Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | October 6, 2024
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Read Matthew 26:20 – 30
As an adjunct faculty member with Indiana Wesleyan University, it is imperative that I give credit where credit is due. Therefore, I must acknowledge that the title for this morning’s sermon is actually the title of a 1967 film classic that starred Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Sidney Poitier as well as a fairly unknown actress named, Katherine Houghton, who as it turns out, was actually Katherine Hepburn’s niece.
The basic plot of the movie centers around a young woman, named Joey, who returns from a Hawaiian vacation with a fiancé she has only known for 10 days.
Fourteen years Joey’s senior, John Prentice is a well-respected doctor who works for the World Health Organization... but there is one issue that is far more pressing than the short length of time that the couple has known each other and much more concerning than the difference in their ages... it is the fact that Joey is White and John is Black.
And while this does not seem to bother Joey in the least... both her parents and John’s parents, as well as those in their inner circles, spend much of the movie trying to wrestle with this singular issue. Keep in mind, after all, this was 1967 and interracial marriage had still been illegal in 17 states until just 6 months before the movie was released.
For as many times as I have seen this movie over the years, I learned something that I did not know, or maybe I knew but had forgotten, until I was working on this sermon. Spencer Tracy, the actor who played Joey’s father, newspaper editor, Matt Drayton, was terminally ill while they were shooting the movie. He died just 2 ½ weeks after they finished filming. And reportedly, Katherine Hepburn never watched the finished film because she felt it would be too painful of a reminder of the loss of her beloved friend.
Given that the time they spent filming the movies was likely the last time many of his castmates got to see Spencer Tracy... the last time they would all able to be together... it is reminiscent in some respects of the Last Supper that is at the focal point of our New Testament lesson this morning.
Now, don’t get me wrong... I am not comparing Spencer Tracy to Jesus... I am simply calling attention to the fact that the sharing of a meal... a last meal... is central to both the movie as well as our text.
And there is another parallel that can be drawn... between the controversy that hovered around those who were preparing to gather at the Drayton family dinner table and that which existed among the disciples that gathered at the table around Jesus.
Now, in the text, Jesus and the disciples were sitting around the table eating... presumably enjoying a good meal amongst friends... when Jesus makes the pronouncement that one of the disciples would betray Him. They all begin to question Jesus in turn, asking, “It isn’t me, is it?”
Perhaps they were all worried that somehow, they would be the one to betray Jesus unknowingly and unwittingly... because who in their right mind would do something like that deliberately?
Can you say, Judas?
Now, because he did not want anyone else to suspect that it was indeed him... Judas did just what the all other disciples before him had done... and he asked Jesus that same question, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?” Of course it is Judas.
But this is the interesting part... in the very next verse, after Jesus tacitly acknowledged Judas’ impending betrayal... He turns right around and blesses the bread, breaks it, and gives it to ALL of the disciples:
“Take eat, this is my body.”
And then He takes the cup, offers thanksgiving to God and gives the cup to ALL of them:
Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.Talk about an open table... even Jesus’ betrayers had a seat at His table... that ought to give us all a sense of hope!
And then according to the Scriptures... after they ate and drank, they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives... to the place where the ultimate betrayal would happen... the place where Judas would give the sign... a simple kiss... to alert the soldiers to who Jesus was.
Although, generally seen as a sign of love and affection... that kiss was anything but loving or affectionate... and yet even in that, Jesus was not caught off guard.
No one had needed to ask Jesus, “GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?” He knew what had to happen and He knew who would be the one to get the ball rolling... and He knew it BEFORE they gathered at the table for that Last Supper... and He still ate with all of them ANYHOW... including Judas.
And that is the good news for all of us today... because before we come to the Communion Table on any given Sunday... including today on World Communion Sunday... Jesus already knows what we have done and what we will do long into the future... and He invites us to come anyhow.
He invites us to the Table not because we are worthy... but because He is.
He invites us to come to the Table not because we are perfectly sinless... but because we have been forgiven.
He invites us to come to the Table not because of anything that we have done right... but in spite of everything we have done wrong.
Jesus’ invitation to join with Him now at this Table is an invitation to join with Him for eternity in God’s kingdom.
Now, in the movie, as they were making preparation to sit together at the table, there was some discussion over how the world would react to Joey and John’s marriage and what their children might be subjected to as a result of being biracial... things that we may not give much consideration to now, nearly 60 years after the fact...
Things we might simply take for granted and take in stride... and yet there are some who are still not welcoming of those who are perceived as being different... those who have been categorized as “other” simply because of who they are or where they are from or who they love.
But when it comes to the Table that Jesus has prepared for us... the Table that has been set with the bread representing His body and the cup representing His blood... you might be surprised by the answer to the question, “Can you GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?”
In fact, if we take a look back in Matthew’s Gospel, we will find the story of another dinner party... one that was held at the home of a tax collector turned disciple.
Listen to Matthew 9:10 – 12 as it reads in the Message Paraphrase:
Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and misfits?” Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”The invitation to eat with Jesus... to join at this sacred Table and partake in this holy meal... is not something that is reserved for the high and mighty...
No, on the contrary, it is an invitation extended to those who might possibly be described as the meek and the lowly... or perhaps as the downtrodden and brokenhearted... the very ones to whom we might not give a second glance... the ones we might pass by on the other side of the street.
And yet, because of God’s grace and mercy it is an invitation that is extended to ALL... and that includes you and me...
So, on this World Communion Sunday, and every Sunday, the response to the question, “Can you GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?” is quite simply... ALL OF US.
All of us who are willing to say “Yes” to the call to surrender our lives and follow Jesus.
All of us who are willing to say “Yes” and receive the precious gift of God’s grace given to us... for no other reason than because God loves us just that much.
And so, if you are willing to say “Yes” to the invitation to come to this Table that has been prepared just for you... because of God’s amazing grace, then I want to invite you to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: Amazing Grace #546.
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