December 19, 2024

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! (Luke 7:24 NRSVUE)”

The above verse from Luke’s gospel is the Daily Lectionary Reading for Wednesday December 18th. This was not the first verse I would have reflected upon on my own a week before Christmas. Jesus faced criticism from the “keepers of all religious matters stay the same” for cavorting with the ‘riffraff’ of His day. This was, arguably, one of several reasons why they joined with the Roman empire in condemning Jesus to execution by way of crucifixion.

Yet in this verse Jesus shared what it is like to be human, and as said in our UCC Statement of Faith ‘sharing our common lot.’  Considering this returned my mind to a favorite television series called Joan of Arcadia.  The series chronicled the adventures of Joan, a teenager from Arcadia MD (she would have lived in our Conference!) who found herself having unexpected conversations with God. God could pop anytime during Joan’s day as anyone ranging from her school bus driver to a cashier in a grocery store.  Joan Osborne’s “One of Us” was the theme song of the show, asking the following question in the chorus:

What if God was one of us?

Just a slob like one of us

Just a stranger on the bus

Tryin' to make his way home?

I believe that on Christmas God answered Osborne’s question, That day, God became one of us. And Jesus, one of us, came eating and drinking. He ate and drank not only with his disciples, or followers, or crowds of people who looked to Him for healing or miracles.  Jesus also shared water at a well with a Samaritan woman with a reality show worthy marital history. He shared meals with tax collectors Levi (Matthew) and Zacchaeus. Jesus also told a parable about inviting to a wedding banquet guests ‘both good and bad’ (Mt. 22:10 NSRVUE). At risk of being labeled a ‘glutton and a drunkard,’ Jesus was willing to eat and drink with those who would have never had an invitation to the tables of the ‘faithful folk’. In that day that would have included all of us.

I submit to you that Christmas contains good news in that Jesus is willing, in fact more than willing, to eat and drink with us. Today human beings persist at an alarming rate to contrive criteria that exclude other human beings from having a place at the table, let alone any invitation to eat and drink. But none of that still matters to Jesus. What matters to Jesus Is that we are known to Him and beloved by Him as children of God who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13 NRSVUE)”  

So, this Christmas, whether our table is a large one surrounded by many family members and friends or whether you are alone with a simple meal, please remember this. Immanuel, God with us, is at the table with us. Whatever we eat or drink, Jesus, is our company and desires our company. Glutton and drunkard He may be to those whose religiosity seek to confine Him, Jesus will never stop in extending His invitation not only to us, but to the world, to eat and drink our fill and beyond of the love, grace, and mercy of God. That is a gift Jesus brings to our table every Christmas we get to celebrate. May we give thanks for it and savor every morsel and drop.

May you be filled with hope, peace, joy and love this Christmas and always,