It's Always Something

Based on reflections on Luke 14:15-24

It was a clear evening, with the sun just setting, creating a kaleidoscope in the sky. It was still warm, but promised to be a clear, star-lit night. They had gathered at the table, the table of a Pharisee, a table where she would not have been welcome under the best of circumstances, and she was certainly not welcome at this table on this evening in this home. The things she had done, the person she was, precluded her from this home and this table. But his presence changed all that. As she anointed his feet with oil, he declared that she was indeed welcome at the table of the Lord. But this created a problem for Simon the Pharisee – because he certainly couldn’t eat with her. He wanted to learn what the teacher would share, but he couldn’t sit with her – it was always something.

One of my favorite shows when I was younger was Saturday Night Live. I have watched it for years, though I am not certain it has ever been as good as it was in the days of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” And while I loved Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Jim Belushi, Steve Martin, Jane Curtain, and Bill Murray, I have to say that probably my favorite bit was when Gilda Radner appeared in the Weekend Update segments as Roseanne Roseanna-Danna. RRD offered opinion pieces on various topics, but she always managed to sidetrack into an area of discourse that was completely different from wherever she started. Usually her wanderings began with a comment, “My daddy always told me, Roseanne Roseanna-Danna, it just goes to show ya. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, it’s always something.” Good comedy offers us a mirror through which to view life, and I believe Gilda was right – it is always something and that something can sidetrack us until we are no longer focused on the things we should be focused on.
So we shouldn’t be too hard on good Simon. He was a man of faith; he was part of the people of God in his time, and his faith, his church, his religion focused on personal holiness. By his very faith beliefs he could not sit at table with the prostitute, or even welcome her into his home. No, we shouldn’t be too hard on Simon, for I have heard far too many Christians in recent years who focused on the idea of personal holiness as well. Now don’t get me wrong, moral values and ethical standards are established by which we as Christians should live. But as Jesus told Simon, as Jesus told the young lawyer who asked about eternal life, there is more.

In this parable from Luke's gospel, the host has prepared a banquet and invited those to participate ahead of time. But when the table was set and the feast was ready, those who were invited couldn’t come. It’s always something.

Now this parable was given to the people of God, to Simon, and to us. What is it that keeps Simon from the banquet table? It’s not personal holiness, for “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Simon is one of those invited to the table, but something is keeping him from it. The modern church of Jesus Christ stands at a critical point, at a crossroad. We are invited, is something keeping us from the table as well?

There is a story told about a famous Christian speaker, who is well known for his powerful sermons and messages – he is very much in demand as a speaker. But he endangered his
speaking career at one point. He was called to speak to a conference of Christian men and after his introduction he stepped to the podium and addressed those 1500 men, and said, “You know what bugs the stuff out of me?” Only he didn’t say stuff. He used an expletive; he used it intentionally and it became even more powerful because of the setting. “You know what bugs the stuff out of me, is that 16,000 children will go to bed hungry tonight.” And after a minute as the furor died down, he continued, “You know what bugs me even more? It’s that more of you will be concerned that I used that word then will be about the fact that 16,000 children in America will go to bed hungry tonight.”

It bugs me as well. It bugs me that in the richest nation on earth, in the history of the planet for that matter, that 31 million Americans live in poverty. It bugs me that over the past 20 years 2.2 million low rent housing units have disappeared and that 3 million people today are homeless. It bugs me that 41 million WORKING Americans have no health insurance. It breaks my heart that there are people now, today, in our nation, in our state, in our community who may not be able to get the prescription drugs and the health care they need to survive. It bugs me that a few blocks from here there are children who wake up this morning hungry and will go to bed hungry tonight.

And this is just in America. What about the rest of the world?

This is not about politics. This is about compassion. It is not about Democrat or Republican, left or right, it is about love. It is not about business as usual but about the business of God. And I certainly hope that we who gather as the church of Jesus Christ on Sunday mornings will not hear this as a condemnation, for it is not meant to be that. It is meant, rather, to challenge us. It is meant to remind us that there is still more to do. It is meant to urge us to action. Let us hold our leaders and the leaders of the world accountable for ever increasing poverty and homelessness. Let us, as church, seek ways to aid those who live in hunger and poverty, who live without homes and without hope.

Let us, as the people of God, quit arguing about Democratic agendas & Republican agendas, about liberalism, socialism, conservatism, and find a way to provide health care for all in our country. How can we read the 25th chapter of Matthew and be content with the current state of our nation?

There is still more to do. And, if you remember John’s version of the story of Simon, Judas complains about the cost of the oil and Jesus replies that the poor will always be with us. It is always something.

But we are called; we are invited into the kingdom of God. Come to the banquet, sit at the table. What will keep us from coming to the table? We must remember that there are two parts to the commandments of Jesus, two challenges to the laws of God. Part one is personal holiness. Part two is relational. Love God, love one another. Neither is optional – we are called to both. Or in the words of the prophet, “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Or as the beloved disciple said, “How does God’s love abide anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses help?”

So, I think it is significant to note whom the host calls to the banquet when the people of God who were invited do not come. Did you notice? The poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, all of those who had been marginalized by society – all of those who had been excluded are invited to the table by the Lord. Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who mourn, says Jesus, I have come to bring good news to them, to release the captives and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! What will keep us from it? It’s not personal holiness, though we are encouraged to pursue that. But there are things that distract us from fulfilling the commitments we’ve made to God, if we let them. As church, let us encourage one another, even more so as we see the day approaching, and together let us seek ways to do justice and love mercy, to extend the invitation, on behalf of our Lord, so that all may be invited to the table of his grace. Let the broken be healed, the hungry, fed, the widow cared for, and the homeless given shelter. Let us bind up the captives and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

© 2005
Albert J. Gritten