The Dinner Party

The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago

Luke 14:1 & 7-14 

 

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

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, 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 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.” Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

 

I have walked in the shoes of Martha Stewart and Julia Child. Don't worry, I'm not turning this blog into a Julie and Julia type blog. Last night my wife and I held our first dinner party. We have had a friend over for a meal before (on several occasions) but this one was more intentional. The previous weekend my best friend from high school ended up staying for dinner, so yesterday's dinner party was two of her friends from high school (and one spouse). We woke up Saturday morning and started cleaning, even though dinner was at 7:00 pm. Well mostly, I just attempted to look like I was cleaning when my wife was watching, then I'd go back to painting. Then by mid day I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner (sodas, cake... you know, the priorities). So when I came back my wife went to the grocery store because apparently people eat more than soda and cake nowadays (weird, right?). When she came back we finished organizing the place, cleaning up and finishing dinner. Actually when they arrived my wife was still blending a sweet potato soufflé and I showed them around he place. Why did we go through all of this trouble? She has been friends with these people for about 16 years and I've known them for at least 3-4 years. It is because we wanted to feel comfortable and accepted. They may have been our guests for a few hours but we wanted them to feel "at home." You know that whole "Mi casa es su casa" thing that you are supposed to say with a "wink and a gun." Today's verses from the Gospel of Luke are about those very same considerations. Christ was invited to dinner, but it makes us wonder who he invites to dine with him. Who does Christ prepare a place for at his table? Who does he welcome into his Father's house and asks that they accept it as their own home?

 

The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago

For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted

 

I'm a McDonald's type cat. My mom cooked at home for most of our meals and my dad cooked a few times as well. But McDonald's was probably 25 % of the meals that I consumed. I learned to cook a little while living in the dorms at college, but I still kept a place in my heart for driving around and eating fries. And riding on the bus and eating tacos. And walking down the street eating a burger. And, well you get the idea... I like moving around and eating food that will lead to my demise. This being the case I never really learned the intricacies of dinning etiquette. Now keep in mind, I am not a total Philistine: I know the basics of eating a meal around non-barbaric company. But I never learned which side silverware goes on... and for some reason I can never commit it to memory. So if you are a stickler about dining and you are eating with me, then chances are you may be secretly judging me. In Luke 14 we find Christ observing the dinner etiquette of his dinner hosts. Jesus wasn't critiquing their table manners (remember he didn't scold his disciples for not washing their hands before meals, as was the Kosher custom) but rather the manner in which they lived. After noticing all of the schmoozing and jockeying for position that was occurring at this dinner table, Christ saw an opportunity to reveal how a simple setting like this displays one's internal spiritual condition. One should live life in a manner that displays humility. This is that type of life that God honors and the type of person that God rewards. God's mercy is always offered to the humble and not to the proud. All of Christ's Beatitudes of Matthew 5 can be summed up as "blessed are the humble." When we daily aspire to dine with the Breakfast of Champions God jut wants those to honor at his Dinner for Scmucks. True greatness is recognized by God. A God who esteems the lowly.

 

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.

 

So if we are to be like God and emulate His practices, then our dinner guests that we surround ourselves with should be similar to those that God surrounds himself with. Who do you break bread with? Do you make friends in an aspiration to "network" and benefit yourself or do you show love with the intention to serve? Give to those who have nothing to give and your Father will give to you. This emulates what God does... giving to those who have nothing to give. That is what Grace is. All of God's relationship with us is based on dependency: hence He calls us His children. When was the last time that a child returned something valuable to you in gratitude? I'm sorry, macaroni necklaces and refrigerator drawings don't count. Or do they? They have no financial value on the market, but they are true riches to a parent because they display the love that a child has for her parent. That's what God gets from us. True worship is gratitude and love. God may be rich in all of the wonders of the universe, but His greatest treasures appear to be the macaroni necklaces and refrigerator drawings that we give Him through prayer and our love for others. This being the case, Christ asks that we make room at our tables and our hearts for those who need. For there was once a time when we were spiritually and physically hungry and he did not turn us away.

 

The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago

 Feminist artist Judy Chicago's  installation artwork The Dinner Party and The Gospel of Luke have a lot in common. I mean, besides the whole abstracted images of vulva on plates and everything (If you are a kid and don't know what that "v" word meant, then ask your parents. If you are an adult and you don't know what that word means, then call up your parents and tell them that they failed you). Wikipedia describes the Judy Chicago's work as such:

 

The Dinner Party was created by artist Judy Chicago, with the assistance of numerous volunteers, with the goal to "end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record." The table is triangular and measures 14.63 m (forty-eight feet) on each side. Each place setting features a table runner embroidered with the woman's name and images or symbols relating to her accomplishments, with a napkin, utensils, a glass or goblet, and a plate. Many of the plates feature a butterfly- or flowerlike sculpture as a vulva symbol. A collaborative effort of female and male artisans, The Dinner Party celebrates traditional female accomplishments such as textile arts (weaving, embroidery, sewing) and china painting, which have been framed as craft or domestic art, as opposed to the more culturally valued, male-dominated fine arts. The white floor of triangular porcelain tiles, called the Heritage Floor, is inscribed with the names of a further 999 notable women.^"

 

Is The Dinner Party about the Jesus? No, amongst the names of hundreds of women included in the piece are even a few ancient Pagan deities. However, I feel that both the installation and Luke's gospel attempt to address similar things. They both focus on exalting those that have been treated as second class. Judy Chicago even intentionally delivers her artwork in a medium that was seen as a frivolous past time of women: the dinner party. Yet both Christ and Chicago communicated their truths through the sharing of a meal. In doing this they both elevated the viewers focus on the status "the outsider." It is believed that Luke is the only Gentile (non-Jew) to write in Scripture. He was a writer from a people who had been outsiders to God's mercy. If this is true then it matches Luke's focus on the previously overlooked groups of people. When you read Luke it is hard to overlook the several character profiles, that the author provides, of people that encountered Christ. Luke uses these short profiles to highlight women, those of humble estate and gentiles... those who were deemed as second class or outsiders. They were people that normally wouldn't be given the place of honor at dinner parties. Yet Luke peppers them throughout his book and Christ places them at the center of his ministry. So the vulva on the plates of Judy Chicago's artwork may be offensive to many viewers, yet her intention was not derogatory or sexualized. She displays what separated these greats from being recognized and honored by their peers: their womanhood. When Christ looks at the outsider (the woman, the Gentile, the crippled, the foreigner) he does not see what Man sees and is offended by. Christ sees the beauty that God created in every individual. He sees the grace of humility that is greatness waiting to be exalted in holiness. Christ sees nothing derogatory or vile about the outsider, for he became an outsider so that we might have inside access to God's mercy. 

The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago (artist pictured)

Maybe I am more like Martha Stewart and Julia Child than I previously thought... or at least a bad impersonation of Chef Justin Wilson. Christianity is centered around a dinner party. Before Christianity enjoyed legal status and worshippers could build public churches, believers would gather together in houses. Worship was held around tables at a meal called the "agape feast." "Agape" is a Greek word that means "love." Not a romantic or familial love, but an unconditional and divine love. One that mimics the kind of love that we freely receive from God. One that has no preconditions and cannot expect repayment. It can however expect a response. A response of passing that same love, hospitality and forgiveness on to our brothers, strangers and enemies. That is the love and forgiveness that we celebrate in our Eucharist celebrations and Communion ceremonies. Christ asked that as often as we do partake in this meal that we do it in remembrance of him. In remembrance of his blood, his sacrifice and forgiveness. If we keep this in mind while eating the bread and drinking the wine then it is impossible for us to keep offence with our brother (in good conscience). It is because our communion is not just with the Lord but with each other. He died that we may all be brothers and sisters. There is no outsider at the table of God. We all dine as equals before Him.