The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost ---- 1 September 2018

Luke 14:1, 7-14

1 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.

7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, "Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, "Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." 12 He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

·       Jesus sure seems to be invited to a lot of dinner parties! Today we hear the account of him going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees for a Sabbath day meal. In some verses left out of today’s reading, Jesus heals a man suffering from what’s called “dropsy” which is a swelling of the limbs. He asks if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath and the only response is silence. So Jesus heals the man after noting that saving a child or an ox who has fallen into a well is permissible on the Sabbath… even though such an action might be considered work.

·       Jesus then notices the scuffle to get to the best seats at the table and remarks that this is not the real way to get ahead. He goes on to tell the host and all those listening that the next party should be thrown for the poor and the suffering, the handicapped and the disabled, who cannot reciprocate. The reward will not be in status and reputation but in blessing.

·       After this, the story takes another twist, which might be best left for another time. What we have before us is still a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. Jesus once again turns everything on its ear and goes against the common wisdom as well as the common standards of behavior.

·       He lays aside the common understanding of the Law to heal a man who suffers. He laughs (maybe not aloud) at the striving of the guests to grab the most prestigious seats. He turns over the expectations about who should be at the banquet.

·       These are all glimpses of the Kingdom that is coming. Expectations and interpretations of the Law will not stop the healing that is needed. The struggle for status and position will be less than important and will be known for the false concern that it is. Who will be invited to the great banquet, who will attend that banquet, and why the invitation went out will set the whole world topsy-turvy.

·       This whole thing might not be to everyone’s liking. It could disrupt our well-ordered lives and mess with our self-image and our seating charts. We are constantly on a journey, a pilgrimage toward the Kingdom, and I, for one, know I’m not there yet. Yet this is a preview of the Kingdom and we will have to adapt ourselves.

·       There is a lesson in humility here with Jesus noticing the striving of the guests to choose the places of honour. The lesson is not to think less of ourselves, but to think of ourselves less, as C.S. Lewis wrote. The reality is this: Humility is not hating who you are, but being who you are. Humility is an exercise in truth telling and gratitude. If we are good at something, it would be false humililty to deny that. If we're not so good at something, we can apply the saying "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly." If it's worth doing, do it any way you can! 

    God made us what we are, often with blemishes and all. What we’ve done with that gift is something to be decided at some other time. What we are and what we might have made of ourselves does not hinder the coming of the Kingdom. It’s on the way and maybe –like good, experience farmers- we can smell it coming. (My father and I could "smell" snow when it was on the way - which amazed my wife!)

·       I mentioned both “truth-telling” and “gratitude.” Recognition of the truth leads us to see that the Kingdom and all grace is a gift and a gift that we do not deserve. Martin Luther’s last known words are said to have been (here translated) “We are beggars. This is true.” Grace and the Kingdom of God are given, not bought or achieved, let alone deserved. This is the truth. Gratitude come in when we realize that, just like Luther, we are beggars and the Kingdom is ours, bought, paid for, and given in the blood of Jesus… and it will not be taken from us. We know where our seats are, and all the seats at the table of God’s own banquet are the right ones.

·       When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. "… For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."