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<DIV><FONT size=4>"Places in the Heart" is also one of the most theological
Hollywood films ever made. It has the most amazing final scene, set in
church, during Holy Communion. As Communion is being distributed, the
camera pans the congregation. There pictured all around Sally Field's
character are all the people who are and have been important in her life, those
both living and dead. It is a portrait of the heavenly banquet, the
communion of saints, if ever there was one.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://day1.org/2138-how_open_is_our_table">http://day1.org/2138-how_open_is_our_table</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Eric C. Shafer</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Eating – that most human and most necessary of activities –
and all that we associate with it are entwined with our spiritual lives, so it's
no surprise that meals and food are significant themes in the Bible. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>Indeed, scholars observe that meals are very important to the
Gospel writer, Luke: N. T. Wright observes that "Luke's gospel has more
meal-time scenes than all the others. If his vision of the Christian life, from
one point of view, is a journey, from another point of view it's a party"
(<EM>Luke for Everyone</EM>).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>John J. Pilch explains: "The centrality of honor in this culture
teaches natives to stay always a step behind their rightful status," for it's
important that "one is not at all trying to appear or to be better than another
person." However, Pilch describes the behavior of these guests, specifically the
Pharisees as "true to type" when they push their way to the best and highest
places at the dinner (<EM>The Cultural World of Jesus Year C</EM>). </FONT></P>
<P><A href="http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/august-29-2010-l.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/august-29-2010-l.html</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Kate Huey, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>“Keep humble.” About a year ago I got a note with those words
on it. It was 10 minutes after I’d preached a sermon. And it came from the
resident minister. “Great sermon,” he scribbled. “Keep humble.”</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>And think of the people you’ve known who have had the most
impact on your faith: very likely they’re the type who could look you in the eye
and treat you as if no one else were in the room. People like that have what
William Blake called “single vision.” They see things the way they really are
because they’re not always trying to suck everything into the vortex of their
own agendas.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.faithandleadership.com/sermons/‘keep-humble’"><FONT
size=4>http://www.faithandleadership.com/sermons/‘keep-humble’</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Jeremy Begbie, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - -
-</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>So I escorted my wife Jan across our front lawn and she
elegantly climbed up into the yellow church school bus, wearing her lovely
evening gown. I then drove us down to the Eugene Hotel. As I told you, it was a
classy hotel for classy occasions and there were several classy cars in line,
waiting for the valet. Mercedes. Cadillacs. Porches. Women were in furs. The
valet was helping each of the ladies out of their cars. I was watching what
happened and thought I knew how to do this. I then pulled up our church yellow
school bus to the valet station. The sign on the side of the bus said, CENTRAL
LUTHERAN CHURCH in bold letters. I hit the brake. I opened the door. I looked
the valet in the eye and nodded for him to escort my wife out down the steps of
the school bus. My wife looked elegant as she was stepping down from the bus,
pretending that she was not at all embarrassed by all of this.<?XML:NAMESPACE
PREFIX = O /><O:P> </O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>I said to the valet, “I hope you wouldn’t mind
parking my bus, along with the other Mercedes.” He thought that was
inappropriate so I drove the bus two blocks away and I parked it near the city
jail.<O:P> </O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Things did get worse.<O:P> </O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>That is, we walked into the area where there
was an hors d'oeuvre table. It was a lovely table. I had on a nice suit, shirt
and tie. I probably was not watching carefully and the tip of my tie got into
the mayonnaise bowl and I didn’t see it. A short time later, I had to get up in
front of everybody and say my prayer. I said to the lovely crowd seated before
me, “Let us bow our heads in prayer.” I then bowed my head and looked down and
saw the mayonnaise on the bottom of my tie for the first time. So I prayed with
my hands over the spot of mayonnaise. What do you do in a situation like
that?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><O:P> </O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Well, a short time later, we were sitting at
the head table. The table prayer had gone OK and I had covered up the mayonnaise
quite well. Not everyone could sit at the head table with this guest violinist
and the conductor of the Pittsburg Symphony, but Jan was elated that she was
sitting next to this handsome violinist. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>According to our ancient church fathers, pride
is the first of the seven deadly sins. Pride/ conceit is the source of all other
evil. It is the source of greed, envy and covetousness. It is very closely
related to selfishness. A conceited person, a prideful person is often a very
selfish person. Such a person thinks, “I want the world to center around
me.”<O:P> </O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>What is the result? What is <I>always</I> the
result of conceit or pride? It is division. Division and conflict.<O:P>
</O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_you_may_not_want_to_invite_jesus_to_dinner.htm">http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_you_may_not_want_to_invite_jesus_to_dinner.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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