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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-09-12, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019. PAGE 17. By Charmila Ireland Melville Presbyterian Church, Brussels A few weeks before our wedding, my now-husband Nick and I sat down with our final guest list and agonized over the seating chart. There’s a lot that goes into it, you know. My friend was coming from Switzerland, and he barely knew anyone at the reception. Nick’s aunts and uncles were coming from PEI and only knew each other. Most of the aunts and uncles were over 60 years old, but then our friends are mostly under 30. Some like to drink and dance, while others are a lot more introverted. Should we bother to mingle our families, who likely would never see each other again? Long story short, it was a giant pain to make this seating chart. But we persevered! We finally got to New Brunswick and were busy decorating the hall and… I left my lovely hand-drawn seating chart at home. Whoops. So I said, you know what? Who cares? Sit where you want. Whatever. We’ll come back to wedding seating later. The story from Luke 14 is all about a fancy party and who sits where. Of course, it’s not really about that. Spoiler alert: there’s a deeper meaning about the kingdom of God. Jesus went to the house of a prominent Pharisee. Not just any Pharisee, a prominent one. In all likelihood, this was a very important man with a very impressive home. And Jesus was being carefully watched. His every action was being scrutinized, because the Pharisees don’t care for him much. They’re likely hoping that he’ll mess up badly, so they can report him, laugh at him, or gossip about him. Perhaps even have grounds to arrest him. Jesus’ first test is coming across a man suffering from dropsy; a very obvious physical condition, which is obviously within Jesus’ power to heal. Except it’s the Sabbath, and you’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath. Quite cleverly, Jesus turns it around on the Pharisees. They are the experts of the law, after all. He simply asks them, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” Jesus was pointing to the laws in the Old Testament that made exceptions on the Sabbath for helping people and animals. The Pharisees had nothing to say. What could they say, really? Were they going to tell Jesus, right in front of a man who needs to be healed, that he can’t do so? They certainly wouldn’t look very good if they did that. So Jesus healed the man. Now that this drama is over, it’s time for the meal. Many of the guests rushed to places of honour at the table. This is one of those things that it somewhat lost in translation between Jewish society 2,000 years ago and today. Most of us don’t really think like this anymore. “Places of honour” at a table aren’t particularly important in most settings. In most contexts, no one cares who sits where. Is anyone really going to get offended if you sit at the head of a table when you shouldn’t? Not likely. You almost certainly won’t lose business deals or better marriage prospects for your children if you sit in the wrong spot. To give you an idea of how important this issue of seating arrangement was for these folks, consider once again my wedding. I know I said that I didn’t care where people sat, and that is true… to an extent. I did have a very obvious head table for the wedding party. Imagine the embarrassment if, for some reason, you didn’t know the etiquette and went up and sat at the head table for supper; just thought, oh, that looks like a nice spot! It would be so excruciatingly embarrassing to be kicked out of that spot. To have the best man come up to you and tap your shoulder and say, “hey, uh, you really can’t sit here. You need to move.” You just know that your etiquette faux pas going to be part of the conversation throughout the night. That’s the kind of thing Jesus is talking about, because to these people social status and public embarrassment very much mattered. Saving face and honour were important. So Jesus warns them not to take the place of honour, because it is so embarrassing to be moved down the line. Instead, take the lowest place, and then the host can come to you and invite you to sit up at a better spot and you are honoured. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus then concludes the passage with another reversal. The norm in those times, and still today, is to invite people to a fancy dinner who are useful to you; people you have or want a good relationship with, for whatever reason. One of the main reasons was because they would then sort of owe you a favour. But Jesus says, “do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbours.” They might invite you back, and then you’re already repaid. But if you invite the outcasts, the poor and sick, then you will be blessed.” They can’t repay you, but “you will be repaid at the resurrection.” This is a radical idea. I have to admit, many churches often risk falling into this trap and doing the exact thing that Jesus is talking about. We talk all the time about wanting new members. The unspoken part in many churches is that they want the right kind of members. We can get caught in the worldly trap of wanting the kind of members who are going to contribute to the budget, or volunteer for things, or make nice conversation at coffee hour; those who are going to give more than they receive. Quid pro quo. Who can help us? Well, that’s who we want to get to join our church. It’s a very tempting trap. But Jesus clearly says, no. That is not the way he operates. Therefore, that’s not how the church, his body, should operate. It’s not how the kingdom of God works. Jesus is urging a social system without reciprocity. A place where everyone is invited. There has probably been a time in your life where you haven’t been in a position to be good company; a time when you couldn’t give your talent, your money or your time to the church, your community, or even your family. There has been a time when you were or are hard-pressed just to get through the day or the week; a time when you haven’t been that “ideal” person that is easy to love. The amazing thing is that that is okay. In all your imperfections and hard times, you are loved by God. You are invited by God to come feast at his banquet table, to be a part of God’s family, to sit at the place of honour. It is not about what a person can offer. It’s not about what any of us can offer to God. It’s about God coming to us and saying, “hey, come sit up here with me. Where you belong.” That’s what the church should be. A place where people are invited to sit at the head table. Where broken, hurting, imperfect, inconvenient people are invited to be with God. The church is not a museum for perfect people, it is a hospital for the broken. We don’t earn our way into it. We don’t earn our way into heaven. Hate to break it to you, but we are not so amazing that God just has to take us. The chorus of one of my favourite songs, “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury, goes like this: “I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still you give yourself away. Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.” Reckless is such a beautiful word. To me, it means that the way God loves us is not carefully measured and conditional. It’s not safe and easy. God loves us recklessly, abundantly and overwhelmingly huronchapel.com huronchapelkids.com huronchapelyouth.com 519-526-1131 ~ 119 John’s Ave., Auburn Evangelical Missionary Church Wednesdays 6:30 - 8 p.m. – Youth Group (Gr. 7-12) Heirborn (for kids) resumes Wed., Oct. 2, 6:30 p.m. 9:30 a.m. SUNDAY SCHOOL resumes! 10:30 a.m. Worship Pastor Phil Delsaut - “Following Jesus: Baptism” (Matt. 3:1-17) Sunday, September 15 Office Hours: Thursday ~ 9:30 am - 2:00 pm blythunited@tcc.on.ca Guest Speaker: Rev. Elaine Strawbridge Accessible Sunday, September 15 Worship Service at 9:30 am Blyth United Church Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches OFFICE: 519-523-4224 Watch The Citizen for details on our upcoming Bazaar October 26 Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, September 15 at 10:30 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. 650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School) Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service. For additional details please contact Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 Nursery care available 519-887-6687 Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Worship & Sunday School - 11:00 am Coffee & Snacks following the service We invite you to join our church family in: The Regional Ministry of Hope BLYTH BRUSSELS Trinity St. John’s 9:15 am 11:15 am COME WORSHIP WITH US! Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector 519-357-7781 email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca The‐Regional‐Ministry‐of‐ Hope St. Paul’s Trinity WINGHAM 11:15 am These Anglican Churches Welcome You Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service 7:30 pm You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship BRUSSELS United Church Sunday, September 15 Worship Service 11:00 am Worship Leader Rev. Elaine Strawbridge All are Welcome From the Minister’s Study God accepts us for who we are: Ireland Continued on page 19