I love the coincidence that the gospel lesson for today concerns a meal on the day when we will have our indoor picnic.

Jesus accepts a dinner invitation to Sabbath dinner at the home of a Pharisee. The Sabbath dinner meal on Friday night in Jewish homes is full of good kosher food and ritual prayers. It is a special time of thanksgiving to God. It is an ancient meal marking a period of Sabbath rest and worship. It is a contemporary meal and was observed around the world just a day or two ago.

It might strike us as strange that Jesus would eat at the home of a Pharisee. It would be to us as if George W. Bush and Al Gore sat down regularly for a meal together. Imagine the football coaches of The Ohio State University and The University of Michigan having dinner together on a November night before “the game.” It is more than we can easily imagine.

But it really was not all that unusual for Jesus who made a practice of breaking bread with people whom others would assume he would avoid as much as possible. He has even eaten in the home of other Pharisees. Here he is, at the table in the home of a Pharisee one more time. Why would there be any animosity between Jesus and the Pharisees? There was some ill will because the Pharisees were the keepers of the law and the guardians of tradition. On the other hand, the mission of Jesus was to come and take the traditions we have known, and to help us see them through the eyes of our faith, our experience, and then to allow us to see what new thing God will do in us.

The meal setting reminds us of other times when a table was set for God’s people. There is the desert wilderness meal of quail, manna, and water from a rock; the welcome home party given for the young man we know as the Prodigal Son; the other stories Luke tells about other meals; and the final meal Jesus shared with his disciples in an upper room.

We have our own images of well-set tables. Some of us have in our mind’s eye the Norman Rockwell portrait of the family giving thanks before a food laden table. We have enjoyed scenes of grand meals in the film and television versions of “Soul Food”. We have seen it in the Chinese language movie (with subtitles) “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman” and the a different version of the same story, set in an American Hispanic neighborhood, “Tequila Soup”.

We have our own memories of tables set to perfection not only with wonderful place settings but with people whose company we enjoy. When I was growing up, the usual dinner time ritual was for us to come in, wash up, get one of the plates we used every day, get our food from the kitchen, and then take to the table where we would eat. But when company was coming, things were different. Then the table was set with the good dishes, the good table cloth, the good glasses, and silverware. We knew by the way we prepared, that special guests were coming and that special preparation had to be made.

Knowing how to set an inviting table is one of those things people apparently need to know as we learn what it means to welcome people into an inviting and welcoming place. It is an act of good will that says that I want to present a part of who I am and who I am about when I invite you into my home.

A nicely set table says that I care enough about you to give you the best that I have. There is something special about gathering for a meal together, and there is a great deal for us to learn as we gather about what it means to be a good host or a good guest.

As he enters the Pharisee’s house, Jesus watches people watching him. He sees them as they jockey for the best seats at the best table. In Jesus day, the best seats would have been the couches closest to the table, where people could lounge and reach for the nearby food. For us, the best seat would be the dais or head table, the one that is served first. If we were at a buffet dinner, we want to be sure to be at the table that gets to go through the line first. We certainly do not want to be at the end of the buffet line.

Unless it is replenished often, the people at the end of the line get what is left over. They get a few cold scraps of meat, all that is left on the fruit tray are a few grapes, and a piece of pineapple. All that is on the vegetable tray is left is zucchini which is fine if you like raw squash, but since I do not like squash of any kind, I am always disappointed when that happens. When we are at the end of the buffet line, or when we don’t get a good table, we are tempted to be rude, complaining guests.

Jesus says, when you are invited to lunch or dinner, be a good guest. Wait. Do not rush to the front tables looking for the best seat, and the first spoonful of food. Instead be patient, spare yourself the potential embarrassment. If we take the best seat, we are likely to be asked to make room for someone more prominent than we think we are. Then everybody, the hosts, the other guests, those of us who have to leave our seat at the head table to go back and sit by the kitchen door.

Be a good and gracious guest, Jesus says. Let the host show you where to sit, don’t assume you know where your seat is. Your place card may be at a better table. And as you arrive, be careful to act with integrity. Do not just sit back waiting to be asked to move up. Do not rush to the farthest seat, and then sigh and moan and complain so that you can be seen and asked to change your seat to a higher one. Do not be like the volunteer who really wants to be asked to chair a committee, but even more wants to be begged, and so declines the first three or four times he or she is asked.

Be a good guest. You probably have a list of good guest behavior. Here is the one that was taught to me over the years. When you are invited to someone’s home for dinner, offer to bring something, be on time, and put your napkin in your lap. Keep your elbows off the table, eat the food that is put in front of you, don’t talk with your mouth full of food, offer to help clean up, don’t eat and run, say thank you.

His advice to gracious hosts is simple. Be ready when guest come. Clean the house, set a nice table, have interesting food, welcome people warmly, let them know the dress code, ask if there are any foods they are unable for health or religious reasons to eat. And, do this, don’t just invite to the people who will impress your neighbors and friends. Don’t just set your table for those who will make you feel good. Don’t invite to your house only those people who will invite you to theirs. It is OK to have friends, family, neighbors that you like over, but this is a parable, and Jesus is out to make a bigger point.

The table we are setting, where we think of ourselves as hosts or guests is really God’s table, it is the church, the gathered community of God’s people met together for worship and work. When you set the table, when you invite people in to the church, make sure that there is room for everyone. Invite the poor, those with disabilities, those who for reason of money, or education, or race, or gender, or orientation or whatever other reason have been unwelcome at God’s table.

These are the ones to invite to God’s table, Jesus says. In other words understand that being a good host is not about having the power, to make anyone come to your house, it is about hospitality a word which literally means, “love of the stranger”. We love the stranger become a brother or sister in Christ when we offer the hospitality of the table here in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the true host and who has made room at his table for every one of us, and for whomever comes with a heart ready to receive him.

We want people in the church who can and will share their gifts and resources with us. We will encourage their sharing always. But the truth is sometimes all people can give for a while is their presence. They have been so unwelcome in other places, that our act of love will be to welcome them here without asking them for anything.

How do we make room? We open the doors and welcome all guests and members warmly. We set an attractive table, that is we provide a building that is clean and bright, we make every effort to provide all that we do with excellence, because there really is not point in doing anything in a half-hearted way.

When we invite people to be with us, we can show them that we are excited and passionate about what we are doing here, and that we are ready to share the excitement we feel about this congregation. We can invite our guests and our members to gather with us often, and to bring a friend.

We are called to be good guests, even if we have been here a while. When we come to this place with an expectation of a great meal, and a great spirit, when we offer the best that we have to this congregation, when we are generous, excited stewards of the gifts and resources God has given us we are gracious guest. We are gracious guests at the table God has set for us when we understand that it is not necessary to exclude anyone, unless they mean to do us harm. The table is big enough for Pharisees and the poor, it is big enough and wide enough, there is food and drink enough for us all.

When we are good guests at the table God has set for us, we help to make this church a safe place, where both personhood and personality are respected. Everybody here has value, no matter where you sit in this room, you are worthy of honor and respect. So come as you are, express appreciation when a song or a word moves your spirit, speak to the people around you , do what makes us so special, show the kind of hospitality that makes us the people of God.

Yes, we are comfortable with people who look and act like us because it is true that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. But not in this room. Look around at us. We are pretty good representatives of God’s people. Praise God and may our tribe increase.

Finally, keep in mind that we are good hosts and guests when we remember that the table around which we gather was set for us a long time ago by God through Jesus Christ who invites us to his table daily. We met at the table already this morning when we shared communion and we will represent his table as we share food and fun together downstairs.

It is all a preview of that great heavenly banquet to come when we share an eternal meal with Jesus Christ. I am looking forward to breaking bread with all of you. Lord haste the day.

To God be the glory forever. Amen.