160828-pentecost-15-am-fr-daniel-dries

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Dr Daniel Dries Pentecost 15 – Year C Christ Church St Laurence – 28th August, 2016 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight: O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

Jesus said, “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind...”

Anyone who has organised a wedding banquet or a wedding reception would know that this exercise is not for the faint-hearted. Although a significant group within our society is desperately hoping that they will soon have the right to marry, marriage rates in our society have declined sharply in recent decades. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, marriage rates have more than halved since they peaked in the early 1940s. We all look forward to what this year’s census can tell us about trends in our society, although we may have to wait a very long time to find out.

I have a theory that marriage rates have fallen partly because organising a wedding reception is infinitely more challenging than the quest to find one’s perfect life partner. No matter how hard a bride and groom may try, devising a wedding guest list inevitably leaves some acquaintances feeling offended and excluded. Once the guest list is finalised, the seating plan needs to be arranged, and the real challenge begins.

In our time and society, these sensitive social conventions are generally limited to more formal occasions such as weddings. However, in Christ’s day and culture, these social conventions applied to virtually every meal… Who would be invited? Where would they sit? How would the food be prepared and served?

In Luke, Chapter 14, Christ finds himself as a guest at a Sabbath day meal. This meal is particularly significant because of where it is being held—it is taking place in the home of a leader of the Pharisees. This is not the only time that Christ dined with Pharisees. We have to wonder why they kept asking him back! He does not behave as a good guest should. He begins by criticising his fellow guests; rebuking them and giving them advice as to where they should sit. We can only imagine the stunned silence that must have followed. Just when it seemed that things couldn’t get any worse, this very peculiar guest offers advice on how to draw up a more appropriate guest list.  “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind...”

In our context, this statement seems compassionate and charitable. We know that in this place, we offer daily assistance to the poor and marginalised within our community. As a result, the impact of Christ’s words may be lost on us. Christ is not expressing a ‘pleasant’ sentiment; rather, he is being deliberately provocative and controversial. This is a complete list of the lowest rung of first century Jewish society. These were the people who were forbidden to serve as priests in the Temple; the implication was that the poor, crippled, lame and blind were not as close to God as others. The Qumran sect; that is, the Jewish community that we associate with the Dead Sea Scrolls made this abundantly clear, as their writings state: …Every person smitten in his flesh, paralysed in his feet or hands, lame or deaf, or dumb… or any aged person that totters is unable to stand firm in the congregation: let these persons not enter.

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Just imagine the ramifications across the Anglican Communion if entry was forbidden for every ‘aged person that totters’. We don’t exclude such people from membership of the church, and yet, some people are certainly made to feel that they are somehow not quite as close to God. Although first century Judaism may have placed a great emphasis on hospitality, it’s very clear that this hospitality also included a great deal of exclusion; particularly of those who were considered less-worthy. Christ is prepared to stand up and tell even a leader of the Pharisees that he has it all wrong and, of course, there are great consequences for doing so.  Like many other similar churches, this parish places a very great emphasis on hospitality and social gatherings… sometimes perhaps the emphasis is a little too great. Although we love a good party, the most important of our social or community gatherings is the Mass, celebrated at least once every single day in this place. The Eucharist or the Mass is the banquet that breaks down all social conventions—rankings of class, gender and ethnic background all become completely irrelevant. By kneeling at the communion rail week by week, we express a belief that, in God’s eyes, we are all equal. This is the great leveller. Where else in our society do we see the doctor kneeling alongside the patient; where else in our society do we see the professor kneeling alongside the student, or the prince kneeling alongside the pauper?

Sadly, the grace and boundless hospitality of the Eucharist is not always apparent. This banquet was intended to unite all Christians, and yet, it is probably the greatest source of division between mainline denominations. Although we think of Anglicanism as a broad and inclusive church, there have always been great factions and divisions. Across the world, there are currently almost 200 recognised denominations that are worshipping in the Anglican tradition, but are not in Communion with Canterbury. We know the divisive issues that plague our church. However, using phrases like ‘in communion’ and ‘not in communion’ seem to go against the gracious hospitality that forms the basis of the Eucharist.  There are certainly great divisions within the Anglican Communion. However, most of us are very aware of ancient and painful divisions between our own church and the Church of Rome. In previous generations, most of our families have experienced some pain owing to what could have been described as inter-marriage between Catholics and Protestants.

On 16 June 2014, Pope Francis met with Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury. This is not the first time that a pontiff has met with the leader of the Anglican Communion. It was, however, a unique meeting because of how it concluded. The Pope offered his blessing to the Archbishop but, for first time ever, a pope then asked an Archbishop of Canterbury to bless him. There were many Christians who applauded this gesture as a profoundly moving act of ecumenism, and yet it also sent shockwaves through the more conservative sectors of both denominations. One conservative Roman Catholic commentator reflected on this momentous event by writing: On Monday, June 16 …[Pope Francis] had his friend Justin Welby over, the so-called “Archbishop of Canterbury” and decided to receive a “blessing” from the imaginary clergyman. As Pope Leo XIII definitively decreed in 1896, the holy orders possessed by Anglican clergy are invalid, “absolutely null and utterly void.”  In the Eucharist, as we approach the altar, we kneel in deepest humility as we make our communion with God. Despite this, Christians continue to claim the place of honour at the banquet; perhaps we Page | 2

are all guilty of this from time to time. However, we have to wonder how one Christian praying God’s blessing over another Christian could become a controversial news item? There shouldn’t be anything controversial about it. Luke Chapter 14 identifies the very ordinary human inclination to claim a place of honour. This passage also makes it very clear that, claiming the place of honour at this particular banquet could result in being left off the guest list entirely.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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