Good Shepherd Sermon. August 30/31, 2025. Luke 14: 1, 7-14
“Table Wisdom”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God, the Creator, our Lord, and Savor, Jesus Christ, thru the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
At the tables on virtually any Sunday morning for breakfast at First Lutheran Church, sat some of the people I believe Jesus is using as examples to whom he wants hospitality extended – you know – invite to the table with us. I know it’s difficult to imagine, and maybe he’s not telling us the meal served is in our personal homes, but I believe what he is saying is there should be no boundaries drawn as to who we invite. This might be considered the Number One value of “Table Wisdom.”
Humility.
Actually, in order to do that – invite all people to share meals with us – we must embody humility as an integral character trait making us who we are. In a commentary written some fifteen years ago, author-poet-artist-pastor, Jan Richardson, wrote about this sacred characteristic of humility.
At the root of humility is the Greek word, humus. Earth. The earth that God made and called good, the earth from which, as one of the creation stories goes, God fashioned us. Humility is our fundamental recognition that we each draw our life and breath from the same source, the God who made us and calls us beloved. Humility does not only prevent us from seeing ourselves as more deserving or graced or better than another. It compels us also to recognize that we are no less deserving or graced than another.
That means that somehow we are not to understand what makes people tick, but to love each person as God loves them.
That means loving Melody, whose birth name was “Jack,” as she was in the process of transitioning from male to female. It means loving, Rachel, the woman who might prostitute herself for a pack of cigarettes, for the usual – money.
It means loving the gregarious homosexual, Craig, HIV-positive, whose laugh would make others laugh at the mere sound of it. Loving Bill and John, the heroin addicts; Donny, the alcoholic; Willie, the reformed ex-con, and a cast of so many others…all at the same table at the church which stated on the sign outdoors: “All Are Welcome.” Or, in the words of Jesus, “invited.” These are also some of the friends many from this congregation served every month.
And, what a way to practice humility – as a host, being generous with one’s invitations. We might consider this another aspect of God’s table wisdom. We set ourselves at the table with whom the world might consider a table of…misfits, “nobodies,” people who are themselves in great need and may never be in a position to return the favor.
That’s what Jesus is telling us today –
they’re the ones who ought to be present.
If we host with humility, just like we are humble guests, then we will expect nothing but to share the space with others.
In a song by the group, “Sidewalk Prophets,” the lyrics seem to identify those to whom Jesus refers. The song begins:
“We all start on the outside, the outside looking in, this is where grace begins. And, just when it seemed all hope was lost, love opened the door for us. He said, ‘Come to the table…’”
“From the thief and to the doubter, from the prisoner and the soldier; from the younger to the older. All who hunger and who thirst, from the last to the first; all the paupers and the princes, all who have failed, you’ve been forgiven. All who dream and all who suffer, all who loved and lost another. Anyone who’s been let down, all the lost you have been found; all who have been labeled right or wrong…Come to the Table.”
Table wisdom IS hospitality. In the text from the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 13, we are reminded about hospitality.
2“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
Your particular version of scripture may read differently at the end. For instance, from the NLT the final few words read, “Without realizing it!” (With an exclamation point.) Or, the New King James Version: “for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” Yes, dear friends, hospitality. And, by the way, the word, hospitality, literally means, “loving the stranger.”
There is table wisdom for us, which hopefully encapsulates humility that has captured our lives – by realizing we’re not, “all that,” and to extend the love of God by accepting all of God’s children as they are, and welcoming them into our lives.
I would like to close with a 21st Century, Jesus-like story from a First Lutheran breakfast. It features an African-American man, named Larry, and a white man, named Sam. I may have told you this story, but it is so beautiful I believe it bears repeating.
Larry had been homeless at one time in his life, but now had a place to live. Just prior to worship one Sunday following a weekly breakfast at the church, Sam pulled up a chair next to Larry, who kind of sized-up Sam, looking at his blue sweatshirt, blue jeans, and work boots, and a blue ski cap on his head. Larry told Sam that if he didn’t have a place to sleep, he could stay with him until he finds a place.
Sam told me this story later that morning, with tears in his eyes. You see, Sam was at church around 6 AM to help prepare the breakfast which Larry would eat. What Larry didn’t know was Sam is a physician, now at a Louisville hospital, and definitely had a place to stay.
It was Larry’s invitation and hospitality that moved Sam. Sam experienced table wisdom, the same we can offer others either literally, or thru prayer, that God would move his children, to invite others to the table. The very Table where Jesus is the guest and the Host.
God’s table wisdom is to be generous with the life that God has invited us to have and live. God’s table wisdom is to follow Jesus’ “seating chart,” trusting that fellowship will occur among groups of people who have distinguishable differences, yet the Spirit weaves them – us – together. God’s table wisdom is to remember that even when we are those inviting others, we are always God’s guest.
Feel the Lord’s presence
When you
Come to the table.
AMEN.