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Chapter-a-Day

A Dinner Dripping with Intrigue

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One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
Luke 14:1 (NIV)

Context is essential.

The episodes of today’s chapter lie with concentric circles of context that Luke has carefully laid.

Way at the beginning he introduces us to baby Jesus, the Son of God, come to earth. At his dedication, Simeon prophesies:

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” (2:34-35)

In chapter 9, Jesus “resolutely” sets out for Jerusalem, having predicted that:

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (9:22)

Today’s chapter begins with a simple statement.

Easily overlooked.

“Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.“

Most people read that and forget it. But wait…

Everything in today’s chapter happens in this context.

The baby Messiah who will cause “the rise and fall of many in Israel,” and who will reveal the thoughts of their hearts.

The Messiah on a mission — heading to Jerusalem to be rejected by the religious power brokers – to be killed by them.

And, He is dining with one of those very men…
….at his house.
…under his critical gaze.

This isn’t a casual dinner.
This is a set-up.
The table is dripping with intrigue and tension.

They think they’re watching Him.
But He’s the one setting the table…

He prods His enemies. He pokes at them at every turn.

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (He knows His host thinks it is.)
He heals a man with abnormal swelling sitting in the room.

[Poke]

Watching the prominent religious leaders vying for the seats of honor at the table. He calls them out. Directly.

“But when you are 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 honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (vs 10-11)

[Poke]

Jesus then tells a parable. A great banquet feast is given. All the high-and-mighty guests on the list beg off. The host sends servants to bring in the lowly, the poor, the marginalized, the foreigners, the outcasts.

Translation: You are leaders of God’s people. He sent me to invite you to His great banquet. You’ve rejected me, so I’m inviting others.

[Poke]

Jesus then surveys the room. Some of the powerful religious leaders have been following Jesus. They’ve been listening. Some have even tried to befriend Him. In yesterday’s chapter, it was they who warned Jesus that Herod wanted to kill him — begging Him not to proceed to Jerusalem.

I believe Jesus’ final words at the party are for them.

It’s decision time, gentlemen.

Time to fish, or cut bait.

They are riding the fence. They enjoy the pomp and prominence of their position. They live lives of relative ease. Their names are etched in the boxes at the top of the Temple org chart.

If you’re truly going to follow me, you have to give it all up.

Count the cost, gentlemen.
You can’t sip the Kingdom wine I offer and keep your seat at Herod’s table.

“Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”

[Poke]

If you follow the tension in the room. It leads somewhere.

It is Good Friday as I write this post. On this annual day to remember Jesus’ execution on a Roman cross, I’m reminded…

Jesus was resolute in walking toward suffering and death.

Jesus prodded His enemies, and provoked their actions against Him.

Still, He didn’t run.

He went to their houses for dinner. He sat in their midst.
He gave His enemies another chance…
to hear
to see
to choose
to follow

As Jesus hung on three nails between heaven and earth.

He was not a victim.

He was the Son of Man on a mission.

A suffering servant.
A sacrifice, once – for all.

For me.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

Cutting In at the Cultural Dance

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Cutting In at the Cultural Dance (CaD Matt 10) – Wayfarer

As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.
Matthew 10:12-14 (NIV)

Other than a four-year collegiate sojourn in the Chicago area, I have lived in Iowa my entire life. I just read an article a few weeks ago about the fact that Iowa has among the happiest people in the world. You’ll never read that or hear about it in the news. Every year you’ll hear the major news streams buzz about Scandinavian countries and Bhutan being the happiest places on earth, but that whole thing (like most things coming out of the main stream press these days) is a complete sham.

Of course, happy places have their quirks, and so it is with living in the midwest. For example, there is an etiquette to visiting others and being visited. When you arrive, it’s customary to bring something with you for your host. Typically it is food of some kind. Wine is what Wendy and I most often bring with us when invited to another home for dinner. I once invited a musician over to the Vander Well Pub for a pint. He brought the entire collection of his jazz combo’s CDs as a gift. There were, like, six of them. Awesome. I love jazz.

There is also an unspoken but well-worn tradition of guests leaving a host’s home here in Iowa. You don’t just leave. There’s a type of dance you do that begins with non-verbal signals to everyone that it’s about time to leave. This proceeds to small verbal hints like saying, “Well, this has been lovely. Thank you.” Then there’s the rising from your seat and continued banter as you make your way toward the entrance. More conversation. More giving of thanks and offers to reciprocate. The host makes a show of sending you home with the leftovers of whatever food you brought, which must be rebuffed. The promise of returning your casserole dish is given, by which you turn it into an invitation to have your hosts over to your house. You put your coat and shoes on as the conversation continues and discussion of possible future get-togethers commences. If you know your hosts well, you might experience a series of good-bye hugs during this entire culturally choreographed good-bye dance. It can sometimes take upwards of a half-hour from the first non-verbal hint you’re ready to leave to the point you are in your car driving home.

I thought of this as I read today’s chapter. Jesus sends The Twelve out into towns and villages to proclaim the good news that the Kingdom of God has come near. Jesus gives them instructions for entering and leaving hosts’ homes and tells them to bring their “Greeting” which in the Jewish tradition of the day meant bringing the blessing of “Shalom” which translates as “peace” but means so much more than that. Jesus then offers instructions for when the disciples are not welcome or if the hosts turns on them once they hear the message the disciples bring with them. If that happens, Jesus tells them to let their “shalom” return to them, shake it off, and go on their way.

Sometimes on this chapter-a-day journey I run across a passage and God’s Spirit whispers to my spirit that I need to spend some time meditating on that. So it was with these verses I pasted at the top of today’s post. I have never once heard a sermon given on these instructions of Jesus. They are verses that I myself have read countless times without even giving them consideration. Yet there is something there in the being a guest and how I enter and leave another person’s home that I think is worth more consideration.

When I enter another person’s home, what do I bring with me? I’m not talking about a casserole, dessert, or bottle of wine, but shalom. Do I bring a blessing? Do I enter with God’s peace and presence to gift to those who invited me in? What spiritual blessing can I gift and impart to my host and their family? In the quiet this morning, I find myself needing more time to meditate on these instructions and to consider what it might mean for me and Wendy, especially in light of the well-worn cultural dance of entering and leaving here in Iowa. I’ve learned along my life journey that sometimes one has to do something novel in order to “cut in” during a deep-seated cultural dance.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

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Listening Opportunities

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Hey friend, I hope your weekend is going well! I wanted to thank my friend Reuel Sample at the Pastor’s Voice Podcast for inviting me to be a guest this past week. I had a fantastic time and look forward to future conversations. You can listen online at thepastorsvoice.net and you can subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcasting platform.

Below you’ll find my latest message from this past Sunday. Don’t forget that there’s an archive of past messages on the Messages Page at tomvanderwell.com.

Chapter-a-Day

A Table Prepared for All

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On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
    a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
    the best of meats and the finest of wines.
Isaiah 25:26 (NIV)

I love a great dinner party. We have become such a fast food, quick serve, grab-a-snack culture that it’s rare to really enjoy a feast any more. I had a friend tell me that she and her family finished Thanksgiving dinner in 10 minutes. There’s something wrong with this picture.

A great dinner party starts early with a drink and an appetizer. People mingle. There’s light conversation. Guests begin to unwind. It moves on to a table that’s prepared. Things are laid out. Everything you need for the evening is set before you. The plates, knives, forks, spoons, and glassware are a road map to the feast. There is salad and/or soup before the main course. The main course follows after and is perfectly proportioned with complementary dishes. There is an aperitif to cleanse the palate before moving on to dessert. And, there are wines served to compliment each course. By the time dessert is served you have been on a journey. A feast is to be savored, en-joy-ed along with the company and conversation around the table.

I love that God’s word picture of what’s-to-come is a feast. It’s the word picture He gave Abraham when first introducing Himself in Genesis 18. It’s the word picture Jesus gives in Revelation of the relationship He desires with every one. A dinner party. A leisurely meal with good food and good fellowship around the table.

I am struck this morning that Isaiah’s prophetic feast is for all people. So often the image of God we project to the world is that of a miserly monarch condemning the many to save the exclusive few. But Isaiah’s prophetic image is a feast of salvation for all people and all nations. When Jesus picked up and riffed on this word picture in his parable of the wedding feast he speaks of inviting those who you’d least expect to have a seat at the table, the master’s servants grabbing anyone and everyone off the street and ushering them to the table.

This morning I’m thinking about dinner parties, feasts, and a God who desires the communal oneness that is experienced with good food, good wine, and good relationship around a table well prepared.

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Top Five Tuesday

Top Five Things I Hate About Weddings

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Wendy and I are attending three weddings this month. I hate to be a curmudgeon, but I must confess that I really don’t like most weddings I attend. (If I attended your wedding, please don’t take this personally. I’m sure I truly enjoyed myself at your wedding!) I have officiated a lot of weddings and, like most of us, have attended a ton. Typically, I don’t look forward to the experience.

Here are the top five things I typically lament about weddings:

  1. The real meaning of the occasion is typically minimized. Most of the weddings I attend are all about window dressing and very little about the heart of the occasion. I have officiated and attended way too many ceremonies with hungover couples and wedding parties for whom the real significance of the moment is completely lost.
  2. The ceremony is usually too long. I tell people that the perfect wedding was about 23 minutes long. That’s long enough to simply and clearly communicate the meaning of the occasion and make your vows, but it doesn’t belabor the moment for your guests. I’ve been to way too many weddings that drone on for over an hour.
  3. No one knows what’s going on. While there is usually a plan with regard to getting from wedding to reception and how things are going to transpire, guests are often left in the dark as to what that plan actually is. Because the couple, their family, and the wedding party are all busy after the ceremony congratulating each other, wedding guests are often left wondering what they are supposed to do and where they are supposed to go. This creates anxiety, impatience, and frustration among the throng, which is not conducive to kicking off a good reception.
  4. The guests are kept waiting (at worst, without provision). The worst weddings are those in which the bride and groom take photos after the ceremony and before the reception, and have no plan for taking care of their guests. The worst we ever experienced was a reception held at a venue about 20 minutes from the church. After making the commute to the reception venue, we were left waiting in the reception hall almost two hours with no food or drink served while the wedding party took pictures and went for a limousine joy ride. Then, when the wedding party did arrive, we were made to endure long speeches and powerpoint slideshows of the bride and groom before being allowed to eat. And, the food wasn’t worth waiting for.
  5. The dance is lame. Great weddings are generally made great by having a great dance at the reception complete with a mix of music (from all eras) that allows for romantic slow dancing, communal line dancing, and shake-your-booty improvisational dancing. Too many weddings do not give enough thought to the DJ, the mix of music, and providing a fun space and atmosphere that will make people want to get on the floor and trip the light fandango.
Chapter-a-Day

The Good Stuff

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Wine decanter and glasses.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chapter-a-Day 1 Corinthians 6

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

Wendy and I like to entertain. We don’t do it as often as we’d like and, while we don’t go to extremes, there are evenings when we choose to get out “the good stuff.” Paper napkins are replaced by cloth. Plates are put on gold chargers. Because we are going to bring out the good wine, the nice wine glasses are placed on the table along with a special wine decanter for pouring, aerating and serving the wine. We recognize that our guests are honored when we make the effort to break out “the good stuff” for our dinner together.

Let me be honest. The verses above have haunted me for most of my journey. I have never been uber athletic. Running marathons, competing in triathlons, or getting involved in recreational athletics have never held much appeal for me. Okay, they’ve never held any appeal for me whatsoever. Like most Americans, I like to eat. While I have given regular and serious thought to my diet and to exercise (e.g. I think about eating better, I think about exercising, I contemplate the benefits of doing so), an honest audit of my behavior over time would reveal that I have had little or no discipline in this area. This past year has been one of two periods of my life in which I’ve dropped some serious weight. And yet, the verses still haunt me.

God’s Message clearly teaches that following Jesus means inviting Him into our hearts and our lives. There is something simple and mystical yet powerfully in the act of sincerely saying to Jesus “Come into my heart. Come into my life. Save me.” Elsewhere in God’s Message, Jesus says:

“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you.” [emphasis added] Revelation 3:20 (MSG)

The night Jesus gave Himself up for us, He took wine and blessed it and said, “this is my blood.” When I read these verses from today’s chapter, what haunts me is this: when Jesus is invited into our hearts and our lives, our very own bodies become the decanter for creation’s most precious wine. Yet, the way I’ve treated my body most of my life is no different than welcoming my most honored guest and His gift of precious wine by grabbing a dirty, used styrofoam cup off the counter and telling Him to “fill ‘er up.”

Lord, have mercy on me.