Pentecost 14 – Lectionary 22: August 29, 2010

Redeemer Lutheran Church: Jamison, PA

Luke 14: 1, 7-14

The Holy Gospel is a reading from Saint Luke, the fourteenth chapter:
1
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was
being carefully watched. 7When he noticed how the guests picked the places of
honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8“When someone invites you to a
wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than
you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and
say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the
least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that
when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’
Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite
your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may
invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite
the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they
cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Gospel of the Lord.

Grace, mercy and peace be multiplied among us, in the name and
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
One Friday morning ten years ago, when I was in law school, my
sister called me from her job as a guidance counselor at a high school in
New York. The father of one of her students had given her tickets for
the next day’s Mets game, and she asked me if I wanted to go to the
game with her and our other sister. Never one to turn down a chance to
see my beloved Mets, I said, “Of course!” So the next morning I drove
up from Philly, met up with my sisters, and headed to Shea Stadium.
The first clue that this was not going to be any regular day at the
ballpark came when we pulled into a special reserved parking area very
close to the stadium – a far cry from the lot where we usually parked,
seemingly miles away. Then, instead of elbowing our way amidst the
masses to enter the stadium through the usual turnstiles, we walked right
in through a special gate. We didn’t have to ride the long escalators up
to the nosebleed seats in the upper deck where we typically sat – instead
we boarded an elevator. And who else was on that elevator? Only the
guy I like to call my “baseball husband” – Mr. Met, the team’s mascot!
We rode with Mr. Met to the stadium’s press box level, then proceeded
to where our seats were located – inside a luxury suite! Picture this:
rows of comfortable chairs in a climate controlled room, a fantastic view
of the action on the field, TV monitors broadcasting the game, all of the
free food and beverages that one could ask for, and even a bathroom - all
for our comfort and pleasure! Apparently the man who gave my sister
the tickets was a corporate executive, and instead of offering the use of
his company’s luxury suite to try to impress clients, prospective business
partners, or well-connected acquaintances, he decided to treat his
daughter’s educators as his honored guests. But we were not people of
means, and we were completely out of our element. How could we ever
repay this man for giving us such an extraordinary experience? We
couldn’t! All we could do was sit back, enjoy the game and feel blessed.
I admit it may be a bit of a stretch – and no, I don’t mean seventh
inning stretch – to claim that this was quite what Jesus was getting at in
today’s Gospel, but let’s go with it. We find Jesus in a situation where
we know sparks are going to fly: (1) at a Pharisee’s house; (2) on the
Sabbath; (3) for a meal; and (4) while being carefully watched. We saw
last week that Jesus had already ruffled feathers among the religious
leaders for healing the sick on the Sabbath, daring to adhere to the spirit
of the law of Love rather than the letter of law of the Jews – so all eyes
were on Him at this dinner party to see what He might say or do next.
Jesus makes his first point while watching His fellow guests
clamor for the best seats at the dinner table. In that era, the seating order
was a reflection of social standing, and securing a seat close to the host
could advance a person’s status. Jesus remarks on the guests’ self-
interested motives by echoing the words of Proverbs, which warn not to
exalt oneself in a king’s presence or claim a place among great men,
saying that it is better to be told to come upward than to be humiliated.
No doubt this is common sense advice on proper etiquette. But the
idea that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who
humble themselves will be exalted also says something about God’s
grace: we shouldn’t try to prove our supposed status or importance to
anyone, especially God Himself! Instead of presuming our position
before Him and risking Him humbling us, we should be humble before
God, content and confident that His grace is sufficient for us. Better to
let Him exalt us than trying to exalt ourselves.
Jesus doesn’t stop stirring the pot there. He then turns to the host
with a few words about his guest list. Now, as dinner parties go, this
was likely a pretty swanky one. The high society folks of that era
proved their elite status by hosting formal dinners, to which they only
invited those members of their community whom they considered
equally or even more elite. By hosting important people, their guest lists
provided a way of showing people how important they themselves were,
or how important they thought they were, or how important they wanted
to be. It was also expected that if you gave such an invitation, you
received an invitation from your guest in return. In some ways, this is
not so different from the way our own society operates.
As usual, Jesus turns conventional wisdom on its head with the
truth of God’s love and grace. Jesus sees the self-interest of the host’s
motives, and tells him that instead of inviting people to his party who
benefit his social standing, he should invite those who God loves –
including the outcasts, the misfits, the poor and disabled, and others in
need who can’t repay him – and that by doing so, he would be blessed.
In our society, at least in theory, this doesn’t sound so crazy. It’s
how my sisters and I ended up in the luxury suite at the Mets game. But
at that time, it was a suggestion that had the power to rock the entire
social order. You might recall that the word “Pharisee” can also mean
“to separate.” The Pharisees kept themselves separate from those whom
they perceived as not living holy and pure lives, who did not rigorously
observe the Jewish laws like they did. They took issue with Jesus for
refusing to separate Himself from sinners and tax collectors. Inviting
the poor and needy to a Pharisee’s dinner table had the potential to be
disrespectful to the people he was expected to invite. Worse, he could
dishonor himself by identifying with the lowly, disabled or unclean. Yet
Jesus challenges this Pharisee to humble himself by doing just that – by
inviting those who are least able to reciprocate, not for social gain, but
simply out of love, to bless them with his generosity – and that God
would reward him for it. His underlying message to the host is the same
as to the guests: humble yourself in this way, and you will be exalted.
Of course, in this parable Jesus is painting a picture of His Father’s
kingdom. Through Christ His son and the power of the Holy Spirit, God
invites us to His table, even though we have nothing to offer that could
benefit Him and no way to ever repay Him. God invites us – the lowly,
the weak, the poor, the oppressed, the sick, the sinful, the brokenhearted
and empty-handed – to commune with Him at His table, where He is
more generous than any ballpark luxury suite or exclusive banquet hall
could be – not out of any self-interest of His own, but because of His
great love for us, to help us and bless us. And He calls us to respond in
love by checking our motives and inviting those in need to our tables.
Lord, please help each of us to put our own self-interest aside and
to risk the scorn of others in order to bless those who cannot possibly
reciprocate. Please help us as a congregation to open our doors in love
to those who are cast aside, in need and hurting. Please help us to
humble ourselves so that our table will be more like Yours. Amen.