On Sunday August 31, 2025 I had the joy of being with Faith Ambassadors Lutheran Parish for the installation of Deacon Kristin Johnson. I was invited to come and preach as well as install Deacon Kristin. The four congregations of Faith Ambassadors Parish- St. John’s Lutheran Church CCL, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Uehling, United Lutheran in Scribner, and St. John’s Lutheran Ridgley, gathered together as one at St. John’s Lutheran Church Cuming County Line out in the country outside of Scribner. It was a joyful day that began with a wonderful breakfast that set the stage well for the gospel story in worship, and just a fun and Spirit filled gathering throughout. Thank you Faith Ambassadors for the invitation and for all of the ministry that you do and make possible. What follows is the majority o the manuscript I preached from, based on the appointed lectionary texts for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 22C), especially Luke 14:1, 7-14; Proverbs 25:6-7a, Psalm 112, and Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16.

Grace and peace from God in Christ, who is with you, for you, and who loves you. Amen.

What a day. Faith Ambassadors, it is so good to be with you today. To join you on this day of celebration and installation of Deacon Kristin. A day of committing and recommitting to ministry together as a parish. I bring greetings obviously on behalf of Bishop Johnson and the whole of the Nebraska Synod, but I also bring greetings from your partners in the gospel and neighbors to the south at Salem Lutheran in Fontanelle and from their Pastor Allison Siburg. Friends, it is good to be here with you all today.

What do you wonder and what do you notice?
I start there because I feel like it’s a celebration today, and rightfully so. And there’s kind of a celebration going on in our gospel story today too. Jesus tells a story over a meal about a wedding banquet, and then another observation about a luncheon or dinner. He talks about invitation and welcome, and a place at the table. A thing you all know something about. Making space for each other. Always having more than enough room for another around this table. You showed it already this morning by making room for me at the amazing feast downstairs for breakfast. And you show it daily by walking together as God’s people on both sides of Logan Creek and the Elkhorn River, from Scribner to Uehling, Hooper to Oakland, West Point to Fremont. You embody this story in so many ways. It’s a familiar story. But I wonder what God might be inviting us to see, hear, and notice today.

There’s an old discipleship practice for reading and dwelling in Scripture that is grounded in two questions:“What do you notice?” And “what do you wonder?”[1] They are questions that I suspect Deacon Kristin has already used with you on more than one occasion. These faithful questions lead to imagination, discernment, listening, and growth. They also put the onus on each of us as disciples to listen deeply and to grow. Recognizing that we all share in this work together. It’s not just the work of PMA Bob and Deacon Kristin, or of Bishop Scott or other pastors and deacons like me. This is the work and privilege we all share as part of the Body of Christ together. And this practice reflects the example Jesus set.

The Gospel story begins with Jesus going to the “house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.”[2] Perhaps they are wondering what will this Jesus do? Might we catch him in his words? Or more inquisitively, what’s this guy’s “why?” Why does he do what he does? Why has there been such a commotion about this person named Jesus? Whatever they might be wondering, Jesus also is wondering about them, and why people do what they do. When noticing the choice of where people sat down,[3] Jesus takes the opportunity as he often does, to tell a parable that teaches, enlightens and challenges.

In this story Jesus tells about welcome and relationships. He calls all who might listen to reflect on what welcome looks like and how we are called into relationship with our neighbors. In telling this parable, Jesus offers wisdom that echoes that of our first reading from Proverbs, “But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place.”[4] What might it look and feel like for all of us to make this humble move in our own lives? And I don’t mean just sitting in the back pew like Lutherans tend to do. (And kudos to you, most of you didn’t sit in the back pew.)

Welcome, Relationships, Prestige and Privilege
The gospel story this week offers encouragement and challenge about the importance of welcome and relationships, but also the challenges of prestige and privilege. In quoting a proverb of sorts Jesus says, “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”[5] This is the sort of great reversal Jesus has come to make clear that is true in God’s work and kin-dom. It’s right in line with the idea that the “last will be first, and the first will be last,” or what Mary sings about in her Magnificat that the Lord, “has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”[6] The Gospel of Luke repeats this theme over and over and over again. So I wonder, what point might God be trying to have us get about this? Perhaps God is calling us to see how easy it is to long for or seek prestige and privilege and in so doing, we miss out on what really matters- growing deeper relationships with God and neighbor, welcoming each other as equal Children of God, and perhaps warning us about getting distracted from what is central in being a follower of Jesus?

In telling this story Jesus is inviting us to wonder and notice and also think about how we bear welcome and nurture and grow relationships. Jesus says, “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”[7] I wonder if this is a lesson and reminder for all of us, and perhaps even for all congregations and houses of worship such as this. How are we welcoming and making space for one and all, and especially for those who might not always feel welcomed by society at large? Is it also a lesson for us as individuals and households? How are we welcoming and making space in our homes and around our own tables? If I’m being honest, as someone who feels that one of my spiritual gifts is hospitality and as someone who likes to host and welcome others for meals and conversation, a story like this prompts me to do a double-take and think about how I might be coming up short. What might it look like to be more intentional about this?

This familiar story hits a little stronger today, at least for me. Perhaps it’s because in this current time the gap between those who have and those who have not seems to be growing daily. Where people of certain backgrounds, experiences, ethnicities, orientations, gender identities and different perspectives are being marginalized more and more. What might it look like to follow Jesus’ example to invite, welcome, and meet all of God’s beloved where they are at, with an open seat at the table just for them?

There’s Always Room for One More
We know that there is always room for one more at the table of grace. When we gather around this table, we are reminded that Jesus is truly present and is the host. Jesus makes it so. And because of that, this is what abundance and true welcome looks like. It’s also what relationships look like as God is the one who brings us all together and reconciles us to God and to one another. And God invites us to be just as welcoming and generous as God is to each one of us. To use what God provides and entrusts us each with to provide true welcome which can only come through God’s provision and work, and for collectively working towards justice and peace, as God calls us to, and to care for all of God’s beloved in need. What might this look like? The psalmist paints a picture: “They have distributed freely; they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever…”[8] We are called to do likewise. And one of the ways we do this is by always making room for one more around the table, so that all indeed have a place.

The writer of Hebrews reiterates this, writing, “Let mutual affection continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers… Remember those who are in prison.”[9] God’s welcome is limitless! God’s table does not exclude. God’s abundance is just that. It’s abundant. We embody this truth when we are intentional in stewarding welcome and our relationships. When we work to make time for one another and show up with and for each other. This is often easier said than done. Things like money, wealth, and possessions can so easily get in the way. That’s why we hear the famous warning, “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.”[10] This is not to say that everyone has enough and has what they need. There are many who need their daily bread, who struggle to receive it because of systems, structures, human sin and brokenness and greed. But for most of us probably, if we are being honest with ourselves, we have more than enough. But our neighbors need our help.

Our neighbors are reliant on us. To make space around the table. And we need to be able to use what God entrusts to our care for our neighbor’s sake. That might look like feeding the hungry through the local Immanuel food pantry as you all partner together with neighboring congregations to make happen. That looks like coming alongside and growing disciples in so many ways, like through the Wednesday afternoons at St. John’s Ridgely. That looks like making room for one more around the table- whether it be me as a guest with you all today, or officially installing Deacon Kristin, or whomever might visit on any given day. And it looks like walking with our siblings in Christ who are in prison and who are oppressed and coming near to those just thirsting for a hand-up and God’s good news of life and love to ring true for them.

What’s a Deacon Have to Do with It?
Now if this sermon is sounding a little strong in the area of service towards neighbors today, there’s a reason for that. In your discernment as a parish, you have voted to call a Deacon, an ordained minister of word and service in this church. A deacon is someone who actively has one foot inside the church and one out in the world- connecting the needs of our neighbors beyond the walls of any church building with the faithful gathered in prayer and worship, and one who meets our neighbors where they are at as signs of God’s love and promises- pointing to the Good News always through word and deed.

It just so happens, friends, that you have voted to call someone who I know well as a Deacon, and who is a dear friend and colleague of mine who at the same time, knows that this work, call and ministry is not all about her. This call is about Jesus. About God’s love for you and me, and for all. It’s about all of us and our shared work together. Work that flows from our baptisms when God names us and claims us once and for all. From which flow our whole lives and vocations where we live fully and continue to grow, learn, serve and share as God intends. To live out the truth of the gospel story today that in God’s kin-dom, the table always has room for one more because that’s what God’s abundant love does and is.

I’m excited to be here and celebrate with you all today. I am grateful for all of the ministry that you do and make possible as a parish and as part of the Nebraska Synod and the larger ELCA. I am lucky, as are my wife and daughters and the whole congregation of Salem in Fontanelle to be your neighbors and partners in the gospel with you. Because I know you all- deeply. God is up to something with and through you, and you do amazing things together, Faith Ambassadors. You do this because its who you are. And you do this because of whose you are. Ambassadors of the truth and promises of the Good News. Thank you for all that you do, friends! Your discipleship and stewardship matters and makes a difference.

The Promises are True
All that we do in this life as disciples we do because God makes it so. Walking with us every step of the way. We know that the promises are true. That God in Christ will never leave us or forsake us,[11] and that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”[12] Salvation and the gift of love and life is God’s work and gift for us. It’s not ours to do. But we get to respond to it through the way we live and serve. We have all that we need to make more space at the table and to meet our neighbors’ needs, whatever they might be. And to not only meet our neighbor’s needs but grow into deeper relationship as we continue to walk together. So bring up another chair. Keep showing up and being who God calls you to be as ambassadors of the faith we all share, grounded in the truth that God in Christ is with you, for you, and loves you. Always. Thanks be to God. Amen.

---

Citations and References:
[1] Much of this sermon incorporates or adapts a commentary written by me for the Stewardship of Life Institute and published on August 27, 2025, called “A Place At the Table.” It can be found here: https://www.stewardshipoflife.org/2025/08/a-place-at-the-table/
[2] Luke 14:1, NRSVue.
[3] Luke 14:7.
[4] Luke 14:10, NRSVue, which echoes Proverbs 25:6-7a.
[5] Luke 14:11, NRSV.
[6] Luke 1:52-53, NRSV.
[7] Luke 14:13-14, NRSVue.
[8] Psalm 112:9, NRSVue.
[9] Hebrews 13:1-3, NRSVue.
[10] Hebrews 13:5, NRSVue.
[11] Hebrews 13:5, NRSvue.
[12] Hebrews 13:8, NRSVue.