The Back Pew - A Sermon for Sunday August 31 2025

GOSPEL: Luke 14:1, 7-14

The holy gospel according to Luke.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus observes guests jockeying for position at the table. He uses the opportunity to teach his hearers to choose humility rather than self-exaltation. Jesus also makes an appeal for hosts to imitate God’s gracious hospitality to those in need.

1 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.
  7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host, 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
  12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

I am convinced that, for the most part,

Lutheran's really understand Jesus' first parable.

Jesus says: “do not sit down at the place of 

honour, ...go and sit down at the lowest place”

If you have an uncontrollable desire to sit in the back pew,

you might just be a Lutheran.

It might seem simple, but it is hospitality,

leaving the best seats for guests.

Many of us do the same thing in the parking lot,

parking further away,

leaving closer spots open for others.

It's like we heard in Hebrews today:

“Let mutual love continue.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

for by doing that

some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

These small acts of kindness and welcome,

simple hospitality,

make a real difference.

But this is a parable. 

It is a story.

There is deeper meaning.

In the words of Nadia Boltz-Weber:

“reading parables as instructions for how to behave

is like using riddles

to get directions to the airport”

Parables teach us about God,

they open our minds to the Kingdom of Heaven,

the Kingdom of God that Jesus ushers in.

Frankly,

weddings and wedding culture

are very different now

compared to 2000 years ago.

The parable’s instructions just do not simply translate.

The lesson cannot be as simple as:

just sit in the back.

And, similarly, the parabolic instructions

for who to invite when you throw a party,

I’d suggest,

are also about something deeper.

We just threw a birthday party for our oldest child,

and I confess to you,

that while we invited half the neighbourhood, I did not invite the people Jesus mentioned,

the kind of people that get overlooked,

the poor, the disabled, or the blind.

Jesus says,

when you throw a party,

don’t invite the people

who can invite you in return.

This is the kind of behaviour

that is like using a riddle to get to the airport.

Of course you are going to invite people over

who will probably invite you back in return.

That’s friendship, nowadays.

But, you can be hospitable to people

without expecting anything in return.

That’s the Gospel:

do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

you might just be entertaining angels

without even knowing it.

It is not unlike Matthew 25:

when you serve,

when you visit the sick and the prisoner,

when you feed the hungry

clothe the naked

you might just be serving Jesus.

I don’t think Jesus’ parable is intended

just for dinner dates.

It matters who is invited to dinner at your house,

and perhaps just as much

who you might invite

to join the wedding banquet that has no end.

This part makes some of us uncomfortable.

We might hesitate to invite someone to church,

and many of us find it intimidating

to share your faith;

and many just don’t know the words to say.

I suggest to you all,

especially those of you who have been faithful worshippers of Christ,

that you do know the words to say.

We hear the words each week,

in our confession & forgiveness,

God forgives even before we can ask.

You hear it in the promise of scripture

that Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you.

You hear it when you are invited to the Lord's Table.

Come. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Jesus offers us this parable,

this riddle, if you will,

about inviting the sick and the poor to the banquet,

knowing full well that it turns our social norms 

and our personal convictions inside-out.

It will make us uncomfortable

because Jesus is abundantly clear that

the Kingdom of God is open to any and all,

and that includes the people

and the kinds of people

that I don’t really want to invite into my living room,

let alone to invite to the Lord’s Table.

I believe Jesus is inviting us as the Church

to be radically inviting,

radically inclusive.

I believe this invitation is both for this house of faith,

and the house we live in.

We are pretty good at inviting people:

we invite friends out for coffee,

we invite friends to like our facebook posts,

but we sure struggle to invite to church.

I’m reminded of a Synod Convention,

over a decade ago in Edmonton.

The convention featured two programatic responses

to our need for evangelism.

One being “Back to Church” Sunday,

and the other based on Karen Wilk's book

“Don't Invite Them to Church.”

It was totally confusing –

Invite them to church,

but don't invite them to church.

Well, which is it?

Here is a quote from Karen Wilk -

“Loving your neighbours isn't about getting them

to join you on Sundays.

It's about living your faith right where you are

and BEING the church

to the people around you.”

Don’t just go to church,

be the Church.

On many levels, this makes perfect sense.

When is the last time you were excited

to receive door to door evangelism?

I don’t need someone I don’t know

telling me what I need.

And, frankly,

people in general - we all have our guard up

with the people who only talk religion.

I cannot tell you exactly how to evangelize.

I cannot tell you exactly how to share your faith.

But I have a suggestion,

and it is a tagline from YoungLife ministry:

Earn the right to be heard.

Earn the right to be heard.

Like Karen Wilk says,

be a good neighbour,

love your neighbour,

build the relationships,

mow their lawn,

take care of their kids,

talk about music over a cup of tea,

be yourself,

be a good friend,

and you might just earn the right to be heard.

Any success I have had in evangelism,

first of all,

is God’s success.

God’s Spirit convicts us to faith,

we are vessels of God’s work.

But any success in sharing the Gospel, for me,

has always begun with safety,

with getting to know the other,

earning the right to be heard.

When you invite someone to anything –

for coffee, for facebook, for church –

you tend to get to know them first.

Before Jesus made any recommendations to anyone,

Jesus knew them first,

or engaged in conversation

to get to know the person.

This means hospitality:

not just parking further away

or leaving a pew open:

God has first made room for us,

so we make room

with open-hearts and open hands

for the other.

But, like Jesus inviting the disciples,

there is a time to say in our own way;

“Come and follow”

In one way or another,

those are the words you and I have heard,

Come, and follow,

and it is by Jesus’ invitation.

This invitation is found in baptismal waters.

In baptism, Jesus chooses us –

In baptism we are promoted

from the back pew to the place of honour,

In baptism,

we are welcomed into the body of Christ,

and shown our place at the banquet table,

or as our hymn of the day puts it,

the Welcome Table.

We are the ones who have been invited to the banquet

and we are quite unable to repay Jesus.

The kingdom of God is a party,

it is a celebration,

a welcome table,

a banquet for any who respond to the invitation.

Jesus loves a good party,

breaking bread and wine

with sinners, outcasts, tax collectors,

disciples, Pharisees, 

and, now, even Lutherans,

both in the back and the front.

In Luke, there are at least 21 occurrences

of Jesus doing ministry 

or talking about ministry 

involving meals.

There is an unmistakable link between

Jesus' invitation and the Meal, the Banquet –

We worship the God who feeds us.

God feeds you here

by our Lord’s invitation,

at the welcome table.

Whether you live in affordable housing

or in a gated community;

Whether your offering is two mites

or two investment payouts,

Whether you rolled in on the city bus,

or in a wheel chair

or in a convertible;

You are invited to the wedding banquet

that has no end,

where the best wine is saved for last,

Where Jesus stands with arms wide open to you,

where you arrive side by side

with the diverse body of Christ,

and find each and every one

seated in the place of honour

at the welcome table.

I don't know about you,

but this sounds like an invitation

worth sharing.

Let us pray...

God – thank you for inviting all of us to your banquet. As you have made room for me, help me make room for others. Thank you that you choose us just as we are, and that you're not done with us. God, help us to get over ourselves when we don't want to share your invitation.  Widen our image of your Church. Show us our place around your welcome table, and give us grace to widen the circle, in Jesus’ name. Amen.