11th sunday after trinity
Luke 14. 1, 7-14
The Very Revd Dr Paul Shackerley: Dean of Brecon
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a story about a young girl who falls asleep and wakes in a world where everything is not as it seems. In this dream, Alice encounters a host of fantastical characters, such as a white rabbit with a pocket watch, a grinning Cheshire cat who keeps vanishing, and the Queen of Hearts, who keeps shouting, ‘off with their heads!’ It's only when she stumbles upon the Mad-Hatter’s Tea Party that Alice realises everything is back to front and upside down in this strange new world. It’s a story of a child’s difficult and disorienting journey of growing up, from childhood innocence to the confusing complexities of adulthood and the arbitrary rules of the adult world. The adult society appears nonsensical. Wonderland forces Alice to confront her own identity and strengths. The dream left a lasting impression on Alice, and when she drinks the bottle labelled ‘drink me’, she shrinks to a tiny size and must navigate a world that suddenly seems even much larger and more intimidating. I wonder if many young people leaving school and going to employment, unemployment, or university might wonder how they will navigate the complexities of adult life. How back-to-front and upside-down society might feel to the young (or even us sometimes). The world/society is a challenging and intimidating place, not only for teenagers, but also for us grown-ups.
The Queen of Hearts a symbol of the oppressive nature of authority. She’s constantly issuing orders and demanding obedience from her subjects, barking out instructions even as she’s playing croquet with the guests. The Pharisees didn’t play croquet, but they did bark out demanding obedience to laws with significant authority over others. The struggle with the world is epitomised in the scene where Alice encounters the Caterpillar and is asked to identify herself.
She responds, “I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.” Do we know who we are, and how many times must we change and adapt to the changing social and political landscape, the development of AI doing our thinking for us are what we inhabit in our daily lives? What is our place in society, and how do we respond to the world’s challenges, pain, hunger and warfare? Today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches once again how to respond to the least in society’s eyes, inviting the least and less obvious to the table of Christ and His Church community.
Perhaps the Cheshire Cat, one of the iconic characters, whose wisdom is hidden in riddles, is right, ‘we’re all mad here, you see.’ No matter how mad we might think the world, we must think more highly of a very different madness that is the mad love of God for His world, for you and me. Today’s Gospel reading is not quite as puzzling as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but when we consider Jesus’ words, we might be forgiven for thinking he points out what is back to front and upside-down. His meal with the Pharisees is a Mad-Hatter’s tea party, where he calls the smallest to the place of honour, and teaches the hosts humility. They have forgotten their table manners and the instruction of Scripture. He was teaching them something they should know as teachers of the Torah but have forgotten. They were simply back to front and upside-down.
Once we remove the negative impressions we have of these formidable Pharisees, the Queen of Hearts of 1st Century Jewish religion, and recognise their influence on many people, we should not be surprised by this encounter between them and Jesus. Yet, it also suggests a more neutral relationship between the Pharisees and Jesus than we often think. This is a story where hope is nestled in the act of hospitality and welcome. Jesus’ teaching in this Gospel is societal counter-cultural. Back to front and upside-down world like Alice’s adventurous dream. Where people sat in relation to the host was a sign of their status. But these aren’t lessons about status, but glimpses of a life shaped around a table – around the altar where we share Holy Communion, and of the heavenly feast still to come when we sing God’s praises with loved ones on another shore. And at this table, your place is ready. Every one of you/us is an honoured and cherished guest this morning, and every time we come to take the Bread of Life at Holy Communion. Jesus is addressing both the guests and the hosts in turn. They are all welcome. While the passage opens with the statement that they are watching him, it turns out that he’s been watching them also. He speaks not in riddles like Alice’s nonsensical Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat, but parables that reveal Truth and teach us we are all invited distinguished guests, whoever we are.
Meals provide central settings for Jesus’ mission, as eating does in Alice’s dream world. Eating is a sign of life and celebration for us all. Jesus is showing that around meals, ideas, difference and cultures can intertwine to create a mosaic of traditions, a divine tapestry where we share life and Gospel stories, experiences, and bread and wine. It is where hospitality's spirit eternally aligns us with God’s welcome to His banquet, of which this morning is a foretaste. And so it is, to this holy place where we gather today, where God invites us to ‘come up higher’. Do nothing other than receive and gaze at him through the words, music and symbols of bread and wine, and in this divine worship.
Wonderland is a testament to the power of great stories and symbolism to inspire, even if the world they depict seems mad! Not unlike Jesus, who often gathered around food, parties, banquets and barbeques. Later in the service, the priest will invite us to Christ’s feast of bread and wine, ‘happy are those who are called to his supper’. And, so we are, this morning, where Jesus calls us to His meal, a foretaste of the heavenly banquet where those gone before us now feast. A poem by Grant Keilley eloquently puts it:
In the realm of warmth and grace, we find,
A virtue of kindness, so divinely designed,
It whispers of a home, where hearts unwind,
Hospitality, is a treasure, forever enshrined.
For in the act of hosting, hearts find solace,
A shared humanity, like a warm embrace,
A sanctuary where differences find grace,
Hospitality's power is an eternal embrace.
So let us extend our arms wide and high,
Embracing the stranger, with empathy sigh,
For in the heart of hospitality, we imply,
That love and compassion shall never die.
Grant Keilley
The Very Reverend Dr Paul Shackerley
Dean of Brecon
