Pull Up a Chair

Gathered - Pull Up a Chair

Week 2

Pastor Mandy Barkhaus

Is there a place that's too full? Now, I I'm an introvert and so I would I would definitely say yes to this question. Uh Costco on a Sunday afternoon, too crowded. Uh Target on Black Friday, way too overwhelming. Uh amusement parks on the weekend, no thank you. I will stay away. Too full. But Jesus says in John 14:2, "My father's house has room to spare. If that weren't the case, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? I wonder. I'm like, Jesus, is there really enough space? Is there really room to spare? Are you sure that there will be room for all of us? Now, maybe when you hear this verse, you immediately think of a mansion, right? This eternal place that we're headed to. It's a mansion. We each have our own bedroom and our private bath and maybe there's a swimming pool out back. Everyone, you know, having their own space, but I think of it like the days when I was younger and my cousins and I, we would spend the night at grandma and grandpa's house. Now, my grandma and grandpa, they had a couple extra bedrooms in their small house, but no one stayed in those extra bedrooms. All of the cousins had their sleeping bags lined up in the living room from one end to the other. And we were all together. We were right next to each other. We were whispering. We were giggling. We were enjoying being together. And if more cousins decided to come, great. We would find a way to squeeze them in. And that's what I think of when Jesus is saying there's room to spare. That's the kind of togetherness I think of in this verse. Now, here at Horizons, we do believe that there is room to spare. In fact, that is why we have the value, one of our values, that states there is a place for you at the table with reference to this very scripture that I read. So the question isn't do we believe that there's space and room at the table for more; the question becomes, is do we practice it because the church isn't full until everyone belongs until everyone knows they belong. So God's invitation to us, it's personal. It's eternal. It's intentional. And although it is eternal, it's not a someday seat. It's not a someday we'll have this seat to be. The place that Jesus has prepared for us happens right now as well as eternal. And the best part of it is, you don't have to earn your seat, your place. You just have to accept the invitation. But how big is God's table? It's probably bigger than we think. It's big enough for you. It's big enough for us. It's big enough for anybody who walks in these doors. And that brings us to our scripture passage today that we're going to focus on. Now, the scene of this passage, it's a dinner party, and Jesus is at the home of one of the Pharisees, and he's sharing this meal at the home of a Pharisee. The story that we're reading today comes from Luke's account of Jesus's life. And in Luke's account, Luke has more references to sharing meals together than any other gospel. But these moments, these meals aren't just about food. It's about a revelation. Jesus shows us what the kingdom of heaven is like and who's invited to the table. So Luke 14:7-1. When Jesus noticed how many guests sought out the best seats at the table, he told them a parable. When someone invites you to a wedding celebration, don't take your seat in the place of honor. Someone more highly regarded than you could have been invited by your host. The host who invited both of you will come to you and say, "Give your seat to this other person." Embarrassed, you will take your seat in the least important place. Instead, when you receive an invitation, go and sit at the least important place. When your host approaches you, he will say, "Friend, move up here to a better seat." Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and all those who make themselves low will be lifted up. Now, we might not immediately think of this as a parable because it seems more like social advice, like Jesus is saying, "Hey, you want to avoid an awkward situation, like don't sit in the place of honor. Sit over here instead." But this kind of giving advice, the kind to avoid embarrassment, is not what Jesus was about. This parable isn't about table manners. It's about how we are always trying to climb the ladder to get noticed, to hold on to our spot, to earn our place, even when it comes to God. So when Luke is writing this, the early church is expanding and there are many Gentiles or non-Jews who are joining the church. Some Jewish believers couldn't accept that. They believed that as God's original chosen people, they had this special untouchable place at the table. But Jesus was teaching, and Luke's reminding us that the table is bigger than they thought. So we can replace Gentiles with other categories of people that we struggle with today: those who've made mistakes or committed crimes, those who are poor or unhoused, those who are immigrants or seeking asylum or refugee, those who look differently, live differently, vote differently. So, can we imagine them at God's table? Can we accept that God has enough room for them, too? So this parable confronts our desires to climb when Jesus tells us to be humble, to humble ourselves, to remind us that the kingdom isn't about status. It's about grace. So theologian and New Testament scholar NT Wright wrote this about this part of this passage. He wrote, "Pride notoriously is the great cloud which blots out the sun of God's generosity. If I reckon that I deserve to be favored by God, not only do I declare that I don't need his grace, mercy, and love, but I imply those who don't deserve it shouldn't have it." Jesus spent his whole life breaking through that cloud and bringing the fresh healing sunshine of God's love to those in its shadow. So the only way that we can truly have a place at God's table is to stop worrying about where we think we deserve to sit at God's table and we simply start making room for others.

So, we continue on in the passage. Jesus turns to his host and he says, "When you host a lunch or dinner, don't invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and that will be your reward. Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind, and you will be blessed because they can't repay you. Instead, you will be repaid when the just are resurrected. Now, you've probably heard the saying before, or maybe you've said it: don't buy a boat. Instead, find a friend who owns one, right? Because it's kind of true. It makes sense. Boats are expensive and they take a lot of time to maintain. But if your friend has a boat, you just show up. You bring your sunscreen and you bring your snacks and you have a good time on the lake and then you get to go home. But Jesus in Luke 14 says, I'm going to flip this idea around. He says, when you throw a party, don't just invite the people who can invite you back. Invite the people who usually get left out. Basically, don't just hang out with your boat-owning friends. Make space in your life for people who don't even know what a boat party is or don't know what it feels like to have a relaxing day on the water because that's how God's love works. It's not about what someone can do for you. It's about showing up. It's about reaching out. It's about making room. That's the kind of love that Jesus invites us to live.

So, here's the rest of this passage. When one of the dinner guests heard Jesus's remarks, he said to Jesus, "Happy are those who will feast in God's kingdom." Jesus replied, "A certain man hosted a large dinner and invited many people." When it was time for the dinner to begin, he sent his servant to tell the invited guests, "Come, the dinner is now ready." One by one, they all began to make excuses. The first one told him, "Well, I bought a farm and I must go and see it. Please excuse me." Another said, "Well, I bought five teams of oxen and I'm going to check on them. Please excuse me." Another said, "Well, I just got married, so I can't come." When he returned, the servant reported these excuses to the master. The master of the house became angry and said to his servant, "Go quickly to the streets, to the city streets, the busy ones and the side streets, and bring the poor, the crippled, the blind and lame." The servant said, "Master, your instructions have been followed, and there's still room." The master said to the servant, "Go to the highways and the back alleys and urge people to come in so that my house will be filled. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will taste my dinner."

So, where do we find ourselves in this story? Are we the ones making excuses? Sure, I know Jesus. Yes, I know about Jesus, but I've got work and family and other responsibilities, and it's just not a good time to sit down at the table with Jesus. You know, sometimes we say we want to follow Jesus, but we just keep putting off the invitation. Maybe we're the ones on the streets. Maybe we're the ones who feel left out, overlooked, pushed to the side, pushed to the margins, and yet somehow we're being drawn in. And Jesus is showing us that the kingdom of God is especially for those who are last or who feel like they're last.

Now, there's this very last line of the scripture, the one that says, "No one, not one of those who were invited, will taste my dinner." That's kind of a hard one. I've wrestled with it. I've read commentary about it. Mostly the commentaries kind of skip over it a little bit. But here's what I know. Jesus is telling his audience and us that the kingdom of heaven is here. Right? He says it over and over again. The kingdom of heaven is here. The kingdom of heaven is near. This invitation is a real invitation. There is a seat at the table, but you have to accept it. You have to say yes to the invite. This line kind of feels like Jesus is saying, don't miss out on this. Don't assume that the seat is yours while you're busy making excuses.

So, here's the truth. God's table is open. The dinner is ready. There is enough room for everyone. Enough room to spare. But don't wait. Don't put it off. The invitation, Jesus is saying, is a serious invitation. And so is the joy that we get from it on the other side.

So, we gather as a church body for many reasons. We gather so that people can experience the kingdom of heaven and know no matter what they've done or where they came from that they belong. And as the church, this scripture passage challenges us. And it challenges us in a way to ask this question: Are we creating a community where the people—the poor, the struggling, the left out—not only hear the invitation but actually believe that it's good news for them? Because we can say, "Hey, come to the table. Come with me." But we want people to know that this good news of Jesus is for them too.

Now gathering together in small groups has always been a really important part of this church from the very beginning. Maybe even this week you received a video from me. If you're part of an existing life group, you received this video and I explained what the discipleship impact team has been up to the last several months. And in the last several months, the team has been wrestling with some really important questions. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? How can this team best support those at Horizons to be more like Jesus and to follow Jesus? And this question, what exactly is the definition and purpose of a life group? This is the question we wrestled with most and it was definitely a Holy Spirit moment. When we realized as we were describing the purpose and purposes of groups and why people gather here at Horizons, there was this moment where we realized we're describing these groups and they line up exactly with our values that we've already named.

So now we have renamed our groups here at Horizons. And now we have Table Groups which goes with our value, "We have a place for you at the table." We have Grow Groups, our value, "We are growing together." Spirit Groups, our value, "We are guided by the Holy Spirit." And Impact Teams, all the ways that we serve together, our value, "We are impacting the world around us." Now, you're going to be learning more about these groups and the importance of each of these groups in the next several weeks. Also, on the seats, you'll find a sheet of paper. It has some groups that were starting this fall that you can sign up for, or you can go to horizons.church/groups to find out more about that because now is your chance to sit at the table and to invite someone to join you.

So today we're kind of thinking about Table Groups because of this sermon, this passage, and knowing that Jesus wants us to be at the table sharing meals. And the way that Jesus did it, he shared meals with the Pharisees who disagreed with him often. He shared meals with sinners and outcasts, people that no one else wanted to associate with. And then he taught us that we are supposed to do the same thing. So Table Groups here at Horizons, we kind of define these as places for social fellowship, connection. They're often gathered around food, a meal, or a shared interest. But they aren't just about food. Just like the passage, there's more to it. These groups are about belonging and conversation. Table Groups are a taste of the kingdom, a place where people can know and be known because everyone needs a place to belong.

So Table Groups are just one of the groups where this can happen. But the question is if we want to have these places where people belong, we have to ask a question of ourselves: How is my life arranged? How's my life arranged? Is my schedule interruptible? Is my schedule arranged like a banquet or a barricade? Because if it's like a banquet, it's open, there's extra chairs, there's room for someone new, there's place in your schedule that you can make this happen. But if it's more like a barricade, your schedule is packed. It's closed off. It may be only for those who are already in your circle. But Jesus invites us to live like our life is a banquet. Jesus wants us to throw the kind of party where everyone has a place. Jesus wants us to live our lives where we make space for belonging. We make space for friendship. We make space for someone else's story to matter.

So this week's challenge is to interrupt your schedule for someone else. It might be hard, right? We're busy people, but maybe sit with someone who is alone. Maybe invite someone new to your table. Invite someone new to your group or to your circle. Maybe just hear somebody's story. Because when we create space for others to belong, we're not just being nice. We're being the church. And the church isn't full until everyone belongs.

Let's pray. Gracious God, help us this week to realize that our schedules probably include some things that don't give you glory. That our schedules probably include some things that are unnecessary or maybe selfish. And maybe God that we have a little bit of space to invite someone else in. A little bit of space to go out to the streets and the highways and the back alleys and to simply talk to someone and to hear their story. God, this is a challenge that you've laid before us in this scripture to be open to this kind of banquet. God, help our lives be laid out like a banquet and not a barricade. And we say all of this in Jesus's name. Amen.