Table Talk
In the New Testament world, banquets were venues for philosophers and teachers to disseminate their wisdom. And table fellowship had particular significance for Judaism, Jesus and the Early Church. The table was laden with important religious, social and economic meanings. There were strict religious rules about who could eat with whom. Rules about what types of food could be eaten together, which foods were clean and unclean. Jesus was often criticized for breaking those rules, or more specifically, challenging what was at the heart of their making.
Luke in particular, approaches the table with utmost seriousness. In his gospel the institution of the Lord’s Supper and the revelation of the risen Christ to the disciples at Emmaus happen at a table. In the book of Acts the risen Christ gives the disciples the promise of the Holy Spirit and the great commission over a meal. And it was by table fellowship that Jews and Gentiles were able to the church.
In chapter fourteen of Luke’s gospel, there are four independent stories that are gathered around a table. Verse one of chapter fourteen of Luke’s gospel sets the stage for the stories: “On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.” This provides the setting for the four stories that follow:
By gathering these stories around a table, Luke points out, and as we shall see, so does Jesus, that the table is a very telling place. Our values get lived out around the table.
Sabbath is also a context for these stories. Now often when we think of Sabbath, we are reminded of the importance of hallowing, making holy, a day of rest. Which is hard to do in our hurried and harried culture. In his conversations with the doctors of the law, Jesus was always reminding them, and us, that the Sabbath was made for human beings, not human beings for the Sabbath.
Sabbath keeping also has deep justice roots from the Hebrew scriptures. Leviticus and the books of the prophets tell us that the rhythm of Sabbath isn’t just about resting every seven days. Every seven years there is to be a release of all debts. And every 50 years there is to be a Jubilee redistribution of property.
Jesus preached, taught, and lived a Jubilee/Sabbath gospel. His ministry was defined by the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and has anointed me and sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners.”
Jesus understood the good news of liberty and release to be the very real debt cancellation and land restoration of the Sabbath/Jubilee tradition. Think about it, if you were poor and had sold yourself into slavery in order to pay debts you owed, news of your debt being cancelled would be good news indeed.
According to Sojourners writer Ched Myers yes the Sabbath was created for humanity, but for the purpose of “humanizing us in a world where so much of our socio-economic reasoning and practicing is de-humanizing.”
Jesus’ Jubilee orientation called for radical restructuring
of socio-economic groups. And he
chose table fellowship as his object lesson.
Meals lay at the heart of ancient society. Where, what, and with whom you ate defined your social identity and status. The table was a mirror of society with its economic classes and political divisions.
In Luke 14 Jesus systematically undermines the hierarchal table politics of his day and sets a new table of compassion and equality.
In our gospel lesson for today there are two ways Jesus does this. First of all he speaks to the guests by pointing out that they have bought in to the system of upward mobility. (It’s interesting how human hasn’t changed much over the centuries…) Since the beginning of creation human s have been clamoring to move up the scale of importance. It is this struggle that keeps oppressive economic systems in place. For our culture it is not necessarily about the good places at dinner. Instead it is about having the nicest car or house. Or about being able to keep up with our neighbors or colleagues. Maybe it’s about having our own way, or about political power, or social status. Maybe it’s about the use of military or economic power by various nations. Maybe it’s about getting our own self worth by being better than someone else.
We think we are just simple trying to get ahead for our own sake, or the sake of our family. But our actions and attitudes fuel an un-just economy and undermine a Sabbath/Jubilee gospel that depends on us as followers of the Christ. When we don’t practice it, we hinder good news to the poor. A good news that can only come in choosing differently, setting a new table, with new values.
At table, Jesus invites us to downward mobility. It’s not an ‘awe shucks’ kind of humility that endears us to God. It is a strategy of solidarity with the poor.
When he finishes speaking to the guests, Jesus turns his attention to the host of the dinner party—and criticizes the guest list! (Wouldn’t you love to have someone like Jesus at your next dinner party!)
He tells the host:
Don’t invite your friends, or relatives, or rich neighbors hoping they will repay you by inviting you to their house. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. Those who cannot repay you.
Jesus scrutinizing of the guest list exposes the Greco-roman patronage system that kept the elite in power by a system of debt repayal. Jesus sets a new table with the Sabbath/Jubilee gospel that cancels debts, upsets the hierarchy by considering those who cannot repay as honored guests.
Economics and politics continue to get played out around the table as we have seen with the recent controversy over St. Louis Bishop Raymond Burke’s denying communion to US Presidential candidate John Kerry because his stance on abortion is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
The Church gets bogged down in rules about who can and cannot come to the table. Rules based on theology, political views, or one’s sexuality. We have forgotten Jesus’ table talk. We can’t even make the table a place of inclusion, much less a strategy for a Sabbath/Jubilee gospel. We forget that Jesus is the host of this table. The table does not belong to the Church or to its leaders.
The table is central to our lives as the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. It is central in this sanctuary. It is central in our liturgy. It is a place of fellowship, a place of forgiveness. A meeting place, where we are encountered by God and we encounter each other.
The table is also a place of remembering. We repeat the words of Jesus every Sunday at table: Do this in remembrance of me. It is a remembering of the actual supper Jesus had with his disciples long ago. It is a remembering of Jesus’ love and sacrifice. And it must be a subversive memory of a Sabbath/Jubilee gospel.
The table is a revelatory place, as Luke has reminded us. A place not only where the mystery of God’s grace is revealed. But also a place where our values are revealed. Our hearts are made known.
To that end, it is a place of renewal…and a place of conviction.