Luke 14: 1 – 11
I wonder if you have ever watched “Come dine with me” – that programme when several often ill-assorted people spend a week taking turns to invite one another round for dinner. It can be very entertaining to be a fly on the wall as they struggle between two often contradictory things – the desire to express themselves in the way they entertain and the need to be hospitable to those who are different from themselves. Our Gospel reading today recounts what happened when Jesus was invited to a Sabbath meal at the house of a prominent Pharisee. Social conventions in Jesus’ day and culture were rather less fluid than they are today. Both hosts and guests knew more clearly what was expected of them. It would have been an honour to be invited to such a meal and guests would have been acutely aware of the social hierarchy. Indeed, they would very likely have been seated in different rooms and even possibly have been served different food according to their status. The astute guest would know how to navigate such an event, where to place themselves and who to talk to.
I invite you for a moment to imagine your ideal dinner party guest. Mine arrives a little late, having phoned shortly before to let me know that they will be late. This ensures that I’m not worried that they have forgotten and I have time to do all those last-minute jobs like finding the napkins which I hadn’t actually allowed time for. Well, Jesus was certainly not the ideal guest. It’s quite surprising, given His record, that anyone so prestigious as this important Pharisee was prepared to invite him for a Sabbath meal. Our Gospel today describes what Luke records as the last in a series of disastrous dinner parties involving Jesus. At the first He disgraces Himself in the eyes of the respectable by going to a huge party thrown by a tax collector and various other undesirables and having a thoroughly good time (Luke 5: 27 – 32). At the second he shows complete disregard for several ritual taboos when he allows a woman of uncertain reputation to weep all over his feet and dry them with her loose hair. (Luke 7: 36-50). At the third, a smaller party, he encourages another woman to abandon her duty of serving the guests and sit with the men listening to his teaching. (Luke 10: 38 – 42). At the fourth he deliberately neglects to ritually wash before eating and then launches into a tirade against the outward observances of the Pharisees. (Luke 11: 37-54)
In today’s account the problems start even before he gets to the meal. On the way in, knowing full well that He is being watched by the Pharisees, he stops and heals a man with dropsy. This is not the first time He’s healed on the Sabbath, and it’s been controversial (Luke 13:14). This time He reduces the legal experts to silence, with a neat reference to the Law in Exodus, but it’s not perhaps the most tactful way for a guest to arrive at the house of a leading Pharisee. Once through the door it doesn’t get any better. He watches the other guests arriving, playing an elaborate social game, working out where they belong in the pecking order and seating themselves accordingly – perhaps indulging in a little social climbing. And He tells them off, reflecting the Book of Proverbs this time. It’s sensible advice. Who wants to lose face by being asked to move to a less important place? But hardly tactful to come right out with it there and then. And it only gets worse. The story of the dinner party continues as Jesus tells the host he has invited the wrong people altogether.
There is of course a deeper meaning to all of this. Luke is using this story to lead up to Jesus’ parable of the Kingdom of God which follows. But today I’d like to stick with the more straightforward meaning. Jesus was clearly not an easy dinner guest!
So – knowing this, would you invite Jesus to a dinner party? It’s a hypothetical question, of course, but we do invite Jesus to things. We want Him to be at our church services, at the PCC and its Working Parties. We’d like Him to be there in our children’s groups, because we know Jesus likes children, and at our Harvest Lunch next week too. In fact we probably like the idea that He’s around more generally, in our homes, watching over our work, our voluntary activities, maybe even travelling around with us to help us feel safe.
But is it really Jesus we want in our lives – or is it the perfect guest? Who is it that we have invited? Thinking back to “Come Dine with me”- Do we realise who it is that we have invited to the “dinner party” of our lives? How well do we know Him? He may be more radical and less respectable than we think. This could be uncomfortable. He might do something unexpected or challenging. Jesus is very good at allowing us to be ourselves – indeed, He wants us to be our deepest selves – but are we willing to allow Him to be Himself in our lives? If we did, what might the result be? The party’s in full swing. It may be quite noisy. But can we hear, over the chatting, the music, the general hubbub, what is He trying to say to us?