Lenten Sermon Series: Look Who Gathers

“Different People, Same Father”

Psalm 32

Luke 15:1-3; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Rev. Martin C. Singley, III

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’” – Luke 15:1-2

During the Lenten Season – these 40 days before Easter when Christians pause to pray and reflect upon the meaning of Jesus’ death – we are focusing some attention on the picture of the Last Supper that is printed on the front cover of your bulletin. It is a painting by Polish artist Bohdan Piasecki, and it is a wonderful and truthful representation of what the Last Supper probably looked like.

Most of us are familiar with da Vinci’s famous painting of that scene, but da Vinci’s “Last Supper” does not look at all like a Passover Meal. For one thing, the only people there are men, and the Law of Moses commanded that Passover Suppers were to be shared by whole families, including women and children. For another, da Vinci has them all sitting on the same side of the table which may be good for a group photograph, but makes it very difficult to pass the salt and pepper, let alone have conversation. And third, all the people in da Vinci’s painting look Italian. They look more like the relatives of my best boyhood friend Dennis Astrella than the Jewish followers of Jesus.

Piasecki’s “Last Supper”, on the other hand, includes Jewish men, women and children all gathered about the Lord. When you look at their faces and posture, you can imagine what they are thinking and feeling. Around this table of the Lord is one who will betray Jesus that very night, one who will deny Jesus the next morning, and a whole bunch of people who will head for the hills the minute Jesus is arrested. Gathered here at Christ’s table is a representation of all humanity – saints and ain’ts – true believers and doubting Thomases - tax collectors and sinners.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’”

I’ve been thinking this week about the two men on the opposite ends of the table. Do you see them? The one on the left seems to be almost sneering in the direction of the one on the right. The one on the right seems to be cowering, avoiding the gaze of the one on the left. When I noticed these two guys in the painting I thought they looked familiar and wondered when and where I’ve seen them before. And then I remembered. The State of the Union address.

When those on the left stood to applaud, those on the right remained seated. When those on the right stood to applaud, those on the left remained seated.

Oh, it’s amazing who you see seated at opposite ends of the table.

When I was a boy, Thanksgiving dinner at our house was quite an experience! In the dining room, there was the big peoples’ table. In the living room, there was the kids’ table. Now the kids’ table was where all the action was. We did things with food that food was never intended to do. My sister Karen would have celery sticks hanging from each nostril. My cousin Eddie would become “the human blender”, stuffing his mouth with large quantities of mashed potato, gravy, stuffing, and winter squash. Eddie would make strange guttural sounds as he churned up that food, and then he would open his mouth and show it to us. Yeccch!

And one year I took a bowl of pudding with whipped cream on top and lifted it to my nose. I said to my cousin Jimmy who was sitting next to me, “Jimmy, this smells funny!” So Jimmy lifted his bowl of pudding to his nose and…WHAP! I pushed the bowl into his face. He went off crying into the other room. And after that, Jimmy and I always sat at opposite ends of the table.

We sit close together at table with people we like – with people we get along with – with people we trust not to push the pudding in our face – with people we agree with – with people who see things the way we see things – with people who believe what we believe – with people who think like we think – with people who share our values and meet our standards.

But we distance ourselves from those who are different. Often, we sit at opposite ends of the table.

Sometimes people ask how our church can bring together so many different kinds of Christians without killing each other. Seriously. We have Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Roman Catholic, Congregationalists, even a couple of Eastern Orthodox! At last count, there were something like 25 denominational groups represented in our church. And we have people here who aren’t quite sure yet WHAT they are! But we welcome them anyways and invite them to start the journey of spiritual discovery.

So how do we manage this big family table without getting into a food fight?

We don’t.

Christ does.

Christ sits at the center of this table that is our church. He invites us all to come, and he sits with us, binding us – even in our diversity – as one.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’”

Our faith is centered in the One who welcomes sinners, and eats with us, and makes us one. At his table, even those seated on the opposite ends eat bread from the same loaf, and drink wine from the same cup, and are loved by the same Lord.

So followers of Jesus have to learn to see people differently. Listen to God’s Word in 2 Corinthians 5: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:16-18)

Now it’s hard to think about being ambassadors of reconciliation when there are so many rotten people sitting at the other end of the table. But here is how God’s Word tells us to think and act:

First, stop looking at other people as the world does, and start looking at them as God does. The world sees people as labels – tax collectors, sinners, Republicans, Democrats, the good, the bad, the ugly. But God sees people as his children – some of us prodigal sons or daughters who are running away, others of us elder siblings who stay home and are faithful – but all of us loved by the same Father who welcomes us to come to his table and eat.

And if the Bible is true about this, then we have to learn to act in ways that are helpful to God our Father. We need to respect those we disagree with. We need to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable. We need to listen carefully enough to understand the truth about other people and not just settle for stereotypes. Just because people are different than us does not justify calling them names, or forgetting that they are first and foremost brothers and sisters, children of the one Father.

So try to look at people from God’s perspective.

A second thing this passage teaches is to aim your life – your words, your actions, even your thoughts – toward reconciliation. In other words, rather than getting all hung up on our differences, try to find the common ground you share with others that brings us together.

I once heard a speaker say that if you want to have dialogue with people of other denominations or faiths, don’t sit around and talk about doctrine and theology. That will go nowhere! Instead, get together and figure out how to make your kids’ school a better school, how to make your neighborhood safer, how to take better care of your elderly parents, how to best help those who are hungry. When you find the common ground you share with others, doors start opening for having respectful conversation about what you believe and why you believe it.

So aim at being an ambassador of reconciliation.

And third, trust God to iron out the differences and disputes you have with others.

I have to admit that I hit a low point this week – on Wednesday – when I heard that a second “Shame on Pastor Singley” banner had been set up – in Lenoir City, by the Dairy Queen. I never expected to see my name associated with a hot chocolate waffle bowl sundae. But there it was. I actually didn’t see that sign, but I heard about it from many of you. People called. They were upset. Some said, “We have got to do SOMETHING about this.”

And we do have to do SOMETHING.

We have to trust God.

You see, there are some battles in life that only God can fight for us. We can huff and puff and try to blow the ugly banners of life down, but sometimes all our efforts are fruitless. Sometimes our disputes with others cannot be resolved. Sometimes we cannot achieve reconciliation.

We just have to trust God for the future.

When I went home for lunch on Wednesday, I was really feeling down – not just because of the personal embarrassment this causes me, but because I know how angry and upset this has made you. As I drove home, I whispered a simple prayer, “Lord, help us.”

When I got back to the office, there was a voicemail waiting for me from a man named Clint Brackett. Never met him before in my life, but here is a recording of the message he left: (play cd)

As I listened to that message, tears were spilling out my eyes and rolling down my cheeks. I took it as an answer to the prayer I’d prayed – an assurance from God that he is at work in ways we cannot always see, through people we do not even know, to bring us together at Christ’s table.

The Bible says, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.”

And sometimes when we look over to the opposite end of the table, we may see people holding banners, or grudges, or injuries, or complaints toward us.

But there is Christ in between us, and God is at work reconciling the world.

Who are the people sitting at the other end of the table from you? Family members? Former friends? Business associates? Kentucky fans?

Put the labels away and see them as God sees them.

Disagree if you must, but without being disagreeable.

Aim yourself at reconciliation by finding common ground.

And trust God to to do for you what you cannot do by yourself.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’”

Thanks be to God!