Room at the table — A Sermon

A sermon for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland Anglican Church
The 3^rd Sunday of Lent — March 23, 2025
The Very Rev. Ken Gray

Let me tell you about my recent trip to the hairdresser. We used to call these persons “barbers”; we still have some of these in our little town of Summerland. Over the years I have also visited so-called “Unisex” salons curious to discover what such a creature is. Sex, and gender, are fluid concepts and experiences these days. Unisex as a hairstyling descriptor has now disappeared; I have reverted of late to a self-identified female barber who cuts only men’s hair. You see, with hairdressers, it’s complicated.

Expecting only a haircut and beard trim I got so much more. Once she found out I was a “man of God,” with the hair and head of an aging,  psoriasisitic mortal, well the conversation evolved . . . and never stopped until I had to pay to get out the door. God bless her, I never knew that one person could subscribe to so many conspiracy theories — about vaccines, autism, jungle-based evangelists, and of course, the apocalypse.

During my last appointment she asked if I thought the resurgence of Canadian nationalism was worth it? You know, “buying American.” In fact, she openly mocked the practice and said she was buying all the American fruit and vegetables she could cart out the grocery store door. “Great bargains,” she said. I cautiously replied — remember, she held the scissors — that yes, I think Trump has inspired Canadian spirit and national pride. Kathie and I will continue to survive on maple syrup and Alberta bacon.

Sadly, I had left my phone at home; otherwise I could have brought up today’s words from Isaiah (55:1-9):

“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!

Just don’t buy American, at least, right now.

Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

WE know that Trump is annoyed about Canadian dairy; the price of eggs continues to rise. Despite this, the idea of an economy with no exchange of money, no legal tender passed from one person to another is to me, breathtaking. I am reminded of my missionary years in Fort Nelson, BC in the early 1980s where a number of us traded value by barter alone. I taught music in exchange for all the laundry and dry cleaning I could produce. For a young, single guy, this was absolutely brilliant. Don’t tell CRA.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy?

This is the question for us today, isn’t it. How do we steward the many gifts shared with us by Creator God? What does really satisfy our needs and wants? How can we discover what is enough? That’s why I included the song “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart” earlier. Even as the last of the great Canadian department stores disappears as more commerce moves online, the issue remains: “What is enough?”

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

OK, OK, I hear all the vegans, pescatarians, vegetarians, and red-meat lovers shouting their opinioned praise. Eat what’s in season; listen to your body; find and set limits to consumption. Despite their differences, these are all good practices. Food — its production, consumption, and security — is always controversial. My friend, the Rev. Dr. Cathy Campbell, herself an authority on food systems and spirituality used to describe food policy conferences as tempestuous. Every meal is controversial. Why this and not that. Everyone has an opinion on right practice. She left the world of professional food policy for the Church, hoping to find calmer conversational waters. I am not sure she found it in the end. Like me, she enjoys retirement.

Think about food, and the bible, and spirituality. Food, as symbol, image, icon, custom, practice, celebration, and gift, these are everywhere throughout our sacred texts. Let’s not however lose the thread here. Food itself is not the prophet’s purpose in writing. Author Peter Hawkins writes:

“We do not know for sure what audience Isaiah had in mind with these stirring words of invitation, how close his first hearers stood either to the destruction of Jerusalem in around 586 BCE or to the return to the promised land from Babylonian captivity some 50 years later. But certainly, from the vantage of exile, they knew a great deal about hunger and thirst. No better way, then, to imagine God’s future redemption than for the prophet essentially to cry out on the Lord’s behalf, ‘Free food!’”

Ah yes, free food. We hear today a universal message of invitation, to everyone.

Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.

Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

The prophet’s words well illustrate a key lenten theme. Come to God, come to Jesus (we all have these moments). Just come.

As the table is prepared in a few minutes, we will listen to a lovely song by Carrie Newcomer, “Room at the table.” The lyrics are a musical invitation, to everyone:

Let our hearts not be hardened
To those living in the margins,
There is room at the table for everyone.
This is where it all begins,
This is how we gather in,
There is room at the table for everyone.

And the Chorus:

There is room for us all,
And no gift is too small,
There is room at the table for everyone.
There’s enough if we share,
Come on pull up a chair,
There room at the table for everyone.
May there always be room, for all, always.