“Being Humbled”

(Luke 14:1, 7-14)

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….  When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.  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; 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.  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.  For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
  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.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

            What you just heard is not a really popular scripture lesson.  Jesus’ words can be a little puzzling to us, or even ridiculous, or else we may think to ourselves that he is asking us to do things that are completely unnatural and maybe even unwise.  So, we could ignore them, but I really like to engage with a scripture passage that challenges.

            The first section is about where we decide to seat ourselves at a banquet to which we have been invited.

The second is about whom we ought to invite when we throw our own shindig.   

Let’s talk about the second one first.  Jesus says, do not invite your friends and family and certainly not your rich neighbors to your party because they might want to respond in kind to that invitation and, then, they’ll probably invite you to their next party.  …What?  Why is this a problem, Jesus?  What you’re saying not to do—come on, that’s how this works.  Quid pro Quo.  Easy.  You scratch my back.  I scratch yours. 

The thing is, we learn early on that if someone does something for us, we need to pay them back.  If someone takes you out to dinner, you will reciprocate by taking them out.  We all know that’s how this works.  You invite a business associate to your daughter’s wedding.  They bring a gift that might be worth what you’re spending per plate at the reception.  They are going to invite you to their child’s wedding, and on and on.  It’s called keeping score and keeping everything evened up.  Right? 

            Well, we see this behavior—this quid pro quo–in politics all the time.  An individual or company or group contributes to a campaign and then, here’s what happens: the one elected gives favors to those donors in the form of making them ambassadors or getting their favorite legislation approved or getting some kind of contract that is being awarded or some sort of tax break.  This happens constantly.  It’s sort of… expected.  We call it, business as usual.  It’s all over the place, even in local politics.  You know it is.  Those who accept favors need to understand that they have, essentially, jumped in bed with the favor-giver.  …Business as usual. 

Jesus knew this was a system that compromised people’s principles and often didn’t end well.  People find themselves being pulled into dishonest shenanigans and forgetting their own values and goals.  Read the news.  It’s everywhere. 

            The gun lobby is a prime example of how receivers of NRA money refuse to do anything that might prevent even one potential mass shooter from acquiring a weapon that can, in seconds, slaughter dozens of people.  As an aside, the list of school shootings gets longer all the time.  Compared to other developed countries, we have, in some cases, 200 times their school shootings.   

            …Well, Jesus is telling us in this text that, though that this quid pro quo may be business as usual in politics or industry or religious organizations or the social world or among the elites, but that’s not how it’s to be done in the Jesus House.  We are to keep negotiations clean.  Do things or don’t do things only because it’s the right thing to do.  It’s good for God’s people—ALL God’s people.

            Jesus said, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  You’ll be blessed, because they can’t repay you.  Don’t worry.  You’ll be repaid in the sweet bye and bye with those stars that’ll be in your crown.  You’ll also have the feeling that you have done something really important for everyone.  THAT’S how it’s done in the Jesus House.

            Approach everything in this life as though there is nothing in it for you.  Work and make decisions as though there is no pay back.  This is all about humbling ourselves and giving to those who need it with no expectation of repayment.  Do it that way because you’re already being blessed by God. 

We are shown each day about how this is not the approach in the three branches of our government.  There seems to be nothing that goes on that is simply the right thing to do.  It is always about making a deal that will pay off in money or in favors or for revenge.  What Jesus is talking about, on the other hand, is turning the wisdom of the world upside down. 

Now, we can’t let ourselves get too literal with this text, though, as in, OK, we can’t ever invite certain people because Jesus says not to.  No siblings, no relatives, no friends or rich neighbors.  Only poor, disabled folks, that’s it.  …No, the text is saying, “Take a look at yourselves and your ways of thinking about hospitality.  Consider why you think everything has to be quid pro quo.    Think about your motives as you invite folks.  If you are wondering at every turn, what’s in it for me, then you may need to spend some more time with this morning’s text.

  If your goal in life is to convince everyone that you are among the elite; if you have this illusion that you are better than others; if you have this need to keep a system in place that rewards those who are only serving themselves, then Jesus is talking to you.  He wants to turn all that worldly stuff upside down.  He’s showing us what a New World can look like. 

…So now, let’s take a look at the first part of today’s lesson.  Here’s what Jesus says: In God’s realm we are not to sit in the place of honor at a banquet because we may be embarrassed when the host sends someone else to take that place, and then we will be sent down, so to speak.  A better approach, says Jesus, is to sit ourselves down in the lowest chair, and, then, should we get called up to a more honorable place, we will just feel so happy.

The other night I was unable to sleep so I got out of bed where the jumping monkeys had been in my head and had refused to settle down. I went out to the TV and rewatched Pride and Prejudice. 

Now that Jane Austen: she knew that the class system in England was so very wrong.  It was all about which well-to-do male had the best position and the most money.  No one in that gentile class seemed to have jobs.  Well, of course, the poor people and the servants did, but the “gentlemen” only rode their horses around and gazed upon their property.  The women were completely at the mercy of which men they were connected to.

In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet was the daughter of a gentleman who had little or no money.  She was the second of five daughters, so her prospects for making a secure marriage were rather grim because she brought little to the table.  The family’s future did not look bright because, at her father’s death, their property would go to a male cousin because women couldn’t inherit property.  And there was a very clear line about who could marry whom.  The Bennet daughters had only their beauty (if, in fact, they had that) and their gentle personalities going for them.  It would be a win if a man with 5,000 pounds a year gave them a second look.

So, here is our heroine, spunky, smart, quick-witted Elizabeth, not as beautiful as her older sister Jane, but lovely when she smiled.  Here she is, determined that she would not compromise her principles by agreeing to marry only for money and comfort.

Mr. Darcy, then, enters the scene, very prideful, very committed to the class system, looking down upon the Bennet sisters, and yet, he is attracted to Elizabeth’s quick mind and wit.  But she’s not about to be involved with someone who looks down upon her and her family.  This class system was so rigid and widely accepted that prideful Darcy does not seem to be able to break out of it without being judgmental and prejudiced.

Pride and Prejudice really is a good illustration for what Jesus discusses in that first section.  “When you are invited to a wedding banquet, start out by sitting in the lowest place (humbly), and if the host invites you to sit higher, you have demonstrated the saying: ‘For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’”         

Jesus wants us to recognize that our own arrogance, our own feelings of entitlement do nothing but destroy relationships and encourage hatred and meanness.  He wants us to see how service, kindness and generosity give life, both to the giver and to the receiver.  Jesus wants us to behave at the table in God’s realm as though we don’t deserve to be there. 

I was reading a take on today’s text and where it has its origins somewhere in the book of Proverbs.  The Rabbi who wrote about it begins by saying, “Arrogance destroys.  Those who glorify themselves at the expense of others end up ruining relationships at every turn.”  She goes on to wonder, “So, why is arrogance so bad?  Well, for one thing, it’s because the one who spends his or her time admiring their own achievements quickly forgets how much they need others and how much they need God.” 

            It is so risky to place ourselves above others because we will, at some point, be brought low.  We will make a mistake.  We will do something wrong or stupid or mean-spirited.  We WILL get caught up in the foolishness of admiring ourselves.  If we have been in the business of accusing others, and, then, we mess up, that’s going to bring embarrassment and shame upon ourselves.  Arrogance DOES destroy.  It’s to be avoided at all costs….

So …our work at all times is to dedicate ourselves to Christ.  We might remember this when it is communion time next week because Jesus welcomes everyone at his table.  Jesus calls us to be kind and generous and humble.  And whatever we do, all the time, may it be only to glorify God.  It is NOT only about me and you —ever!  Amen.