Her sermon was inspired from the day's readings, Prov 25:6-7, Heb 13:1-8, 15-16, and Luke 14:1, 7-14. One of the big themes was humility, not placing yourself into a high seat or station. Another was love, not doing things out of what you think you may get in return, but because you truly love. And together, these themes represent the core of Jesus' message. Pastor Amanda started by offering an alternative and more modern translation of this passage from Luke being discussed by ELCA clergy members, replacing, "when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind" with "when you give a banquet, invite those who struggle under systematic oppression, live with disabilities, and exist along the margins." She also offered a definition of evangelical as someone committed to the good news of the Gospel and elucidated what that meant, that "things don't have to be the way they are." And she made the point that the message isn't to invite these people in as an act of charity, because they can't repay you, but "flip this entire system of seeking privilege and privilege for privilege on its head; spend your time with those outside of the system, break the system; bring it down; and change the world."
So this good news that things don't have to be the way they are, that we can change these systems of oppression and shifting systems of power. And even though we may have this power to shift the system, we should still reflect on the question of is it actually good for us? "How good is it for our souls to actually have power over another human being?" And she stressed that this wasn't a rhetorical question, but something to truly wrestle with. She also stressed that, while the topics of the readings may seem like something out of a 1950s Miss Manners book — don't put yourself in the king's presence, be humble, how to enter a dinner party, etc. — it's not about proper etiquette but the good news. "And we are indeed a people being watched closely," like Jesus at the beginning of Luke's reading. "We are being watched closely by so many who are longing to see people of faith live a life that is a life of good news," watched by people who "have been so hurt by the church, people who have been oppressed by systems, who have been taken advantage of, who have been harmed, who are angry." And even those aren't angry, but "simply watching closely for a sign of people of faith who are living a life that is in keeping with what they long to see as good news of a God that is a God of liberation and hope. A God that wants to flip the tables and change the world. A God that wants to feed people. A God that wants people to experience jubilee and debt forgiveness. A God that wants people to have homes, A God that wants people to have healing and access to healing."
And I'm one of those people as much as it's my job to be a "good news bringer." I want to see such a sign from people of faith and such a God in my midst, because that's the God I see in my heart and in the heart of the Gospels. Pastor Amanda shared with us that this was the basis of her doctoral thesis. And what she learned through her hours upon hours of research and writing is that it all comes down to this: "Let mutual affection continue." These words from Paul at the beginning of Hebrews chapter 13 sum up the entirety of the good news and our jobs in bringing it to the world. "Do not neglect to show love to people because you love them... And if you love people exactly where they are, no matter where you find them..., you never even have to say the word Jesus. Because if they are watching closely, they will see Jesus all over you."
She went on to discuss inviting people to their own upcoming event, God's Work Our Hands and Rally Sunday, and making an "invitation of good news of community, and hope, and joy." And she closed by saying, "if our call is to bring the good news, and people are watching closely to see it, so let's be it." Make the invitation. "Just give it a shot, and we'll take one more step, one step closer to that turned-table kingdom of God where all have enough and no one has too much. And won't that be a beautiful step?" It was a very moving sermon, and the culmination of the proclamation of the good news was accentuated by the following hymn of the day, "Ask the Complicated Questions":
Ask the complicated questions,
do not fear to be found out;
for our God makes strong our weakness,
forging faith in fires of doubt.
Seek the disconcerting answers,
follow where the Spirit blows;
test competing truths for wisdom,
for in tension new life grows.
Knock on doors of new ideas,
test assumptions long grown stale;
for Christ calls from shores of wonder,
daring us to try and fail.
For in struggle we discover
truth both simple and profound;
in the knocking, asking, seeking,
we are opened, answered, found.
I felt the lyrics deeply, as they mirror the nature of my own spiritual journey and appreciation of different Christian denominations and other faith traditions. And it was with all of the above in mind that I sat, after receiving communion, and reflected of the bread and wine and what they embodied: community, sharing, and the living example and teachings of a person who was infused with the spirit of God and one with God, a person whose life and example guides and nourishes us and calls us to love one another (John 13:34-35), bring glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free (Luke 4:17-21). It was a very moving experience for me, and I was thankful that I was able to be there for it.
As a special treatment, Pastor Amanda gave one of the congregants, Mo, a blessing and the end of the service as they start their seminarian training along with a gift, her copy of Frederick Buechner's Listening to Your Life that she bought during her first year at seminary and which holds a special place in her heart and theology. (It was even more meaningful after listening to her recent podcast episode on Buechner and his works this evening.) It was moving, and I'm sure it meant a lot to Mo. I admittedly felt some jealousy because it's something I want to do if I wasn't so daunted by the amount of time and money it'd require, but I also felt a great deal of sympathetic joy for them and this new and exciting journey they're on. I was doubly thankful for being there.
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