Meals – Luke 19:1-10
In the West, we are experiencing a monumental shift in which the culture at large is increasingly post-Christian. It's not that culture has abandoned Christianity altogether, it is that culture is reacting against Christianity. In this moment, how do we proclaim the good news when so many have already decided that it is not good news? We believe that there is a practice of Jesus that subverts the ideological defenses of our neighbors and sets a table for an encounter with the Kingdom.
“The practice of resurrection is an intentional, deliberate decision to believe and participate in resurrection life, a life out of death, a life that trumps death, a life that is the last word, Jesus-life.” – Eugene Peterson
The moment we reside in is becoming increasingly post-Christian.
In his work Sickness unto Death, Phillip Reiff divided Western history into three phases or what he calls “worlds;” I think his summary is helpful in understanding the moment we find ourselves.
The First World is the Pre-Christian World.
This is a pagan culture with a pantheon of gods, and spiritual creatures hiding behind every bush. The culture pushes towards belief in an enchanted reality.
The Second World is the Christian World.
To be clear there has never been a Christian culture. What Rieff argues is that the cultural momentum of this Second World pushed one toward Christian institutions. In this world, it is economically, politically, and socially expedient to be “Christian”.
The Third World as Rieff imagined was Post-Christian.
This isn’t a world that has moved on from Christianity; in so much as it is reacting against Christianity.
To be post-Christian is to become increasingly unaware of those origins, and to react against Christianity.
“Let’s face it: we have become unwelcome guests in this post-Christian world. Our children ride their scooters in neighborhoods where conservative [orthodox] Christianity is dismissed or denounced as irrelevant, irrational, discriminatory, and dangerous. Many of us go to work in places where sensitivity training has become an Orwellian nightmare… Christian common sense is declared ‘hate speech’ by the new keepers of this culture. The old rules don’t apply anymore. Many Christians genuinely do not know what to say to their unbelieving neighbors. The language and the logic have changed almost overnight.” –Rosaria Butterfield
“He [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd, he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for [Jesus] was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” –Luke 19:1–10.
Israel is an occupied territory, under the oppression of the Roman Empire. A Roman tax collector was one that collected exorbitantly-high Roman taxes, sometimes up to 50% from his friends, family, neighbors, and fellow Jews.
“To stay in such a person’s home was tantamount to sharing in his sin.”– I. Howard Marshall
But throughout the ministry of Jesus, he is consistently criticized for who he shares meals.
“…the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable…” Luke 15:2–3 (ESV)
Throughout his Gospel, Luke presents meals as one of Jesus’ basic strategies for mission. (Luke 5:27–32; 7:36-50; 9: 13-16; 22:7-23; 24:13-33)
Three types of meals that we, as apprentices of Jesus, are invited to;
A meal with God.
A meal with family.
A meal with the lost.
A Meal with God:
In the pattern of the early church, and in response to Jesus’ instructions to “do this in remembrance of me” we center our community gatherings around a table and partaking in the Meal that Jesus gave us.
Christ has invited us to share a meal with Him; a meal that is now infused with His story, His power, and His hospitality–it is first and foremost the meal that Jesus gave us.
A Meal with Family:
When we confess Jesus as Lord, we join the family of the redeemed. A divine household that transcends space and time, culture, nationality, and ethnicity.
When we come together as the family of God, in microchurches, we declare that we are a new family learning to live as God’s people.
A Meal with the Lost:
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” –Luke 19:10.
Jesus’ invitation is for any who find themselves wandering and lost to be adopted by God the Father and to find a home in the Family of God.
It is a beautiful invitation that often begins with a meal.
“In a post-Christian community, words can only be as strong as your relationships. Your best weapon is an open door, a set table, a fresh pot of coffee, and a box of Kleenex.” –Rosea Butterfield
Practicing the meal(s)
Resist idealizing meals.
Hospitality is a posture, not a resource.
We are nourished for our mission by partaking of meals with God and family.
