Tyndale Chapel Podcast

It's an honour to be with you all. Just in the worship there, just felt that word, "the Lord is faithful", just kind of rang true to me. The Lord is faithful, amen. And then it's, especially for those who are familiar with pain, and, and suffering. For some reason, I feel like that's what the Lord wants to say today. The Lord is faithful.

Today, I'm going to be reading from the passage in Luke 14, Luke 14, verse seven to 14. All right, I'm gonna read it for you first, and then we'll get into it. So it says this, says, "When he noticed how the guests pick their place of honour at the table, he told them this parable." So just first, Jesus is there looking and observing some kind of banquet, some kind of wedding, we don't know where it is, but he's seeing and witnessing people coming to this place at this table. And it says in verse eight, "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you give this person your seat, then humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you were invited, take the lowest place. So that when your host comes, He will say to you, friend, move up to a better place, then you will be honoured in the presence of all the guests for all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Then Jesus said to the host, when you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbours. If you do, they may invite you back. And so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the cripple, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

This passage today that we speak of, is a passage about hospitality. It actually is split into two, there's a first part where it gives you instruction on how to be a guest. The second part is a focus on how to be a host. And I don't know about you, but sometimes when I come into a place, I change based on whether I am a guest or a host. Some people are very shy guests where you offer them, you have to offer them like 10 times if they want to drink or they want something. And some people respond in different ways. In this particular example, over here, we see particular instructions on how to be invited into a place, how to be a guest. And the example he gives is quite interesting, because it it actually talks about a situation where the guest actually takes the seat of honour in the place. So there's lots of places that you can seat, but the person who comes Jesus gives this parable of someone taking the seat of honour at the table. And to me, when we read this passage, it's very indicative of our particular culture today, because our particular culture is a culture of self promotion. It's, it's a culture where we are always trying to show our best, trying to reveal to people our qualifications, trying to post on Instagram, or whatever it is the cool social media thing, I don't know, I'm still on Social, I'm still on Instagram. But all, like, we try to show our best, to the point that even our good deeds, you know, we see people giving haircuts to the homeless, you know, online or whatever. It's like, it's interesting that everything we do must be presented to the world, in a way that everyone knows, perhaps, perhaps everyone knows that I'm doing something for the Lord, or I'm doing something good. And it's in a way, we are in a culture today, where we are pushed to self promote. They say that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right, is that if you're ever in a in a situation at work, you want to actually promote yourself, gotta speak up, you got to be assertive. There's the things that I tell my kids a lot of the times, who don't like, you know, look in the eyes of adults, when they're talking. I try to push them and say, assert yourself, you gotta, no one's gonna recognize you. All right, you got to make sure you rec, be recognized by making sure that you stand out. And you know, it's an interesting thing, because this was not always the case.

There was a time, long time ago, that, Charles Taylor is the philosopher who indicates this distinction between the medieval period and the modern era. And in the medieval period, just think about it. If you were born into a peasant family, you probably would be a peasant, moving on, right? If you are born in a, in a family where you are royalty, then if you're a prince, you're going to be a prince for the rest of your life, and in a way, the status, or where you are in society, has been dictated for you, right? You have no choice. You can't, you can't climb the corporate ladder, when it comes to the medieval period. What you are is what you are. But then we came to a period of the modern era, the Enlightenment came, where we began to think, I say, I think therefore I am, meaning before, I am when I am, because this is what society tells me, this is what my position in life is. But suddenly, we began to start to say, I think, therefore I am, meaning if "I will it, I can make it happen". And we became, slowly, beings where we can actually be self-defining. Like I can define who I am. Even though I grew up a peasant, I can be a CEO, I can be a president, I can be whoever I want to be. And in this world that we live in, currently, right now, where we can self define, where we can actually find our identity within, rather than an identity based on family, or tradition, or culture, but I can say my identity is based on whatever I want it to be, right. What you end up having is a whole bunch of individualists, which, by the way, there's lots of good things that happened as a result of that. But what we, the collateral is, is that you have a bunch of individualists, trying to define themselves in a particular way, and trying to scream it out as loud as they can, so that everyone can know who they are. Before, it was a little bit more simple, but now, we try to self define so much, to the point where it's the default, to self promote. It's the default, to find your own way in which you influence the world.

And there's a lot of consequences for that. But just, just think for a moment, though, when you look at your own life, and the places in which you feel comfortable to not self promote for a moment. Like I usually, it's around friends, usually, it's around people I know, who already acknowledge my gifts and talents, see, that is the condition that is the the condition or the environment that allows me to kind of not have to, you know, boast about myself too much. However, if you are in a community, or a culture, that does not see you, does not identify you, does not recognize you, then what are you going to do? All you're going to do is try to kind of show who you are to them, right. And that's exhausting, by the way. It's an exhausting existence, to have to continue to say, "This is who I am." And you know what, it's not uncommon for a church, or a place of a community like Tyndale or whatnot, where we create an environment, where it says, "If you want to be seen, make sure you speak up", rather than an environment in which everyone around you seeks to exalts you, rather than seeking to, like in a posture of suspicion, right? Like today, you might be looking at me with a little bit of suspicion. And I might be here trying to be recognized for my preaching abilities or whatnot. This is an atmosphere where I can know, when I'm in a congregation, and they're like clapping for me, or they're like, I'm not saying you gotta clap for me. But like, acknowledging, there's a certain feeling of welcome. And then there's certain congregations, I know when I preach. And there's a sense of like, okay, so prove it to me. And I automatically respond in kind, where I'm like, Oh, I'll prove it to you. All right. I'm gonna bring it today, and I'm gonna make you all cry. And, you know, the Holy Spirit's gonna, like, that's, sometimes there is that attitude that we have, and it's in response to the environment that demands self promotion, or it can be an environment that causes you to say, I have no, I have no ambition to have to promote myself, because I feel seen, I feel like people are asking me questions, and probing deeper and deeper into what I want to, who I am. And that's an amazing diff. It's very subtle, but it's an extremely different environment to be in. And hospitality has to do with not having your guests to have to posture before you, in a way. Like that's what hos, hos, the baseline of hospitality is allowing people to come into a space where they don't need to prove themselves, where we do the work, actually, to ensure that they are seen, so that they can let their guard down and not have to come and do that. And so how amazing it would be for us to be in an environment or someone esteems you before you felt the need to self promote.

How liberating that would be to be seen, heard and known to begin to function from a place of abundance rather than scarcity. You're not grasping for attention. but receiving that gaze of the neighbour, a brother or sister and disarming you from the need to be seen. In short, the goal is to recognize others before they feel the need to stand out. So this is the, this is the "how to be a guest" part of it. The other part of the passage is how to be a host.

In this part he goes, okay, then Jesus says to the host, "when you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends", or basically, don't invite the people who can pay you back, you know. Invite the cripple, invite the homeless, invite the beggar, invite them, because when you invite them, there's no way of reciprocity to occur, in this, in the economic way that you might see it, right. They can't pay you back, they can't invite you back. And that is the way in which to host, the attitude in which to host. Now, this is radical. This is, I didn't mean to say that, but the title is radical hospitality. But that is radical. Why? Because of the day that we live in today, like if you were to apply this in our market centered, quid pro quo, cost benefit analysis, "you get what you invest" in type of society, then this is ridiculous, right? It doesn't make sense. See, we live in a different economy. The Kingdom of God is a different economy than the way of the world. The way of the world where we calculate in our mind, and I, you know, we do this all the time, where you're going out to eat, you know, and someone, someone treats you out, and then suddenly you feel the necessity to say, I know where, I got you back, bro, I got you back, you know, and we make sure that the next time we eat, it's it's reciprocal, and I make sure I pay for you. And then next time, make sure you know, you're gonna pay for me, right? And then we can go back and forth like this, but we might need to make sure that they're equal, you're going to make sure that both sides are actually doing it. As soon as there's like a discrepancy. It's like, I just don't have the money to go with you. Because you're not giving back. And so in that situation, it's difficult. Like, if you see me on Facebook Marketplace, like I'm gonna, I'm a capitalist to the max, okay. If you see me on Kijiji, working my deals, like I aim to buy at the lowest price. My desire is for someone to be so ignorant about the value of their product, that they will put it up, and I seize the moment right then, and, you know, humbly come and try not to give away too much when I do the encounter, and run away gleeing with like, giggles you know, like, that's my attitude when it comes to Facebook marketplace. And when I sell, you know, when I sell a product, I do it at unreasonable prices, okay? Hoping again, that I will dupe someone to come and buy my product at an unreasonable price. That's what I desire, right? But then, and the other day, actually, I did this like and I you know, IKEA products are hard to find these days. And so I put my, my dresser for, on sale. And then someone comes paying like a good price for it. And while I'm engaging with them, he tells me like he's from Ukraine, and he just came here, you know, like, he just, he's here, transitioning with his whole family from a war torn place. And I'm just like, this doesn't work, man, I wish I didn't ask your story. Because now I'm gonna give you this dresser and everything is, is, everything is messed up, when you start to see the humanity of the people, right? When you actually hear their story, then I become weak. You know, I become weak and just succumb to generosity. You know, I mean, like, it just doesn't feel good, especially when I want to be on my A game.

But see, we need to be, like, how amazing would it be for us to be in a community where we aren't measuring things in that type of way? Right. We need that community that conceives of a, what Richard Rohr says, a gift economy that is not based on competition and cost benefit analysis. The quid pro quo, as I said, not always fair, not always balanced, giving without expecting anything in return. Knowing that whether it's exact return, the body of Christ always balances things out in ways that we cannot perceive, in ways that we cannot forecast. Imagine, that's the radical side of the generosity, where you are the Good Samaritan who comes and helps the person on the side of the road, brings them to the Inn, and puts down your credit card and says anything that needs to be done, I gotta go. When I come back, whatever it is not, you know how that that level of surprise, the level of unpredictability to put down your card. Imagine doing this to a homeless person today and saying whatever they order, from room service, whatever happens, I'll be be responsible for it, knowing that there is no cap, you know, that there is no like contract that gives the exactitude of what is going to be given back. This passage is talking to the host, and Jesus points to a fundamental value we have, on return of investment, that what we give will somehow get returned to us that whether consciously or unconsciously, we will receive something. And because today is about hospitality, it is worth noting that hospitality, which is about a host and a stranger, has been commodified, has become something of an industry, like when you think of hospitality, to go to school, if you're gonna do a course, or get into school, somehow, it's about the hospitality industry, in which you are the person who is hosting and the person is now a consumer, a consumer who is expecting something and rating you a certain way, rather than the original form of hospitality, which is a host and a stranger.

The difference is, hospitality, in its commercial sense, is, is related to want rather than need, a lot of the time, right. And hospitality to a stranger gives a new dimension, a stranger, in fact, in its truest sense, hospitality has to do with this stranger, someone who isn't invited, you know, someone who comes at the door, anonymous, unknown, a foreigner, unpredictable. And that kind of hospitality is frightening. Like when's the last time you invited a stranger into your home? Hospitality, in our day, is someone that we invite, that we measure up, to make sure they are qualified to come into our place. We place the conditions. But when we eliminate this ability to be surprised by a stranger, I believe hospitality doesn't come in its truest sense. The kind of hospitality that we must have is a decision to choose trust over suspicion, abundance over scarcity, sacrifice over self preservation. And I end with this, reminded of how the gospel actually translates this, because the gospel actually, when Jesus is there, and the disciples are jockeying for position, and they are saying to themselves, like which of them should be considered the greatest when Jesus is at a very similar table. Jesus said to them, the kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who exercise authority call themselves benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you shall be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who's greater? The one who's at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who's at the table? But I, but I, among you are the one who serves. You are those who stood by me in my trials, and I confer on you the Kingdom, just as my father conferred on to me. Host and stranger, and Jesus introduces another term of servant. And the beauty of the gospel, and the beauty of God's faithfulness in this whole exchange, is that he doesn't even just identify us as a host or a stranger, He brings an introduc, introduces the idea of service, and the ability to trust like Jesus trusted, that, although He humbled himself, even though He is like God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, He came down to this world. And guess what, the promotion that he gets is not driven by self determination, the kind of esteem that he gets is not done out of his own pure will, and him boasting. Instead, the Christ that we come to, is a Christ that comes and is exalted, beyond all other things, right? He is exalted, among all, exalted to the highest place, it says in Philippians, two "and gave him the name that is above every name". Who does that exalting? It's the father, right? Imagine a community in which the exalting occurs, not by yourself, but the one who is our Father. And so with that, let us just pray and have this in our hearts and the attitude of Christ, the amazing gift that He has given to us. Let's bow our heads and pray before the Lord.

Father, we stand before you today, Lord, acknowledging how radically different you are from any other person, any other king, any other authority figure in this world. That although you are the one who redeems, you are the one who has the power to heal, and do all of these miraculous things, Father, that You are a God who serves. You are a God who did not need to esteem himself father, but you are one who is above all names Lord as a result of your good work, Lord Jesus here on Earth, Father, we come before you so humbly Lord God, and we ask God for the faith, Lord, to risk. We ask God for the faith, Lord Jesus, to live lives of surprise, where we can actually acknowledge Lord that something can meet the needs Lord Jesus, even though we might not have everything in order, Lord God that we will go out on a limb Lord Jesus, knowing father that you will complete all things, you will bring all things to completion, Lord God. We thank You Father, you are a good amazing God and you introduce things to us Father, that are so radically different than our current culture today Father, we esteem you highly Lord, in Jesus name we pray, Amen.