All Are Welcome
This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 8/28/22 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The gospel text was Luke 14:1, 7-14 . Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem to the cross. Along the way, he has altercations with the religious leaders, hence, “they were watching him closely.” “They” were those religious leaders of the day who were waiting for Jesus to make a misstep. Jesus was not simply invited to eat at the home of a friend. This was no simple meal. The Greek shows us that it was a lavish affair—hence the jockeying for position at the table. The closer you sat to the host, the greater your importance. There were no place cards. You just can’t take Jesus anywhere without there being a scene. As Jesus arrives at this lavish dinner party, Luke describes the scene as if we were seeing it through Jesus’ eyes. Can you imagine Jesus walking in and slowly taking in the setting—the extravagance, the opulence, the rich and famous, and a few poorer folks? There was likely plenty of elbowing