Dinner Invitations

St. Lawrence – yes, the namesake of the St. Lawrence River, and patron Saint of Canada. 

Lawrence was deacon in the city of Rome 3^rd Century and martyred August 10^th, 258 at age of 32.

Born in Valencia, Spain, Lawrence left for Rome with Sixtus a famous and highly esteemed teacher of his time. Lawrence was ordained archdeacon of Rome, a position entrusting to him the care of the treasury and riches of the Church, along with the responsibility for the distribution of alms.

Roman authorities saw the riches of the Church and decreed that Christians, specifically the Church, was to have their wealth confiscated for the Empire treasury, on pain of death.

 

St. Ambrose recounts the tale that Roman authorities demanded that Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church. Lawrence asked for three days to gather these riches. During the three days, Lawrence redistributed to the poor what property and wealth he could. After three days, arriving before the Roman authorities he came with what he referred to as ‘the treasures of the church.’ --- with him were people - the poor, the lame, the blind, the forgotten, the marginalized, and the outcast. Lawrence declared, “the Church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor.” This act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom.

 

Lawrence took to heart Jesus’ directives on who to invite as dinner guests when hosting a banquet.

 

Perhaps if St. Lawrence lived today, he would pen a blog titled, “Living the Directives of Jesus,” with a page dedicated to ‘The Etiquette of Hosting a Dinner Party:’

 

·         Choose guests that challenge culture’s finely honed system of reciprocity governing social interactions;

·         Choose guests that challenge human notion’s of worth and acceptability;

·         Choose guests that challenge ones’ want to feel self-important;

And choose a space with room to make the table longer.

 

St. Lawrence might continue, reflecting on Jeremiah’s image of a cracked and empty cistern – where the cistern represents the emptiness of the people; an emptiness brought about by sending out inappropriate dinner invitations. Invitations sent not to people for who they are, or out of the pleasure of sharing each other’s company, or one’s bounty, but for the benefit they can give the host: respectability, status, favour, power, an invitation in return, a place to be seen.

 

In contrast, living water, or as the Psalmist wrote of the people being satisfied with the finest wheat and honey from a rock- these are the dinner parties focused on relationship: hospitality to strangers, mutual love, a strengthening of community, a sharing of bread and wine. Meals where people are simply welcomed – with or without an invitation.

 

Today’s readings ask us to change our appetites: to drink living water by following Jesus’ directives; to feast on relationship; to indulge in hospitality; to revel in community.

 

As a church we are asked to change our appetites – each week we gather around the banquet table, God’s table. We are shown a broad table (with seating here, in homes, a feast in the world to come, clouds of witnesses, heavenly hosts) – a table with an open invitation that spans across the ages. Everyone is invited to receive God’s gift of grace through Word, bread and wine. Participating in this weekly meal demonstrates following Jesus’ directives: humbly coming to the table without fanfare or hierarchical order, helping those who need assistance, providing bread and wine in various forms for various needs, and waiting for all to eat.

Luther’s Catechism reminds us that, “Eating and drinking certainly do not do it, but rather the words that are recorded: ‘given for you’ and ‘shed for you for the forgiveness of sin.’

Participating in the meal is receiving this grace, a grace that changes our appetites.

We are satisfied with a small morsel of material food because the food is more than material. The food at the banquet is grace – forgiveness- that is embodied in the meal itself:

hospitality to strangers, mutual love, and a strengthening of community.

 

September is a month where some congregations emphasize a ‘Back to Church Sunday.’ Churches ask parishioners to invite family, friends, and neighbours to church; to hand out invitations to come. On a weekly basis when we come and participate in communion, we are being fed and reminded that the hospitality shown to us through the meal is to be turned to action – an action of giving ourselves away as bread for the hungry. One way to do this is to invite others to the table; specifically guests who can not reciprocate the invitation, guests whom we might judge as unworthy or unacceptable, guests who will not raise our self-importance. Who will you invite to God’s table?

 

As Jeremiah spoke to the people, they were a people who had forgotten relationship with God and each other, no longer sitting down together to share food and conversation. They had become -religion and faith had become- a cracked and dry cistern. The story could be the same for the church…

Yet, we commit to weekly celebration of the Eucharist – the Great Thanksgiving- to continually change our appetites, filling us with grace and Living Water.

Congregational vitality depends upon Living Water!

 

And this vitality is shown in hospitality to strangers, mutual love, and strengthening of community.

Come, inviting others along the way, to the banquet for all is now ready.  Amen.