“Whose banquet and when?”
by Dr. Emma Leslie (September 4th, 2019)
Biblical Texts: Psalm 58; Jeremiah 3:15-25; Luke 14:15-24
Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
Do you judge people with equity?
No, in your heart you devise injustice,
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
Psalm 58 – read in this morning’s worship speaks entirely to the world which we are living in now.
Our leaders have lost sight of the people –
In Hong Kong
In the Korean Peninsular
In Syria and Yemen
In Sri Lanka, in Rohingya camps, in Southern Thailand and so on.
Our leaders have lost sight of the earth, which is our sacred home.
Climate change, global warming, destruction and burning of forests in
Brazil. “Your hands mete out violence on the earth’.
The people and their home are vessels of neglect, abuse, violence and disrespect.
Then comes the call and vision of Jeremiah - “Return, faithless people;
I will cure you of backsliding.”
“At that time, they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.”
A vision of unity, of coming together, of repentance and reconciliation, of acceptance and harmony. A vision of world without ego and self-absorption.
A world where the lands and tradition of the past are honored and respected and revered, and peoples of different traditions and lands can come together as one.
And then the parable of a Banquet . . . an invitation to join in this community rejected by those who have so many excuses. One had bought land, another some cows, and another newly married. Many good and legitimate reasons why they are too busy to join the banquet.
And so he turns to the less beautiful, less wealthy, less powerful amongst them and calls them to the banquet. The crippled, the lame, the poor, the blind
Who, what or whose is this banquet? And who are these people invited but are too busy? And who are those downtrodden, powerless souls he finally invites, from all the laneways and streets of his town?
In the world we live in today we find side by side enormous suffering, and enormous hope and possibility. There is division and conflict and violence, and simultaneously efforts or peace and dialogue and reconciliation.
There is climate change and environmental destruction, whilst movement of people plant trees and demand policy changes.
There is racism and hate crimes and hate speech, at the same time there is interfaith dialogue, cross cultural communication and inter communal harmony.
There is structural violence and unjust laws, whilst there are people who protest and resist and refuse to accept.
There are those who are too busy, who are buying land, and assets, and caught up in their lives, and at the same time there are those who live lives of service, and take compassionate leadership, and at enormous personal risk stand up and are counted.
Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
I understand the parable of Jesus in my own way. We are in fact all invited to this marvelous feast. This wonderful banquet, this movement that calls us to make peace, to challenge unjust structures, to heal the earth, the oikumene. We are all invited.
Some are too busy to respond.
Some of us feel we are unworthy to respond. We feel crippled by our own inadequacies, our skin colour, or capacity. We feel lame and unable to walk. We feel blind and unable to see the whole picture. We are poor and do not have the resources others have.
Yet in the parable all these are invited. Every single one of us, despite the voices inside which tell us we are not good enough, we are too small, we are too young, too incapable, too limited, not strong enough. We are all invited to take up a seat at a banquet.
What is this banquet that we are all invited too? It is after all the wonderful vision of Jeremiah. A world where we can live together.
What is the difference between that world of destruction and violence and the vision of just peace and a safe and sustainable world?
It is those of us who choose to accept the invitation to the banquet. We accept that despite our own brokenness, we have a role to play in bringing forth the Kingdom of God. That for me is leadership.
Joshua Wong, despite his age, his class, his education, he accepted to step up and make his own seat at the table.
Greta Thunberg, despite her age, despite her Asperger’s, stepped up and took her seat at the global travel to end policies that harm the earth.
They are the lame, the blind, the poor, the crippled, who accepted their invitation to be equal citizens at the table. A table which decides the fate of people. Tables which protect our planet.
The banquet is the movement of people on earth working to bring about the Kingdom of God here and now.
We are all invited. What will be our response to that invitation to join the banquet? Will we accept our weakness and step up to lead anyway? Will we, like Joshua and Greta and Malala and Mandela and Tutu and so many others, who despite their own limitations stood up and said, “yes – take me to this banquet.” I will play my part there. I will lead. I will serve.
For Jesus said, “ Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
Not a far-off promise of a heaven far from us. But the promise of our acceptance of this invitation to join those who stand for justice and peace is the most rewarding, the more inspiring, the most fulfilling invitation you will ever accept.
The banquet is ours to accept. Let us say YES.
And the time to accept is now.
Our planet urgently needs us all – to accept our humanity, our weakness, and lead despite them, join regardless of them. To be the lame, the crippled, the poor and the vulnerable, and see that it is by far our greatest strength. For surely that is the realization of the Kingdom of God.
When the least among us lead in the name of the oikumene – the whole inhabited earth, for justice and for peace.
Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.