the theory of welcome to the practice of it. And we continue to do so when we make space at the table for our two spirit and LGBTQIA+ siblings, when the poor, the lonely, the outcast are met with open hearts and minds. We do this when we commit and recommit to our table being an act of reconciliation and healing. We do this when we reach out into the community and say no matter who you are or where you are on your faith journey, you are welcome.
We, as a church, are not just serving communion to the people, but we are to become communion. We are to be a place where sharing bread with all is second nature. This spiritual community continues to seek to be a place where every person is called, welcomed and fed.
So as we seek to live into this call of welcome, I leave you with some questions to ponder… who is missing from our table, from your table? Who might be waiting for an invitation to the table, to be welcomed?
Each of us has a place at the table with Jesus. Each of us is welcomed when we are ready. There is always space for one more chair at the table, there is always enough to fed body and spirit at the potluck… God’s invitation is limitless and endless. May our invitation be the same.
Amen.
