Sermon - 8-28-22

<p>Once Covid hit us in 2019, many things changed in our lives.  One of the things that changed for us is having dinner parties.  I love to have people over for dinner, and I really have missed this experience.  I love to set the table with my good dishes and have it look beautiful and inviting when people gather to eat.  I especially love it when everyone sits down at the table to simply enjoy the food, the conversation, and the entire experience of table fellowship.  I really believe that extending hospitality to others by eating <strong>together</strong> is a vital, deeply meaningful aspect of what it means to be human. </p> <p>The writer of Luke’s gospel understood meal-time hospitality and table fellowship.  Luke’s gospel contains more meal-time scenes than any of the other gospels.   In fact, meal-time experiences and dinner party gatherings were one way in which the writer of Luke described and portrayed a vision of the Christian life.  In Luke, Jesus is frequently eating, drinking, partying, and participating in table fellowship with <strong>all</strong> kinds of people.  Eating with people from various backgrounds and walks of life was a frequent occurrence for Jesus whether it was in Emmaus, in an upper room, in the fields along the road as his disciples plucked heads of grain, in the home of a despised tax collector, in the homes of respected religious leaders, or as we see today, in the home of an unnamed Pharisee who offers Jesus hospitality for a Sabbath dinner. </p> <p>The highly respected, social climbing, religious Pharisees are watching Jesus very closely, watching his every move.  And Jesus has been watching <strong>their</strong> behavior.  Having observed how they chose banquet seats and noting how they elbowed themselves into the place of honor, Jesus begins to give advice on table fellowship and hospitality, Jesus’ style. He says, “When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honor.  Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host.  Then he’ll come and ca