“A church I served developed a clever evening of fellowship called ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?’,” begins the Reverend Amy Starr Redwine, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Virginia. A family in the church agreed to host a dinner but didn’t know who would show up until the guests arrived. Redwine says, “That may sound a little risky, but this was a small enough church that nearly everyone knew each other…it was a mostly low risk evening.” The religious leader who invited Jesus to a dinner party with his friends in today’s passage from Luke 14:1, 7-14 knew of Jesus, but they are “trying to figure out who he is and what he is all about.” Jesus does not disappoint! He offers a radical critique of social and political practices of that time and place. What might happen if you threw a “dinner party” and invite those least expected to attend, those outside your normal circle? What could that look like in contemporary culture? How can we “pay it forward”? Listen as Redwine teaches how to practice our faith and live out our gratitude toward God.
Manuscript available: click HERE