“Great Reversals”

Sermon by the Rev. Caela Simmons Wood

First Congregational UCC of Manhattan, KS

Luke 14:1,7-14

August 28, 2022

In the spirit of the Gospel of Luke, which so very often looks at society from the underside, we’re going to work through today’s passage from the bottom, up. 

“You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.” 

That’s what Jesus says to the guests at a dinner party on the sabbath day. He’s just turned their whole worlds upside-down (more on that later) and now he tells them that if they really want to live life to its fullest, they need to rethink their social lives. Instead of considering who the “cool kids” are and inviting them over for a meal, Jesus says they should do the exact opposite. Throwing aside all hope of reciprocity, Jesus counsels folks to invite those on the margins. Don’t think about whether they’ll be able to throw you a grand dinner party in return, he says. They can’t. That’s not the point. 

Even if you never get invited to the cool kids table at lunch, you will be blessed, he says. Precisely because you spent your time hanging out with people who weren’t able to pay you back. 

To social media influencers, Jesus says, “Don’t just take ussies with the high and mighty and don’t just @ people you want to boost your signal. Don’t use other humans as currency. Instead, go and seek out those who don’t have any followers and spend time with them. They may not improve your brand. That’s not the point.”

To the lenders, Jesus says, “Don’t just lend money to those with good credit scores and collateral - those who are safe bets. Instead, give money to those who actually need it most. They may not be able to repay you. That’s not the point.”

To teachers, parents, grandparents, Jesus says, “Don’t spend all your time focusing on the kids who clean up perfectly for school photos and win all the awards. Instead, be sure to seek out the kids who are struggling. The ones who don’t fit in. The ones who hardly ever meet expectations. The ones that sit alone at lunch. They may not make your life easy. That’s not the point.”

To fine, upstanding church folks, Jesus says, “Don’t just welcome the visitors who look like they’d fit right in. The ones who look like they’ll have money and time and energy to share. Instead, be sure and talk with the person who’s standing in the corner at coffee hour. Be a friendly face to the person who looks like they stumbled into the wrong place on Sunday morning. They may not be able to serve on a committee or make a donation. That’s not the point.”

So what is the point? 

Jesus says we’ll be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Which is to say: what matters is what matters to God. What matters is shaping our lives in a way that resembles the Realm of God, the Beloved Community. 

If we back it up a bit, we start to see further hints at what it looks like to live in the Realm of God. Jesus says to those gathered at this dinner party, “Hey, don’t puff yourself up and sit down at the head of the table. Instead, sit in the lowest place and then see if the host invites you to move up. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to divest fully from the ways of the world. 

While news pundits and analysts remind us again and again of the invisible hand of the free market and economic theories and laws, in the Realm of God, life flows differently. After all, Jesus turned scraps into loaves and fishes to feed more than 5000 people. He ate with sinners and outcasts. He told troubling stories about laborers who worked all day getting paid the same thing as those who clocked in just before quitting time. He painted a less-than-complimentary picture of the elder brother who followed all the rules and instead drew our attention to the ridiculously compassionate father who threw a lavish party for the son that hadn’t earned a darn thing. And he taught us to pray: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

Just when we think we may have things figured out, Jesus says “look again.” Biblical scholar Allen Verhey calls the ethics of Jesus the “great reversal.” It’s not Stranger Things but it is a kind of Upside Down, where everything is topsy-turvey.

To follow Jesus is to accept the invitation to live life in this topsy turvey world. Biblical scholar John P. Burgess says this Beloved Community is a place where, “human relationships are no longer characterized by suspicion and competition, but rather by deep, rich communion. Christ makes possible a way of life that turns present reality upside down. The reign of God is characterized by a series of ‘great reversals.’” [1] 

In this realm of great reversals, we rejoice when those on the margins are welcomed at the table. We celebrate when debts are forgiven. And, at the same time, we are called to remember that it’s even bigger than celebrating the small wins. To truly live in the Realm of God is to divest so fully from “the way things are” that the very foundations are questioned, systems are razed and rebuilt, and wildly-impractical practices like Jubilee become reality. 

Pastor Brian McLaren says that to live in the way of Jesus is to accept the invitation to follow where the Spirit leads. And the Spirit does not lead us to the head of the table. Instead, McLaren says, 

The Spirit leads us downward. To the bottom, to the place of humility, to the position and posture of service . . . that’s where the Spirit, like water, flows. . . .

If you listen to the Spirit, here is what will happen to you. You’ll be at a party and you’ll notice on one side of the room all the beautiful people laughing and having fun together. In a far corner, you’ll notice a person who is alone, feeling awkward, not knowing anyone. The Spirit will draw you to the person in need. You may become the bridge that connects the outsider to the insiders—and in that connection, both will be better off. . . .

Here’s what will happen if you listen to the Spirit. You will see a person or a group being vilified or scapegoated. Everyone is blaming them, shaming them, gossiping about them, feeling superior to them, venting their anxieties on them. . . . But the Spirit will draw you to differ courageously and graciously. . . . You will risk your reputation in defending the person or people being scapegoated. And in that risk, both you and they will know that God’s Spirit is alive and at work in your midst.

If you listen to the Spirit, here’s what will happen to you. It will be late. You will be tired. There will be dishes to do or clothes to pick up or trash to empty. Someone else should have done this, you will think with anger. You will rehearse in your mind the speech you will give them. And then you will think, But I guess they’re just as tired and overworked as I am. So maybe I can help. You won’t do this as a manipulative ploy but as a simple act of service. . . .

There is a prison near you. A hospital. A park or a bridge or an alley where homeless people sleep. . . . There’s a country in great need or a social problem that few people notice. If you listen to the Spirit, you will be drawn toward an opportunity to serve. At first, the thought will frighten or repel you. But when you let the Spirit guide you, it will be a source of great joy—one of the richest blessings of your life.

And now we come to the beginning of this text from Luke. And the end of today’s sermon. 

Jesus went into the house of a Pharisee to eat a meal on the sabbath and the author of Luke tells us “they were watching him closely.” When we follow the Spirit in the ways that McLaren is suggesting - when we divest from systems that harm and step more fully into the Realm of God - we are being watched. 

I don’t mean to alarm you by saying that, but it’s true. People are watching us and if we call ourselves followers of Jesus, they’re watching us to see what it looks like to be a Christian. Whether we like that label or not. 

Preaching professor Joy J. Moore tells a story about being watched. 

When Moore was a little girl she went to a Protestant church and there was one woman there who came from the Catholic tradition. (This was a different time and place where being Catholic meant “being different” - unlike in our congregation where people come from all kinds of religious backgrounds.) So Moore remembers this woman as being different from other folks. And she noticed that when she came into the sanctuary on Sundays she fell down. She wasn’t sure why that happened. She just watched and noticed. 

And one day she finally asked the woman why that happened. Why she fell down when she came in. And the woman was so surprised. Her initial reaction was, “You saw me???” And then she went on to explain to the child that she was raised Catholic and in her tradition she had learned to show reverence for the altar by kneeling when she came into the sanctuary. She explained that she didn’t mean to call attention to herself by doing so. 

Moore, as an adult, recalls two things about this interaction. First, that the woman was surprised that anyone saw her. She was being watched, but she didn’t even know it. And, second, that She didn’t mean to call attention to herself. She was not doing this for kudos. She was simply honoring God in the ways she had been taught and seemed a little embarrassed to know that someone had noticed her actions. [3] 

Just as the crowds watched Jesus, people watch us to see what it looks like to walk in the Spirit. 

And the way of the Spirit is a downward path, flowing like water. Always moving to fill the cracks and seep into the edge places just out of sight. Off the beaten path. Topsy-turvey. 

Following in the path of the one who came in the name of Great Reversals. The One who shows us glimpses of the Realm of God - a place where we can divest fully from systems of harm and, instead, live into the promises of a world where debts are forgiven, outcasts are beloved, and there’s always room to pull up another chair at the table. 

May it be so. 

NOTES:

[1] Feasting on the Gospels--Luke, Volume 2 (p. 188). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

[2] https://cac.org/daily-meditations/spirit-led-action-2022-08-24/ 

[3] Sermon Brainwave podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brainwave-859-ordinary-22c-twelfth-sunday-after-pentecost/id1538186845?i=1000576810391