Location: St. James' Episcopal Church, in Taichung City, Taiwan
The Title of the Sermon: Two H's and a Special Meal
The Gospel Reading for today: Luke 14:1, 7-14
Part of the Sermon and the Visual Aids: (See below.)
It was an informal sermon, a personal sharing instead of a formal sermon! I had something to share. I asked them to look at the front cover of my home-made booklet, saying, "What do you see here?" [See the "H" in the picture on the upper right.]
"H" could be the initial letter of the English words "holy," "healthy," "host," etc., and when I rotated the letter 90 degrees clockwise (or counterclockwise), it looked like "工" -- a Chinese character meaning "work" or "job." May this personal sharing of mine be some sort of "holy work" as well!
If every sermon needs a title, my sharing can be entitled "Two H's and a Special Meal."
My "sermon" was focused on the Gospel reading for today, Luke 14:1, 7-14. What did I mean by "Two H's"? -- The first H means "humility" (Luke 14:7-11) and the second H means "hospitality" (Luke 14:12-14). This was my answer. And I explained that the first H should be in lower case, a small "h," as Jesus teaches the guests to be humble; and the second H is in upper case, a capital "H," as Jesus teaches the host to be hospitable. [See the "h" and "H" below.]
A joke (also true story): Mr. Yang, my former classmate, asked me a tricky question, "Who is more important, me or your girlfriend?" -- My answer: "It's really hard to say which one is bigger, a meter or a kilogram." Good and specific definitions are necessary in any discussion (and for further discussion).
The true meaning of a parable: A parable is a short story, which is told in order to make a moral or religious point. (e.g. Matthew 13: The parable of the Sower, the parable of the Mustard Seed, the parable of the Yeast, etc.) In my opinion, a parable is not always a true story, but it is a story of truth, a story regarding the truth. A parable tells something important about the life, or the way, or the truth. -- By the way, who is "the way and the truth and the life"? (See John 14:6)
Jesus used many parables (and made a lot of comparison) to tell about the truth; another example is seen in John 15, Jesus the Real Vine. (This is one of my favorite parables!)
Now, back to the Gospel of Luke: [Read Luke 14:1]. Verse 1 provides the setting (故事背景) of the stories that Luke tells us in Chapter 14, from verse 1 through verse 24.
In verses 1-24 there are four stories that do not depend on one another for their meaning:
(1) Vss. 1-6, Jesus heals a sick man on the Sabbath; (2) Vss. 7-11, (humility) Jesus teaches the guests to be humble;
(3) Vss. 12-14, (hospitality) Jesus teaches the host to be hospitable;
(4) Vss. 15-24, The Parable of the Great Feast: When invited to a great feast, many (or all) people find an excuse for not attending it.
Even if Luke is here using the literary device "table talk" for joining pieces of tradition, this is not to say the setting of a meal was an unimportant detail for him. On the contrary, meals were of profound significance for Luke: (1) Bread was important; in fact, where some eat and some do not eat, the kingdom is not present (Luke 16:19-31). (2) Breaking bread was important; in fact, the real test of whether the church included persons who were different was not at the point of baptizing them but of eating with them (Acts 11:2-3). (3) Fellowship meals were central in the church's life together; in fact, the risen Lord "had been made known to them in the braking of the bread" (Luke 24:28b-31a). So then, do not think that Luke's locating many of Jesus' teachings "at table" was only "a nice little touch."
Take today's Gospel reading for example:
(1) In Luke 14:7-11, Jesus is not simply discussing etiquette, though it includes sound practical advice on social behavior. More likely, Jesus has kingdom behavior in mind, saying that "those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great" (v. 11).
(2) In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus is not giving lessons on social graces. The point is, hosting can be a way of making others feel they are in your debt, so they will "pay you back" when preparing their guest lists. In the kingdom, however, God is always the Host, and we extend God's invitation to those who cannot repay. (After all, who can repay God?) -- From the Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) to the end of his Gospel, Luke is careful to remind us that the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind are also kingdom people.
And what do you see in the following pictures?
(1) If each of them indicates several long tables joined together in the shape of ㄇ, where do you think the most important seats are? And . . . . (Cf. Luke 14:7-11)(2) If this shape (ㄇ) represents a door or a gate, then are you going through the narrow door/gate? (Cf. Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:24) It is said that the door to the everlasting life is always a little lower than your height, so if you want to enter it, you'll have to bend your head . . . .
In conclusion, I mentioned that we were to have Holy Eucharist soon, and that our approaching the Altar to be given the bread and the wine is re-acting the holy drama The Lord's Supper. -- In so doing, we can once again experience and feel that Jesus is in us and that we are one in him. (Holy Eucharist is a holy form of meal.)
And, as it is the first Sunday of the month, we had a Potluck brunch right after the service today. I thought that the Potluck would be another wonderful meal, with plenty of food and drinks shared by members of the congregation. So I said, "Let's enjoy the meal, in the physical/corporeal sense and also in the spiritual sense."
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