You may have heard the story about a pastor feuding with his choir director. The pastor one Sunday preached about “Service.” Immediately afterwards, the choir director played the hymn: “I Shall Not Be Moved.” The pastor preached on “Giving.” The choir director sang: “Jesus Paid It All.” .
The pastor finally told the congregation that unless something changed, he would consider resigning. The choir director led the hymn: “Why Not Tonight?” The pastor finally did resign, explaining that Jesus had led him here and now was leading him to another church. The choir director sang: “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.” The moral of the story is: don't mess with the choir director.
The word of God takes us up to a mountaintop. The author of Isaiah writes poetically about a future in which God, a victorious warrior, gathers all people together for a banquet. It's a vision of salvation: no more death, no more grief. It almost sounds like a party with God, and everyone loves a party.
Isaiah may be asking us: what is our vision of the future? And if it's living in God's presence forever, what are we doing now to make that vision a reality?
Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Philippi in Greece describes his life: sometimes he has plenty; at other times not enough. But so be it. What matters most for Paul is preaching the good news that Jesus is alive. And because he lives, we live. Paul writes that he can do all things through the God who lives within him. He relies completely upon God who loves him unconditionally.
Paul may be asking us: do we trust in God's unconditional love for us, especially when things are not going our way, when what is happening is the opposite of what we want.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells a parable or allegory about a king who invites his so-called friends to a banquet. But the king’s friends refuse for one reason or another. So the king says: forget these fair-weather friends, and go out into the streets and invite whomever you find, good as well as bad. But still the invitation requires appropriate dress. Yes, God invites to the banquet of eternal life all people; but they have to be “clothed”in a right relationship with God.
It's amazing how a banquet or dinner can bring people together. Think of the wonderful things that often take place at our own tables. Families celebrate important transitions—e. g., birthdays, graduations—around a table.
How many saw the movie “Babette's Feast.” It was a 1987 academy award winner. It's also a favorite film of Pope Francis. Babette, a French chef, finds herself in a small town where its strict and puritanical religiosity makes people hard and cold and judgmental, afraid to enjoy anything or anyone. Babette unexpectedly wins a lottery and spends all her winnings on a huge, delectable feast for the townspeople. And as they begin to taste and enjoy the meal, they start to communicate good-naturedly. They even dance! The meal transformed them into warm-hearted human beings.
Babette models self-giving; and also elicits joy in people, a foretaste of heaven. The toast at the end captures why, I think, Pope Francis likes the movie. Here's a paraphrase of the toast:
“There comes a time when your eyes are opened.
And we come to realize…that mercy is infinite.
We need only await it with confidence…and receive it with gratitude.
As I reflected upon “Babette's Feast” I thought about our own relationships, especially family relationships.
Happy families have a good, solid sense of togetherness. They care about one another. They keep in touch; they’re hospitable; concerned about elderly grandparents or relatives. They celebrate birthdays/anniversaries and participate in special family milestones, e.g., graduations, baptisms, confirmations and marriages. They take responsibility for family chores; they spend time together; they set times to eat meals together where they share good news as well as bad. They keep their word and thereby build-up trust in their relationships.
More important, they know how to agree to disagree. They try to avoid negative name-calling; they can distinguish the behavior they find objectionable from judgments about that behavior. For example, someone is late. A negative judgment would be: you’re so selfish. The actual behavior is: you’re late; the reasons may be many, e.g. an accident on the highway, a last-minute request from the boss. Good relationships avoid blurting out negative name-calling that subtly undermine a relationship. In the end, we may simply agree to disagree. That's ok.
St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians asks us to be imitators of God, to live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” (Eph 5:1–2). But what does this “life of love” look like? Paul in chapters 4 and 5 especially gives us at least five ingredients for good relationships:
--Paul urges us to be authentic, to speak the truth to one another, to try to live a life of honesty and integrity. (Eph 4:25) Authenticity makes it easy to admit we’re far from perfect. We have our own foibles and peccadilloes. Authenticity also steers us away from hypocrisy.
--Paul asks us to be passionate about what's right. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, had a passionate hatred against discrimination that led him to champion civil rights. Nelson Mandela had a hatred against apartheid that led him to champion freedom. Jesus had a righteous anger about the money changers in the temple that led him to throw them out. Yes, anger should result in righting wrongs.
--Paul encourages the Ephesians to get an honest job so that they can help others. Paul sees work as an integral part of life. Work in itself is doing something useful, as well as giving us resources to help those in need.
--Paul advises us to watch the way we talk. Say only what helps. Our words can build people up. Use speech for good–for encouragement. Encouragement is like verbal sunshine. It costs nothing, but it warms hearts and can even changes lives.
--and,
--Paul exhorts us to be gentle. Forgive one another as quickly as God forgives us. God's vision of church is a community of disciples welcoming all: people especcially who need forgiveness and a place where forgiveness abounds. The church, to paraphrase Pope Francis, is a field hospital where wounds are healed.
With these five ingredients in our relationships (being authentic, passionate about doing the right thing, working usefully and being generous, encouraging and welcoming), God can work wonders through us. The following advice will sustain those relationships:
Take time to think…it's the source of power. Take time to read…it's the fountain of wisdom. Take time to pray…it's the greatest power on earth. Take time to love and be loved…it's a God-given privilege. Laugh…it’s the muse of the soul. Take time to work...it's the price of success. And take time to do good things for others…it's the road to happiness and the key to the heavenly banquet.
