Reflections on the Table, Part 5 (Finale May 30)

When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him (Jesus), "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" But he (Jesus) said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he  sent his servant  to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.' And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.' And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'"                                           -Luke 14:15-24 Dear Grace Vancouver Family, At the centre of any home with any sense of health, joy, togetherness, belonging and family. . . is a Table. As Eastertide comes to a close tomorrow Sunday May 31st on Pentecost Sunday (50 days following Easter), this piece will be my last in this series on "Reflections on the Table." Last week, I said I would write another piece on the Table of the Lord's regarding this question, "Who Comes to the Banquet Feast (and Who Refuses It?)" We've been spending a fair amount of time in this series reflecting on the blessing of gathering together as God's people on the Lord's Day around the preaching of His Word and participating at His Table together. I've written this to continue to help us gain a deeper, richer and fuller understanding of who we are as God's people together and what is the meaning behind the sacrament of the Table we participate in together. I felt especially compelled to write this series since we have been kept from gathering and participating in the Lord's Table together as a church family for a number of months now and the longing to be at His Table seems to be stirring in many of us. In today's piece, I suppose I write in the prophetic tradition of guys like Isaiah who end with a warning. I am a pastor and a shepherd first and foremost, but it might be that, with God's help, a great warning might be exactly what the Great Physician ordered. After all, the Word of God is often described as a sharpening sword (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17). I share this particular set of verses in Luke 14 because, for a number of years now, they have captured my imagination regarding the Kingdom of God and that the people who come to it might look a lot different than who I typically am around in the middle-class professional educated churches I have mostly been a part of through my thirty years of following Jesus. That's not to say that there aren't true believers in those/my churches (I think we mostly are at Grace Van!), but to say we might get to the New Heavens and New Earth and discover that people who look like most of us (upwardly mobile, professional and educated) turn out to be minority residents in the Holy City of God. Luke's passage in particular, reveals idols that people with means, income and who have the "most to lose" as far as earthly blessings, are most likely to serve. Such folks are the most likely to turn down the invitation to "eat bread in the Kingdom." Again, I close my writing today in the prophetic tradition. Of course, mostly I've sought to encourage you through this series. We've spent a fair amount of time through this series reflecting on the power of God's work in drawing His children to His Table, to feed, nurture and care for them. We talked about the yearning we have to be together again, gathered around the power of His Word and participation together at His Table. My hope has been that if you have followed the series to this point, you have been strengthened and encouraged by your time of being at home and away from the kind of daily meaningful "neighbourly" contact we were meant to experience on a regular basis. Mostly I've wanted to encourage you.... So here comes the "holy but" (as one of my friends used to say)... BUT, you know this if you read passages like 1 Cor. 11 closely,... participation in the Table also comes with a sober warning of judgement regarding those who come "unworthily" to the Table (1 Cor. 11:27). Coming to the Lord's Table is a bit different than the casual nature of my dinners at home, with a table full of teenagers, where we mostly have light-hearted conversations about everything under the sun, sometimes joking, sometimes talking over one another, sometimes teasing one another. At the Lord's Table, ultimately we "remember" our sin that sent Christ to the Cross and we take into our hearts His great love for us. We examine our hearts to see where we have not been right with God and with others. In a word we "repent."  So, since there is this glorious vision of the nations coming into the Holy City of God at the end of the Bible and to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19) and that the warning is to come "worthily" to His Table,... I thought it might be helpful to ask on a grand scale, who comes exactly in the end? Also, who refuses the Table ultimately?  This is where our Luke 14 passage comes in handy, because it identifies three particular excuses individuals give for refusing the invitation of this great banquet feast that signifies the Kingdom of God. Interestingly enough, the excuses are not particularly dramatic but pertain to the stuff of everyday life for most who live in the world of "professional, middle-class working families." By the way, if you had to guess, knowing nothing about Luke 14, what might you think were the reasons invitations were refused to this great banquet feast of the Kingdom? Would you say, "well, I'm sure they were bad things that served as excuses"? For example, I'm sure a lot of people wanted to have a night out partying on the town, doing illicit drugs, maybe smoking some weed? Maybe even worse, frequent the engaging of prostitutes and steal from others, loot and promote violence? Would you say, rapists and serial killers are the ones kept from God's house? Maybe another guy cursed a lot and was always taking the Lord's name in vain? As the story of goes of the Christian who boasted of his moral purity, "I don't curse, smoke, drink or chew... neither do I date the girls who do!" Maybe "chewing" was a thing of my generation, but the "naughty kids" would get hold of the "skoal bandits" chewing tobacco tins and try to get away with hiding the little tobacco packets in their lips at school.   The REALLY BAD STUFF must have been the reasons given for refusing the Feast of the Kingdom. Is that what you would guess? If so, you would be completely wrong; we find Jesus illustrating a completely different set of excuses... in this passage, he is in the house of an accomplished and spiritual Pharisee, so Jesus exposes a set of excuses that cut to the heart of not first and foremost the people doing "bad things," but to those many consider to have "good lives."  What are the three excuses given for refusing the Kingdom of God in Luke 14? "The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.' And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.' And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'"  -Luke 14:18-20 1. Land. I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. 2. Work. I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. 3. Family. I have married a wife and therefore cannot come. Excessive concerns around "Land, Work and Family" are the primary excuses that revolve around turning down the invitation to the Banquet Feast of the Kingdom of God.  These are generally three things we consider to be good gifts of God, right? To have Land (a place to inhabit),... in our case as city-dwellers, to have a home a place of habitation, earthly possessions to bring a level of stability and security to our lives. Work is a blessing that allows us to provide for our needs and those of our family and of others,... Personally, I've always thought it to be easier to be generous towards others than to receive generosity from others. Work gives me the income to be able to be generous towards others. Some even find a deeply-rooted "life meaning and purpose" out of their work. We think of frontline workers in this time of Covid as nothing less than heroic. Work can represent heroism for others. Marriage and family... no one can argue here that marriage and family, when together, healthy and loving,... to be anything other than a good thing. YET, these "good things" are precisely that which represents the three excuses that are given for REFUSING the Table of the Kingdom here in Luke 14. How do we make heads or tails out of this passage? Well, what Jesus is pointing us to is what we might call three classic idols of the heart, "Land (or Possessions), Work and Family." What is an idol? An idol is something we worship in the place of God. An idol isn't necessarily a bad thing (it can be, having a lust for power over others as one example), but an idol can also, at least begin, with a good thing; where that good thing becomes a dark thing is when it goes from being good to ultimate in our lives. In fact, the Apostle Paul defines idolatry as the worshipping and serving of "created things rather than the Creator who is to be forever praised" (Romans 1:25). We know that all things God created were originally created good. An idol can be anything we place in our lives over God as more important and more worthy to be pursued, worshipped over and above God Himself. An idol is what we might call an "over-desire," an "excessive desire," turning a good love into an ultimate love,... going from "that would be a blessing if I got that job/degree/pursuit to,... I HAVE to HAVE that job/degree/pursuit or my life will be meaningless."  In C.S. Lewis' narrative The Great Divorce we come across a bitter old lady who refuses the blessings of heaven because while on earth she had lost her son prematurely; she argues vehemently with the gnashing of teeth that by taking her son far too early, God had violated the most universally-held and greatest principle of love, that of "motherly love." So for all of the rest of her dark eternity, she gnashes her teeth refusing to move even one inch towards such a God who, in her mind, would do such an unspeakable evil. The narrative ends with her shrill voice yelling with hatred and vitriol to the heavens, "Give me back my son! Give me back my son!" You see, for this woman, her son was the ultimate thing and the great non-negotiable, not God,... Her son had moved from being a good love from the Lord to an ultimate love her life could not do without, so she discarded God and worshipped the dark idol of her son... into hell,... for all eternity.  In Lewis' character, we can hear echoes Jesus' rebuke of the woman in the crowd in Luke 11:27,28, "As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!' But he said, 'Blessed rather are those  who hear the word of God and keep it!'" There is so much more that could be said about these three classic idols of "land, work and family," especially as we reflect on their place in the creation account at the beginning of the Bible in the book Genesis. We are limited here, as this is supposed to be only a reflection, not a dissertation! But let me say this much about this "Big Three" in the creation account... All three of these "good things" were actually creational ordinances, blessed and sacred gifts of God, meant to be places of blessing, "sacramental" as I talked about in these reflections, part 3. Our first parents were to live and minister out of their togetherness, as "one" sharing the joys of the covenant bond of marriage (Gen. 2:24,25). Through our years struggling with infertility in our 20s, I read a terrific piece by Roman Catholic ethics professor Gilbert Meilaender where he described the laughing and joy of children as an embodiment of the love of their parents. Meilaender spoke of "loving-giving leading to life-giving" and children being an embodiment of that love and life.... Then again, late Presbyterian theologian John Gerstner also was fond of referring to children as "vipers in diapers," hahaha (so I suppose there is a balancing out of these ideal visions of marriage and family with their sometimes unpleasant realities in our homes). Either way, the point is that marriage and family could only be "conceived of" originally (pardon the pun!) as very good things, as a creational ordinance of God.     The same goes for work. The man and the woman were to do good work for the Lord as a way of co-reigning with God, and the work was to reflect/"image" faithful stewardship and care for the land (Gen. 2:15... much more could be said here regarding Gen. 1:28 too). Today we think of marriages that are holy places of loving mutual service, of the most effective couples working in concert together to love and serve. Also we pray at our church for God's people to see that "Mondays Matter" and ask God to give us wisdom in life and to establish the work of our hands (Psalm 90:12,17). The same goes for "land" in the creation account. We have in our vision statement that we are to be "faithful stewards of the Kingdom of God." We don't shy away from topics around generosity and being open-handed with our resources and possessions, through tithing, giving to our Care Fund and supporting various partnership ministries,... to opening our homes in hospitality to others. For those who have the blessing of "space" in Vancouver,... outside of this time of pandemic, normally we have genuine opportunities in our city that is often described as "lonely" and "disconnected," to welcome others to our tables. We've always wanted our people to be intentional in thinking and praying about what faithful stewardship of their "land" looks like for them in their lives and how to be neighbourly with those good gifts. Land, Work and Family were all God's good gifts in the beginning, indeed creational ordinances. And for the redeemed in Christ they continue to be viewed as such. Yet Adam's sin made a mess of things and the good things of creation easily became elevated as ultimate things,... our fallen sinful hearts began to worship the good gifts of God above the Giver. We began to replace the Benefactor with the Benefits and worship the Benefits in the place of the Benefactor. And in this time of pandemic, it's as if God kicked the legs out right from under the three-legged idol stool of "land, work and family." If we have been worshipping at the altar of any of the three of these classic idols, we have found ourselves more fearful, anxious, stressed and uncertain than ever. In a way, this time has revealed where our ultimate hopes are found for our joy, meaning and even salvation. When I was interviewed for the Lead Pastor position at Grace Van some years ago, I was asked the idol I most struggle with in life. My answer was my wife Tanya; I can't imagine life without my best friend, marriage partner in life for 25 years and the girl with whom I became friends at the age of 16 and fell in love with at the age of 18, the person who was most instrumental in bringing me to Christ too. Yet I've discovered through the years that while Tanya is a terrific wife, she is a severely inadequate Saviour. So what might be some ways this time of pandemic, i.e. testing, has kicked the legs out from under this three-legged stool? Let's consider.  1) Land (including possessions and resources) have become even more unstable with concerns about being able to pay the rent/mortgage and cover our basic expenses. Will what we have enough and be able to provide for the life we hope and believe we should have? Are our spending habits shaped by consumer society sustainable ultimately in this time of what is described by investors as a significant "capital loss environment"? I've been helping to manage my parents' estate ever since mom was given her terminal diagnosis. My parents have spent a lifetime accumulating their wealth; I heard mom voicing out loud the other day, "will it all be gone through this economic disaster created by the pandemic?" They've accumulated a lot, so they stand to lose a lot,... of course this altar of "land" is much easier for them to worship at, than those who never had much in the first place. Remember the empty promises of the Devil to Jesus offering the greatest of all possessions? and Jesus' response in Matt. 4:8-10? "...the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 'All this I will give you,' he said, 'if you will bow down and worship me.' Jesus said to him, 'Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.''' 2) Work has left many either unemployed or underemployed through a significant downturn in our economy. Even for those who still have steady jobs, the nature of work has shifted dramatically with most of our work being done online for the last few months. What will work look like moving forward as we re-engage? And while some jobs might be steady, we see the global connectedness of our work and know that our businesses if not now, a few months down the road, could be receiving significant cutbacks, adjustments and possible layoffs. Tanya's sister who is the president of a large advertising firm in New York has had to lay off a number of long-time employees who have been like "family" to her for many years now. A cousin of mine in a similar position of influence has had to do the same; in tears, she let a number of her employees go. With appreciation for these workers, in addition to the severance they received, my cousin divided her bonus (as CEO of the company) among the workers she had to let go. We see some beautiful gestures in this time, even heroic ones,... yet even such kindnesses do not mask the realities of some significant economic shifts in our work environments that are coming. These are challenging times, especially for the most established and "successful" people many might have assumed (wrongfully), prior to Covid, would continue to enjoy their economic successes, without interruption, for many years to come.  3) Families have been challenged both in their "forced togetherness" as well as concerns for the welfare of our children. I know mine seem like small costs in light of all the suffering from Covid, but Tanya and I have grieved the loss of an actual high school graduation ceremony for our graduating daughter Mia (and loss of all the activities that come with this significant achievement in our daughter's life). Again, perhaps small, but I was set up to coach my son Calvin's flag football team, which we believe had a good chance to win BC provincials in early June (scheduled for next weekend), among a field of what would have likely been 60 teams. Perhaps more significantly, two of our engaged couples at Grace Van (Jon and Gloria and Rolland and Hannah) have had to either dramatically alter their plans or hold them with a great deal of flexibility. And then those longing to be married with family have perhaps felt isolation and loneliness more acutely being forced to shelter in place during this time. I haven't been able to see my dad in his care home since last March and I find myself always wanting to be in two places at once, to be everything I can be to my mother through her cancer fight and to be present to my kids, especially as Mia graduates from high school here in a few days. What a year it has been! I've discovered I can only be in one place at one time! Will I trust God with my family here in Vancouver and also in Seattle? The idolatry of marriage and family tends to be there whether married or single, and either way, at least in our parable,... it has kept many from coming to the banquet feast of the Kingdom.    What is God trying to teach us NOW in this time of pandemic dear friends? Which idol(s) is He seeking to reveal in you so that you will dislodge your heart from their devious grip? Is it one of the "Big Three" described here in Luke 14? Perhaps all of the above? and then some more? As one good brother asked us staff to pray for him and his family that they would not only survive, but flourishing and thrive through this difficult time. Are you flourishing and thriving during this time? If not, why not? Could this passage in Luke 14 reveal some of the reason?  For me the lesson has been to learn to love and fear the Lord more than the very best things I have going on in my life. As an example, if I love and fear the Lord more than the welfare of my children, then I find I am no longer controlled by my anxieties about their lives, for they are in the Lord's hands. If I love and fear the Lord more than my work as pastor, then whatever economic uncertainties are there (we have had a drop in giving since the time of pandemic, which is understandable in some ways, and we had a huge transitional year in 2019 losing a number of families),... such uncertainties are overcome by my trust in the Lord who holds all things in His hands and who is the Lover of His people. If I love and fear the Lord more than my "land," then I don't have to worry about the uncertainties of being a renter in this very expensive city, a city now struggling even further. I don't have to worry about if there will be enough there to support a daughter now headed off to university in Langley (I think life is about to get a lot more expensive!)  As we finish here, we answered the question regarding who refused to eat the "bread of the Kingdom" and the excuses that were given, but we never quite got around to reflecting on those who actually would come to fill the banquet hall of the King... Luke is pretty clear on that in verse 21... "the poor and crippled and blind and lame" as well as in verse 23 those in the "highways and hedges" (the far-off places, travelers who do not occupy places of power, influence and wealth). Jesus' banquet hall in the New Heavens and New Earth, it turns out, will be filled with many more people who DO NOT look like me with my degrees and professional upwardly-mobile friends and family. Instead, it will be filled with people who never had much in terms of "land, work and family," so had little occasion to use them as excuses for refusing His Table at His Great Banquet Feast of His Kingdom. I have to admit, this passage puts some holy fear into my heart, but that's good right? What is God trying to teach us in this time of pandemic? Ending this series in the prophetic tradition with a word of warning and exhortation, I give you again the words of our Lord, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only."  As you do, I'm convinced you will discover that at the centre of the Lord's Table is health, joy, togetherness, belonging and family. . . . with the bread of the Kingdom.  I am very much looking forward to that time when we will be able again to re-gather together around His Table. Blessings dear friends, Pastor Mike