Jesus throws the best parties?

Over the last several years I have been indebted to many within the missional movement.  Their emphasis on the church and its purpose being outside of itself is so essential for a post-Christendom world.  I've been blessed to have the opportunity to go to conferences, visit with some of these speakers, and read many of their books and publications.  Despite so much that I am thankful to them for, I have heard one idea that continues to be tossed out in these circles and continues to unsettle me each time I read or hear it.

My issue comes in the form of the way they portray Jesus during His time on Earth.  In much of their writings and speaking a picture is painted as Jesus "throwing" or "having" the best parties.  The argument is based on their argument that we as Christians should be mingling with our neighbors as our lives are intertwined with them.  One of the examples of how to do this is by throwing parties such as block parties.  The statement has been made Jesus threw the best parties, so shouldn't we do the same?  But we have to ask the question, Is that what Scripture presents?

Here is a quick take of the gospel accounts and Jesus either attending a party, talking about a party, or being accused of attending a party or socially communing with others.

Matthew

-9:9-14           Levi’s Party

-11:19            “Son of Man came eating and drinking,” – Claim made by Jesus' opponents

-22 and 25      Parable of Wedding Feast

-26:6-13         Jesus’ body prepared for burial with perfume

-26:17-19       Last Supper- Jesus was the One who made preparations

Mark

-2:15-18         Matthew’s (Levi) Party

-14:1-9           Mary pours perfume for Jesus

-14:13-15       Jesus sends two disciples to Upper Room ahead of the rest

Luke

-5:29               Matthew's (Levi) Party

-7:36               Jesus dines with the Pharisee (Simon) as woman washes his feet.

-9:58               Foxes have holes* (I'll come back to this...)

-11:37-38        Jesus dines with Pharisee

-14:1               Jesus dines with one of the leaders of the Pharisees

-14:16             Parable of the banquet

-15:2               Pharisees claim he eats with sinners/tax-collectors

-19:1-10          Jesus stays (dines) with Zaccheus

-22:8               Jesus sends Peter and John to prepare the Upper Room

-24:30             Jesus shares a meal with 2 followers on the way to Emmaus

John

-2:1-11           Wedding in Cana

-12:1-8           Dining with Lazarus as Mary pours perfume

-13:1               Last Supper
-21:1               Firepit on the beach with disciples

Here are a few observations;

1. Perhaps surprisingly, the gospels record Jesus sharing more meals with Pharisees or leaders of the Jews than sinners or tax-collectors.  That's the irony of the Luke 15:2 accusation!  Jesus certainly shared meals with the outcast, but he wasn't opposed to dining with the elite or upper class either.  
2. In terms of hosting or throwing a party the Lord's Supper is the closest thing to Jesus hosting a party in the gospels.  
3. In Luke 9:58 we find a truth that is critical to understanding the connection between Jesus, His first coming, and attendance at parties.  In that passage Jesus makes the statement, "foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  In the first coming Jesus came as a suffering servant who had no home, no place that was His.  As John  said, "He came to His own, and those who were His own rejected Him."  He had no place in which He could host His party or display hospitality, but that was the design of the first coming.  Jesus came in humility and embraces His role in a place that was not His own, He attended parties with sinners, tax-collector's, religious elite, and leaders of the day.  Despite the background, motivation, or hostility towards Him, Jesus united with them in that most basic human connection of sharing a meal with them.
4. At the Last Supper in Matthew 26:29, Jesus alludes to a time in which He will throw a party in the kingdom, a meal known as the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

So what does this mean for us?

• First, it means we can't claim Jesus threw or went to the best parties.  Scripture doesn't paint that picture.  Instead, the parties Jesus went to were either motivated by elite's trying to catch him in sin or by a recent convert bringing Jesus back to introduce him to his tax-collecting buddies, but this doesn't seem to be the event of the year in any of their minds. Even the wedding in Cana where Jesus turned the water to wine Jesus does covertly. 
• Second, Jesus' example of acceptance and value for meals is still something to emulate.  Despite the fact that Jesus set aside the means to host by coming to the world as a Suffering Servant, He continued to dine and socialize with folks from a variety of different lifestyles.  Sinners weren't too low to have an audience with our Lord, nor those whose intentions were malicious too guilty to break bread with Him.  As a result, when we think of those we may spend time socializing with, whether we have the opportunity to host them or visa-versa, do they reveal the same time of diversity as His or is the audience homogenous to our own background and beliefs?
• Third, Jesus will throw the best of all parties. The problem with a great party is that at some point it has to attend.  Jesus alludes to the kingdom of God, when peace and justice and unity will exist between all participants for all time.  That is the party He will host and the one we long to enjoy forever. Until that time, social gatherings of all kinds are a means for us to talk about our hope, to express our love, and walk by faith in Him who is coming quickly and invites all to come.