The Power of a Dinner Table

When was the last time you ate a meal with someone other than a close friend or family member? 

For me, it was relatively recently. While Katie and I were at the Wild Goose Festival, we enjoyed a number of meals with strangers from around the festival. Of course, most of these meals were with other young pastors and ministry professionals as part of the cohort we were at the festival with, but the connection these meals provided reminded me of how important meals really are for us. The dinner table is one of the few settings where people who might be very different from one another can come together and connect in ways that go deeper than the surface. 

Jesus knew this. So much so, that much of his ministry happened around dinner tables. This week, we’re starting a new sermon series called Dinner With Jesus in which we will look at stories of Jesus at dinner tables throughout the Gospels. In these stories, we see Jesus at his most connectional, his most relational, as he bridges gaps between people and demonstrates for us what it really means to connect across difference and to offer radical hospitality. Our first story, which we’ll hear this Sunday, is Luke 5:27-32. In this short scene, Jesus eats at the home of Levi the tax collector, and his dinner there is questioned by the Pharisees. In response, we hear, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” 

That’s a pretty powerful line from Jesus, and a challenging one. Because, I’ll be honest with you, Lake Cities, I don’t really like eating meals with people I don’t know or like. Here, however, we see Jesus sitting down with people who he does not know, and whose actions he does not like. See, tax collectors were especially disliked people in Jesus’ day. These were locals who had been recruited by the Roman imperial authorities to collect taxes from other locals. This was bad enough – seen as a betrayal by their neighbors – but tax collectors often used their position to exploit others, drawing extra taxes and skimming off the top for themselves. In this way, they enriched themselves off the backs of their neighbors while also supporting an oppressive, imperialist regime.

The Pharisees know this. For all their own collusion with imperialism, they at least aren’t actively stealing from their neighbors. Moreover, Jesus knows this. He is fully aware of the damage these people are doing, and the way his reputation as a teacher might take a hit if he is seen consorting with Levi and his friends. Yet, something about this meal, about the connections formed around the dinner table, is powerful enough that Jesus knows his message of repentance and restoration will break through. In other gospels, Levi goes by a different name – Matthew. Whether Levi or Matthew, the connections formed over this meal bring about a deeply devoted follower of Jesus. From tax collector to disciple, all because of one dinner table. That’s the power of radical hospitality. 

Join me Sunday, and we’ll dive deeper into this story together. 

See you Sunday! 

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Tim