The Banquet - 12th Sunday after Pentecost
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
August 31, 2025
For today’s Bible
lessons we might assign the theme of “What not to do at a dinner party.” Indeed, God’s Word does supply us with a
heaping spoonful of practical advice. But that’s just an appetizer. The
main dish served up in our lessons today has more to say about how we rightly
read and understand God’s Word, and it concludes with a mouthwatering dessert
we might call “how to be truly human in a dehumanizing world.”
Two weeks ago, I shared
an important key with you for properly reading, interpreting, and applying
God’s Word in the Bible. As the ancient Church Fathers taught nearly 1,700
years ago, we should read the Bible from a perspective of love. If our understanding of the text is not
leading us to a deeper and fuller love for both God and our neighbor, then
chances are that we are misreading, misunderstanding, and misapplying that
text.
Today I want to equip
you with a second and equally important tool for reading the Bible. This tool is one of the greatest gifts
Lutherans have given to the broader Christian tradition. Here it is: we must read the Bible as both
Law and Gospel, and correctly distinguish between those two things. The entire foundation of our theological
understanding of grace rests on this tool, so it’s important we comprehend it.
In sum, the Law demands;
the Gospel gives. The Law is what
God commands us to do. Sometimes we’re
able, in a limited way, to fulfill that Law, as you did by coming to
worship today. But because the Law is
impossible for sinful humans to fully satisfy, it eventually exposes our
weaknesses, sins, and brokenness. In
doing so, the Law reminds us that we cannot gain salvation on our own. If that’s where the story ended, the Law would
leave us hopeless, languishing in despair.
But alongside the Law
we also have the Gospel. The Gospel is
the cure for what afflicts us. It is our
hope and our assurance. The Gospel is a promise,
but it’s also a person, the savior we so desperately need, Jesus Christ,
who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Through unmerited grace he offers us
forgiveness, a new beginning, new life, and salvation. And each time we fall (and we do continue to
fall!) he lifts us out of the dust and renews his life-changing and
eternity-transforming promise.
Let’s move all this
from theory to application, with a silly but (unfortunately) true story about
another dinner party that went sideways. It happened many years ago at the old Denny’s we had on North
Atherton. Linda, Emilio, and I were
there for lunch after church with Pastor Lynn and his wife Lois. Emilio was very young, and he was deep in his
“applesauce era.” You just couldn’t fill
that boy up with enough applesauce!
As you’d expect, Emilio
had a healing helping of applesauce for lunch that day, with a scrumptious side
of goldfish crackers. A little landed on
the table, as often happens, and you could tell from Emilio’s eyes that he
didn’t want to leave anything behind. Pastor Lynn noticed, and said, “Emilio, I can tell you want to lick that
off the table. Don’t! You’ll get sick.”
The conversation moved
on from there, but Emilio’s stomach didn’t. When we weren’t looking, you can guess what happened. He licked that table. We didn’t discover it until a few days later
when Emilio announced to us that he didn’t feel well. When we asked him what was up, he tearfully confessed,
“Pastor Lynn was right! I licked the
table and now I’m sick!”
Needless to say, no one
in our family needs to be reminded anymore about the dangers of licking tables
in restaurants. So what was the Law in
that story? It was Pastor Lynn saying,
“Don’t lick the table.” The Law is when
God gives us a commandment. And we, like
applesauce-obsessed little kids, can’t help ourselves. We sin, even though we’ve been told it’ll
only make us sick. So what’s the
Gospel? It’s the assurance that God has
provided a better way for us to live, a nourishing way that enables us to live
whole and holy lives. And when we forget
or disobey and lick that table anyway? One who loves us will be there to heal us. That’s grace.
So now let’s take a
closer look at today’s Gospel, mindful that as Lutheran Christians we: (1) read
the Bible with a lens of love for God and neighbor; and (2) understand the
Bible as including both Law and Gospel. In today’s reading from Luke, where is God’s Law? Look for a rule or command. Here, it’s Jesus telling us not to seize the
place of prominence. Humbly take a
lesser place. The Law in this text is
warning us to guard against pride, self-worship, and the craving to be noticed
and praised. Don’t spend your life
feeding your ego or chasing after the world’s fleeting favors and praise. That’s idolatry. And don’t diminish your relationships as mere
transactions where you only help those who can help you. Instead, adopt the mindset of Christ’s
commonwealth, where all people are valued and loved without regard to
their worldly wealth or capabilities.
That’s the Law. And we all know how poorly we keep it. We’re forever scrambling to be noticed, to climb,
achieve, gain praise, and acquire wealth and control. That’s what caused the fall of humanity in
the story of Adam and Eve, and it remains the headwater of human sin. Friends, the Law in today’s Gospel lesson
calls each of us to examine our conscience. In my daily life, am I mostly focused on myself? Has my life been devoted to exalting myself
to a greater degree than I exalt God? Have my relationships become dangerously transactional? Do I only love the neighbor who has something
to offer to me for my benefit?
Those are tough
questions, and to some degree we all fall short. But this is the point when Jesus taps our
shoulder and says, “Don’t despair. Don’t
give up hope. I bring you Good News.” That’s the Gospel. And what is it in this text from Luke? It’s that we don’t have to struggle
and fight for a place of prominence. Jesus has ensured that there is a place at the heavenly table for
all of us. You don’t need to work
yourself ragged to publish another article, earn another award, or get another
mention in the newspaper in order to get to heaven. All of us, the rich and poor and the famous
and anonymous, are beloved and welcomed at our Lord’s table here at Grace and at the heavenly table to come one day.
So please hear that as
a word of comfort, assurance, and relief. I see so many people these days who are wearing themselves out chasing
worldly rewards and acclaim. Are you
exhausted from the rat race in your career? Are you weary from trying to get your kids to every activity under the
sun so they make the travel team or qualify in 15 years for a lucrative scholarship
at the best school? Are you worn out
impressing your neighbors with your manicured lawn, remodeled kitchen, and new
car? There’s nothing wrong with striving
for our best or having nice things, but is there a line we cross when it
becomes our new god, or a point at which we run so hard on the hamster wheel
that we cease to be truly human?
So I bring you Good
News. Amidst all the world’s demands, Jesus
invites you to a new perspective, a heavenly perspective where you
are enough. Because you are beloved. Jump off the hamster wheel and be freed from
insecurity and fear. Jesus welcomes you
into sacred stillness and holy rest. Clear
your schedule and spend time with him, not because it’s yet another thing you must do, but because it’s the one thing that will fill you, feed you, and
give you the peace you’ve been seeking for so long. Welcome to Christ’s banquet of grace. There’s already a seat saved there, just for
you! But even there, please… don’t lick
the table. Amen.
© 2025 Rev. Scott E. Schul, all rights reserved
Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14
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
honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by
someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, 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 honored 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 neighbors, 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.”
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