“Let the Feast Begin” a sermon based on Luke 14:12-23 October 20, 2019 World Food Sunday York Pines United Church

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”


 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. At the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ They all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ The servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and encourage people to come in, that my house may be filled.
*****************************************************************************
Every time I read this story I am reminded of one of the most incredible weddings I’ve ever done. One was for the daughter of a friend – a mixed-race Japanese-Canadian marrying a young First Nations Mohawk. They were married at Edwards Gardens – and the best man was the brother of the groom. Two of the most immense young men I’ve ever met - dressed to the nines in maroon velvet and black leather. It wasn’t until just after the wedding party gathered that I realised the very quiet, non-ostentatious man and woman in the room were the chief and his wife. Nor were they assigned seating – they sat where they sat.

This was one of those weddings where every single invited person came. Literally. And there was a wedding gift of a small spruce tree for every person. I don’t think one person sent regrets to that wedding. And what was fascinating was how eclectic the mix of people was – every cultural group possible, every socio-economic group. Everyone was invited, and everyone came.

There’s a book called “The Gospel According to Harry Potter” , which explores the many religious themes contained in the books. In the very first story, the Philosopher’s Stone, as Harry arrives at Hogwarts with the other first year students – he encounters Draco Malfoy, who will be one of his opponents throughout the stories. Now, names are important in the Potter stories.  Draco is the name of an Athenian lawmaker who was exceptionally cruel – hence we have the word “draconian”.  Malfoy is a version of the French “mal foi”, meaning “bad faith”.  Harry is a nickname for Henry, which comes from Heimerich – so it can mean “home” and it can mean “king”. Potter –makes pots, so a potter is an artist, a creator.

All the first year students are sorted into their various houses for the school year  – and then the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, stands – raises his hands and says “Let the feast begin!”
And an incredible feast appears. But what stands out most about this feast, is that everyone is welcome at the table – saint and sinner – good faith and bad faith, mixed magic and non-magic people – no one is turned away. Everyone is welcome at the table, and there is a place for everyone and enough for everyone to eat with lots of leftovers. And while this is a feast for the beginning of school, it isn’t a social event.

In today’s text, Jesus is not talking about a social event either, though he uses the idea of a social event as a vehicle for his teaching. Jesus is using the parable of the wedding banquet to tell us something about ourselves. To begin with the very, very good news: everyone has a place at the table – everyone is welcome! It’s no accident that J.K. Rowling used the feast imagery in this scene from the stories. We are all invited to participate in the great feast of life! God is our host, and we are called to celebrate. No matter how burdened we are. No matter what our profession or calling is. No matter if we have achieved something in life or not. And most important – no matter whether we have a lot of money, a medium amount of money or none. Even if we are not very nice people – there is a place for us. Everyone everywhere is invited to the feast, there is a place at the table for everyone.
So we are invited, and we come. Nobody tells us where to sit. We have to find our spot in this great celebration called life. But how many among us are really humble and choose the lowest seat - being without possession, being without a home, being without dignity? Nobody, I think. Only a very few people seem to choose such a spot.

I wonder how many of us believe we are in the right place in life, either by choice or by placement. I wonder how many of us think that they should be in another spot, higher up. To be more concrete: how many are happy with what they have? Wished they had a better career? More money? Better health? How many wish they got more appreciation for what they do?

We want to get what we think we deserve. We want to be appreciated for what we are and for what we do. Often we believe that we deserve much better, or deserve more because of a certain status. We even negotiate with God: God, I am trying to be a good person, and I am trying to do good deeds. I really would like you to acknowledge that. And isn’t it so that we sometimes feel we are better people than those folks who don’t seem to try as hard as we do?

My family on my mother’s side is descended from the Jarvises of Toronto. Did you know that for a nominal sum of money I can be registered at St. James Cathedral as officially a Jarvis? And then sit in a particular pew? Actually I find it hard to believe people really elevated themselves in such a way, and still do. And I wonder, did they, do they -  go out and invite the homeless people sleeping outside the cathedral, to share communion? Or are there designated places at the table inside the church?

At a different church where I was minister, a new person came to church one Sunday. Everyone moans that we aren’t “attracting” new people. This woman came and sat where she thought she would be most comfortable. Do you know a long-time congregation member came and told her she had to move, that *that* spot belonged to them? We like to sit in the same place every week, for various reasons – but are those spots really ours? Is any seat really ours?

This is World Food Sunday – a day when we recognise that not everyone really does find a place at the table, because they are being shoved out by others who think they are more deserving of a place. It is a fact that there is more than enough food to feed everyone in the world – the problem is not availability or amount. The problem is distribution. Now, we have countries like France and Italy which have made it illegal for grocery stores to throw food away. When Norio and I were living at Michigan State University, on a shoestring budget – I was not embarrassed to go ‘dumpster diving’, as we called it. Boxes of teabags, or coffee – tins with a slight dent – day old bread the store was not allowed to sell. Food wasted – food which someone could use. A completely wasteful society which nevertheless would tell you it is founded on Christian values. Really?

There is a reason there are no “designated” places at the table, no place markers starting with important people at the top, and the seemingly less-important squeezed into a corner somewhere, to pick up the scraps. There is simply room for all. The feast is intended for everyone. It has always been intended for everyone. If we live out in every way we can, God’s intent, there is always a place at the table, for everyone born. There is always room. The table is not ours, nor the United Church of Canada. It is God’s table, and everyone is welcome – everyone is entitled – to the food. May it be so.