Third Sunday after Pentecost

29:20 Reverend Natalie already said it, but I am proud of you for being here after a late night. There were fireworks going off in Astoria, Queens till about 1230 last night. Friends, will you please join me in prayer? holy spirit we are hungry for you for your truth and for your grace may you speak to our minds our hearts and our souls remove me if you need to your name we pray amen so today we begin a new summer series called at christ table so why did the clergy pick this series for the summer well if I'm being honest it's because we like to eat most of us like to eat if I have a pastoral meeting with one of you it's most likely over coffee or lunch coffee hour wouldn't be coffee hour without the amazing pastries that Rodrigo and his team provide when you think about a huge party you think about the vibe the music and you usually think about the food April and I will be celebrating our eighth wedding anniversary this August, and we had such a blast at our wedding.

30:37 But our wedding would not have been our wedding if it weren't for the amazing tacos that were catered by the taco stand in San Diego, California. Meals set the stage for conversation, for hospitality, fun, and grace. Supergroup The High Women featuring Brandi Carlisle have a song called Crowded Table that yearns for these magical moments that happen over meals. They sing, I want a house with a crowded table and a place by the fire for everyone. The bulletin covered displays a magical moment on the rooftop in New York City, the artwork by Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach. At first glance, it looks simple enough. It's an ordinary family gathered around the table on the summer evening, sharing food while children play nearby. But it reminds us that something sacred can happen at a table. A rooftop becomes a gathering place. A meal becomes a memory. A family becomes a community. A child looks out at the city and imagines a world of freedom and possibility. What begins as dinner becomes something more.

31:44 A place where people are nourished by love, belonging, and hope. So what does this have to do with Jesus and Christ's table. For this summer, we will spend time looking at passages in which Jesus's ministry happened over a meal or a party. It's fascinating. If you look at the Gospels, especially in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is often at a meal, going to a meal, or returning from a meal. Around these tables, Jesus forgives sins. Around these tables, strangers become friends. Around these tables outsiders discover that they belong around these tables people argue laugh learned and are transformed new testament scholar eric barretto and a friend of fifth avenue writes extensively about christ's table he talks about how jesus is most jesus at the table he goes on to suggest that is it is in the breaking of bread at an ordinary table that we catch a glimpse of christ's transformative kingdom. For the gospel of Luke, meals are not a backdrop to Jesus's ministry.

32:56 They are one of the primary ways that Jesus reveals who God is and what the kingdom looks like. So over the next several weeks, we will pull up a chair and we will sit at Christ's table. We will watch Jesus share meals with tax collectors and Pharisees, friends, strangers, saints, and sinners. We'll discover that what happens around these tables is about food, but it's also about grace. It's about welcome. It's about belonging. It's about the surprising truth that God's kingdom often arrives through an open seat, shared bread, and a simple invitation to come eat with me. We'll explore what it means for Christ to engage in meals and how conversations around food, hospitality, Sabbath, grace, welcome, and belonging are so essential to the gospel itself.

33:52 So will you please join me in today's scripture as it comes from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 5, starting at verse 27.

34:55 okay before we dig into christ's table in this passage let's talk about something that's been occupying my mind since thursday and will occupy my mind for the next month or so the world cup there's something about sports and soccer in particular that is so incredibly unifying i was lucky enough to go to a few games at the world cup in 2014 in brazil and the first match I saw was the U.S. versus Ghana. Ghana has been the Achilles heel for the U.S. in the previous World Cups. But the U.S. took a very early lead in the first minute of the game and we were comfortable until Ghana tied the match in the 82nd minute. There it goes. History will repeat itself. But with only eight minutes left in the game, I thought we were in for disappointment as this was a crucial match for the U.S. to win.

35:52 then John Brooks slammed in a game-winning header in the 86th minute to win the game. Friends, I've been to many live sporting events in my life. I've seen Kobe Bryant hit a game-winning shot. I've seen my beloved LA Galaxy win MLS Cups. But to this date, that game-winning goal in Brazil in the World Cup is still my favorite sports memory. Gives me chills just thinking about it. Yet after the game, there was a huge party in the streets of Natal, Brazil. And even though Ghana had lost, their fans were still dancing with us in the streets. For those of you watching online, there is a picture to prove it. Again, there is something about the game that turns strangers into friends. Simon Cooper in his book World Cup Fever writes this. I struggle to articulate what's special about World Cups until I sat down one morning in a parish church just north of the Marble Arch in London, with vicar Father Lincoln Harvey.

36:54 A lifelong Arsenal fan, he's the author of a brief theology of sports. He explained to me that the World Cup is a bit like a religious feast comparable to Easter, the Muslim Eid, or the Hindu Diwali, but rarer, happening once every four years and shared by every country on earth. A religious feast offers respite from life's dreary toil. The World Cup, said Father Harvey, is a celebration of many things. Football, great individuals, but also the team. Our own nation, but also every participating nation and its uniqueness. During World Cups, people honor differences. Nations compete, but joyously, knowing that football is only the most important of unimportant things. As for the players, the World Cup is their pilgrimage.

37:49 Every player has their own vocation. The training camp is their monastery. Their reward for sacrifice is victory. Father Harvey said, for any footballer, the World Cup must feel transcendent, beautiful. The tournament is as good as it gets. I don't think anything comes close to allowing unity and distinction, togetherness and otherness. i think father lincoln and cooper are unto something in some ways during the world cup jesus is at the table with messi and mbappe with the fans the players the coaches the soccer purist but also with the corrupt fifa executives i know that i'm making the world cup sound very utopian but don't get me wrong i know that it's not the elitism to purchase tickets this time around the bribery and the corruption they're all intertwined and i'm not naive enough to say that soccer always unites my eyes do roll whenever i meet a tottenham or lafc fan but because the world game does have the power to unite i also know it has the power to divide i actually think it looks a lot like christ's table at its best the world cup, it can expand the table sharing in a joyous feast among stranger. And yet it also divides when there are certain people who do not want the table to be expanded.

39:22 let's look more closely at this passage from today who is levi first a quick biblical note levi is almost certainly the same person we know elsewhere as matthew luke and mark call him levi while matthew's gospel tells the same story and calls him matthew tradition holds that this tax collector would eventually become one of the 12 disciples and according to the early church the author of the gospel of Matthew. But before he was a disciple or an apostle or before he was perhaps a gospel writer, Levi was a tax collector. And not the kind of tax collector who reminds you to file your taxes in April. In the ancient world, tax collectors were among the most despised people in society. Part of the reason was the system itself. The Roman Empire essentially outsourced tax collection. Wealthy investors would purchase the right to collect taxes in a region and then hire local people to do the actual work. To paraphrase theologian Justo Gonzalez, these local collectors are often made their living by collecting more than Rome required and pocketing the difference. The more they can squeeze out of their neighbors, the more money everyone in the chain made. Levi likely worked in Capernaum, a bustling town situated along a major trade route. Every merchant moving goods, every fisherman bringing in a catch, every traveler passing through could become another opportunity for profit.

41:04 In the same chapter, Peter, James, and John are called to be disciples, and they were fishermen catching fish only to see Levi at the tax booth taking a cut of their work. It's not difficult to understand why people hated tax collectors. They represented exploitation, corruption, and collaboration with an occupying empire. And there was another layer to it. Tax collectors worked closely with Roman officials and Gentile merchants. They handled Roman coins engraved with images and claims of imperial power that many faithful Jews found offensive. So Levi, who was Jewish, was not only viewed as someone who cheated his own people, he was viewed as someone who had become compromised by the very empire oppressing them. Again, I'm prepping this sermon during the World Cup season, and I kept thinking about Chuck Blazer. Most people have never heard of him, But for years, he was one of the most powerful executives in FIFA, the organization that governs world soccer.

42:13 He was an American executive who was our neighbor, living just down the street, having a whole floor at Trump Tower and famously having an apartment just for his cats. While millions of fans poured their hearts into the game, traveling thousands of miles and spending hard-earned money to support their teams, Blazer and others were taking bribes and enriching themselves behind the scenes. When the corruption scandal finally came to light, soccer fans around the world were furious. It wasn't just that the rules were broken. It felt like betrayal. The people entrusted to steward the beautiful game had instead used it for their own gain. There are many corrupt politicians or head of giant corporations that you might want to compare Levi to. But for me this week, Levi looks like Chuck Blazer. Every time a fisherman sold his catch, every time a merchant moved goods through Capernaum, every time a family struggled to make ends meet, taxes increased.

43:17 And there sat Levi at the tax booth, benefiting from a system everyone knew was rigged. To many people, he wasn't just a sinner. He was a collaborator, a profiteer. the kind of person who got rich while everyone else paid the price if there was a list of people least likely to receive a call from jesus levi would have been near the top and yet that is exactly who jesus asked to become a disciple follow me jesus says and immediately he follows but not without throwing a huge party first. In a World Cup-style feast, he invites all his tax collector's friends, and they're all invited, and they're having a great time together. Levi's first act is to throw a party. He opens his homes, he fills the table, and invites everyone he knows.

44:12 It's almost as if Levi understands something before anyone else does. If Jesus had welcomed him, then there must be room for others too. Christ's table is never a private party for the spiritual elite. It's a crowded table, as Brandy Carlisle sings. It's a noisy table. A table where stories are shared, laughter rings out, and people who never imagined they belong discover that there is a seat for them after all. If the kingdom of God is a feast, then Levi's banquet is a first preview party. But then the Pharisees are noticing something. They are concerned and they complain to the disciples. Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? The disciples don't respond but Jesus interjects and says it's not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.

45:11 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. this is so fascinating to me because the first thing that i noticed in this complaint is he's is the pharisees are asking the disciples why are you eating with tax collectors and sinners remember the disciples that jesus just called were jewish fishermen who would likely were were taxed unjustly but now they are sharing drinks with levi the rivalry is somehow paused with a big party? What is it about Christ and the table that brings not just strangers to the table, but rivals? Now, before we go too hard on the Pharisees, it's worth remembering that they're not always the villain of the story that we often imagine. To paraphrase Justo Gonzalez again, among the various Jewish groups of their day, the Pharisees were some of the most serious, faithful and respected religious people around. They cared deeply about scripture. They wanted to honor God in every aspect of life. They wrestled with questions that sound surprisingly familiar to us today. How do we live faithfully in a changing world? How do we know what God requires of us? How do we remain holy amid competing cultural pressures? In many ways, the Pharisees are not the people furthest from us, but perhaps the people most like us. And from their perspective, their concern makes sense. Levi is not merely someone who made a mistake. He represents corruption, compromise, collaboration with Rome. If Levi walked through the doors of Fifth Avenue today, it would be like your least favorite politician walking through the doors, and many of us would have questions too. We might wonder whether he was sincere. Are they really here to worship? We might wonder whether they have changed. We might wonder why is Jesus sending the wrong message by celebrating with him so publicly? The Pharisees are not asking a ridiculous question.

47:23 They're asking a religious question. Why would a teacher sent from God choose to spend time with people like that. In a Hellenistic world, philosophers and teachers would sometimes describe themselves as physicians for the soul. So Jesus picks up that familiar image and says, it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Notice that Jesus does not deny that something is wrong. He does not pretend that the exploitation is acceptable or that sin does not matter. instead he reframed he reframes the entire conversation a doctor goes where the sick are a healer goes where the wounds are a shepherd goes where the lost sheep are jesus is at levi's table because that's exactly where grace is needed most and perhaps that's the deeper challenge for the pharisees and for us the question is not whether Levi belongs at the table. Jesus already answered that by taking a seat. The question is whether the rest of us are willing to sit down beside him. And if we are not, maybe we are the ones who need a doctor as well. Let's put ourselves in Levi's shoes for a little bit. Before Jesus approaches him, I have to wonder if he's already feeling guilty about being a tax collector.

48:53 and this grace that Jesus offers him is a freedom for him and he's excited he leads to repentance and he throws a party friends whenever we have hatred or greed or let's just call it what it is sin whenever we have sin in our hearts it wears us down and our hearts yearn for grace and for change. So perhaps Levi is already somebody who's yearning for his heart to change. One of the most questionable things I have done as a youth pastor was to rent vans from a van rental company that was operated out of a hotel room. I was a 24-year-old youth pastor and no other company would rent vans to me, but the guy who rented vans out of a hotel room, he sure did.

49:46 The first time I rented from him, I was really nervous. I needed a van to take kids to Mexico and he had a great price. It worked out just fine. And him and I developed an interesting relationship over the next few years. Whenever I needed a van, there was no online form. I would just shoot him a text message and he would say, no problem, come on over. One time he missed the appointment and I was waiting there for 30 minutes and I called him like, where are you? He said, you know what? Don't worry, just go into my office, a hotel room. The keys are there, take it and we'll do the payment and paperwork when you get back. He was also very gracious when I backed up the van into a tree and made a mess of the bumper.

50:30 However, it became clear to me that this van rental business was probably not his primary business. What he really did, I still have no idea. Yet I also have a feeling he was stoked to have a pastor friend who could vouch for his van rental business. He was a sweet guy. Honestly, he would send me text messages on holidays. I even got a happy Mother's Day text from him one time.

50:56 But one day I went to go pick up a van and his head was down and he was covering his face. And he said to me in all honesty, in some kind of confession, I'm tired of all this, Warner. I'm tired of chasing this money. It was a real moment of vulnerability. a moment of acknowledgement that whatever he was involved in was not producing what he truly wanted. I think about him from time to time and about that moment. What if my friend had a Levi moment where grace was offered to him? What if repentance would lead him to joy and freedom just like Levi? Friends, if you are in a place where you need grace to be extended, here it is in the good news of Jesus. We do this every single week at the confessional sequence. We know that greed may be eating you up, or an illness of addiction has stirred choices that hurt people, or the hatred in your heart for people that you disagree with has left you bitter and angry.

52:02 Friends, it's time to repent. But it's time to repent joyfully. And let's throw a big freaking party and extend the table. now whenever we talk about grace this extravagantly someone inevitably will ask doesn't that let people off the hook doesn't that minimize the harm that they've caused let me be clear this doesn't mean we ignore injustice we work towards justice but my fear is that our righteous hate for injustice has turned into hatred for people or a people group perhaps us as pharisees we need a doctor too so that our hearts can heal and real change can happen i'll close with this story shortly after the murder of george floyd you know how harsh the facebook and twitter debates got around police brutality and racism an acquaintance of mine posted a bible verse that said george floyd got what he deserved because he did not listen to Jesus. It was truly a horrendous, hateful, and racist post. And to make things worse, he weaponized scripture and our Savior. I couldn't contain myself. I engaged in the back and forth with him, and on multiple occasions I told him, and I quote, repent of this evil post. I was so angry. I screenshotted and I looked at it this week and it still makes my blood boil boil I urged him to repent but I'm going to confess something to you all in my anger I didn't really want him to repent I wanted him to feel shame I wanted him to know that what he was saying was wrong and that it was hurting the gospel message and that's not a bad thing to call out I stand by the things I said but I don't stand by the heart that I had at that time because in all honesty I thought he was a

54:09 piece of trash and I wanted him to know that I wanted him to feel shame and for that I needed to repent myself what I should have wanted for him was a change of heart and to help usher in a better world what I should have wanted was what Jesus wanted for Levi Jesus didn't sit down at Levi's table because he approved of exploitation. He sat down at Levi's table because Levi is also loved and enough. He believed grace could do what shame never could. And remarkably for Levi, it did. Levi got up from the tax booth and left behind the life he knew and became a disciple. But what about the Pharisees? The Pharisees standing outside the party, the Pharisees who see the injustice, who ask hard questions, who want holiness and righteousness and faithfulness. The Pharisees are not wronged to be troubled by Levi's past.

55:10 Yet the Pharisees' challenge is different. Levi needs to repent of the ways he harmed others, and he did. But the Pharisees need to repent of believing that some people are beyond God's grace. One needs healing from exploitation. The other needs healing from self-righteousness. Both need a doctor.

55:35 Maybe that's why I love the World Cup so much. For a few brief weeks, people who would otherwise never share a meal, never share a conversation, never share a song, somehow find themselves dancing together in the streets. The World Cup is not the kingdom of God. it's far too messy for that. But every now and then it offers a glimpse of what is possible when people discover they belong to something bigger than themselves. In today's story, Levi's banquet offers a similar glimpse. Fishermen and tax collectors, religious leaders and sinners, rivals and strangers, all gathered around one table because Jesus is there. Friends, that is the invitation of Christ's table. not that we pretend sin doesn't matter not that we stop pursuing justice not that we ignore the harm people cause the invitation is that we want more for people than shame we want transformation we want repentance that leads to freedom we want healing that leads to reconciliation we want grace that is strong enough to change hearts including our own so as we begin this summer series perhaps the question is where are we in the story am i levi longing for the freedom that's something from something that holds my heart am i the pharisee standing outside the party wondering whether grace has gone too far am i one of the disciples surprised by who jesus keeps inviting to the table whoever we are the good news of christ is the same christ has already pulled out a chair christ has already taken a seat christ is still building a crowded table and christ is still saying to all of us come eat with me friends if you're willing will you please stand as you are able and join with me with a brief statement of faith from the presbyterian church usa

57:42 With believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.