Jesus, Revolutionary

Luke 14:7-24

A sermon by Kathy Toivanen at EMUC, 2/4/2007

Today, we continue with the fourth in a series of sermons designed to help us to deepen our understanding of Jesus’ life and message, so that we can be strengthened in our commitment to live as companions of Jesus Christ. Today we consider the revolutionary nature of Jesus’ life and teachings. The gospel writers never once called Jesus a revolutionary; but, it’s a name that later generations have often given to Jesus. Some people get nervous with the application of such a title to Jesus. Revolutions often call to mind negative images of a violent overthrow of those in power. When we think of the American Revolution, the French Revolution, or the Russian Revolution, we may all agree that indeed something in those countries and societies needed to change, but we know that along with those revolutions came war with its tragic consequences of death and destruction.

When I use the title revolutionary to describe Jesus, I want to be clear that this is not in any way an invitation to view Jesus as someone who supported war or violence as a way to overthrow injustices. But I do use the title to describe Jesus as someone whose teachings and actions encouraged people to make a fundamental change in the way they lived together and in the way they viewed each other and their place in God’s world.

It may come as some surprise to us to discover that Jesus’ eating habits and his teachings about mealtime are considered to be primary examples of his revolutionary behaviour. Who would have thought that breaking bread and sharing a glass of wine could stir up so much controversy? It would seem that all of Luke’s accounts of the meals that Jesus shared with others, provoked controversy. In Luke chapter 5, Jesus attends a meal hosted by Levi, who was one of the despised tax collectors. Jesus had just invited Levi to join his group of disciples. Here is what Luke says about that event:

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to Jesus disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

In chapter 6, Jesus’ eating habits provoke criticism once again: One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

Even those who would pride themselves on hosting the perfect dinner party, find that with Jesus, the party quickly moves out of their control. In chapter 7, Jesus goes to dinner at the home of one of the Pharisees. While he is there a woman breaks into the dinner party and anoints Jesus’ feet with costly ointment. The poor bewildered and outraged host is left muttering to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him - that she is a sinner.’

At the home of another Pharisee in chapter 11, Jesus shocks his audience once again. Jesus goes in and takes his place at the table, but does not wash first before taking his seat. As if in response to his host’s unspoken amazement, Jesus replies "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you."

In Chapter 15, Jesus is the focus of the Pharisee’s disapproval as they grumble once again that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them.

The teachings on dinner etiquette and the parable of the banquet that we read today all take place in the context of a Sabbath meal where Jesus is the guest at the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees. Like the other meals, this dinner engagement, is a teaching moment.

Before we take a look at Jesus’ revolutionary teaching, we need to better understand the history and background to sharing a meal in the culture of Jesus’ time.

Those who have studied the anthropology of eating tell us that eating is never just simply filling our bellies for survival. Eating is also one of the primary ways that we are in relationship with each other. Once an anthropologist finds out where, when, and with whom food is eaten, then they can tell you a lot about the character of a particular society.

And so it was in Jesus’ day. Sharing a meal fulfilled an important social function, namely, sorting out who’s who. To share a meal with someone was a sign of their inclusion in your social circle. Refusal to share a meal with someone meant that they were outside of your circle. Only those of the same social class ate together, and the seating arrangement was of utmost importance in determining one’s social rank in the community.

Sharing a meal was also a way of ‘doing business’ in Jesus day, just as it often is in our day. Where you sat at a meal was important for your livelihood. The closer you sat to the host, the more important you were, the more likely your host would be generous to you; in short the more secure your future. In such a strongly hierarchical society, it was a matter of survival to make sure that you maintained a certain position with regard to your host - for the host was the one who had power and influence over your security in your social sphere.

You see, your position in the community was not just a matter of your personal achievement. Your position was also inseparable from what others thought about you. What people feared the most was to lose their place, to be embarrassed, to be publicly humiliated by having to take a lower place. Losing face could not be shrugged off as easily as for many of us who have grown up in a strongly individualistic culture. Losing face was almost like losing one’s life.

If you recall from last week, your status and inclusion in Jewish society was largely determined not only by your birth but also by your purity. Those who were pure were those who were able to keep the religious laws, most of which are outlined in the book of Leviticus. In addition to the chronically ill and those with physical deformities or mental illnesses, there was an additional group generally labeled ‘outcasts and sinners’ who were also considered impure. This group included tax collectors, beggars, street people, prostitutes, in fact any of those who were on the edge of destitution. Some, like the tax collector or the prostitute were considered impure because of the nature of their occupation, but others were simply unable to keep the purity laws because they were so impoverished. In a sense purity was really only something you could accomplish if you had a certain level of income.

To share a meal with anyone who was impure would be a clear declaration that you shared their social status or that you didn’t care if you were tainted with their uncleanness.

And so when Jesus, a man who was supposed to be a good and faithful Jew, ate with those who were considered outcasts, he broke the rigid boundaries that governed the society of his day.

Not only that, but his breaking of the boundaries also put into jeopardy, the social status of others who invited him to dinner or had been seen socializing with him - people like the Pharisees and other religious leaders of the day. No wonder his actions were unpopular and revolutionary, for they flaunted the traditions and rules that governed social status as well as who was included or excluded in the society.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Jesus had the audacity to say God didn’t really care about those rules either! In the teachings and parables of Jesus that we heard today, Jesus invites his audience to imagine life like a banquet with God as the host; with God as the one who determines our worth and our place in society.

Jesus says, just imagine a dinner party hosted by God. Imagine a banquet table stretching far beyond our vision. Imagine a God who wants the banquet hall to be full.

Imagine a God who doesn't know when to quit. Imagine a God just keeps on inviting and inviting and inviting any who will come to the banquet. And imagine that God’s invitations come to us, not due to our own efforts, or our merits, or our wealth or social status or our purity or good deeds. The invitations come only as a result of God's great love and God's free gift. They cannot be earned, they cannot be purchased. They come as a gift of grace and can only be accepted by hearts that are open and ready to trust in the one who wants all humanity to eat at the banquet of life.

And that is what is revolutionary. Jesus reveals to us that God’s kingdom, God’s vision of heaven on earth is where all humanity shares in the banquet of life - not just those of us who call ourselves Christians, not just those of us who are satisfied that we do the right thing, not just those of us who have a theological education and think that we pray the right kind of prayers - God’s vision of heaven on earth is a guest list that would put most of us into a tail spin. God’s vision of heaven on earth is a vision of a diverse jumble of people who are drawn together because they are hungry - hungry to be loved and to love; hungry to be treated justly and to act with justice; hungry to receive mercy and to be merciful;

hungry to dwell with God and to make the world a fit dwelling place for all God’s people.

In our worship service today, we are all invited to a banquet - Jesus Christ our host invites us to this table to share in God’s banquet of life. Are you ready to join the revolution?