Göttinger Predigten
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12th Sunday after Pentecost, 09/01/2019
Sermon on Luke 14:1,7-14, by Beth A. Schlegel
One Sabbath, when [Jesus] went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in 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 table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
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Do you know your place?
We usually associate that phrase with a classed social structure: and pejoratively
Peasants did not associate with royalty;
Slaves did not presume to have the same rights as their masters;
Workers have a different place than management and executives.
In some cultures, women are supposed to “know their place”.
In an earlier era, children were to be seen and not heard – that was their place.
In our egalitarian modern culture, we chafe at the notion of people having their “place”, and yet we understand Jesus’ point.
Who of us, as invited guests to a wedding reception would walk in and presume to sit at the head table?
Of course we wouldn’t – it’s not our place – it is the place of the wedding party.
In fact, we wouldn’t even presume to sit down at just any table – we would seek out the place cards and find our appointed place.
In Mediterranean culture – at least in biblical times, they didn’t have place cards at social gatherings.
So guests would seek out their own seats.
But everyone knew where the host sat and that it was the host’s choice as to who would sit at the seats of honor –at his right and left. .
So when Jesus noticed the Pharisees confusing themselves with the host and presuming to seat themselves in those places of honor,
he was witnessing an incredibly huge breach of etiquette.
But Jesus wasn’t so much interested in the etiquette per se as in how the rude behavior affected the fellowship of the community – how it destroyed relationships.
And the parallels between the social community and the spiritual community would not have been lost on Jesus’ hearers.
Let’s take a first hand look.
If I believe that because of my close friendship with the host I deserve to sit at his right hand,
then I also believe that everyone else does not deserve; somehow their connections are inferior to mine.
That’s why the disciples were so angry with James and John who asked Jesus to give them the places of honor.
They recognized that along with the brothers’’ presumption of their own worth was a corresponding devaluing of everyone else’s worth.
The impact on the fellowship is resentment, anger, mistrust, suspicion, competition, and nasty interpersonal relationships.
Who wants to be part of that kind of community?
So many people have left churches because they found them to be that sort of group.
Sometimes even without realizing it, Christians can develop an attitude of superiority and push away those who don’t fit, failing to make room for those who are different.
But when we do this, we presume to be the host
– we presume to sit in the places of honor and count ourselves among the worthy while judging others to be unworthy.
Who is the host of the church?
v No, it’s not me, nor is it the bishop
v or the Council President,
v and it’s not the person who contributes the most money or who puts in the most service hours.
The host is Jesus.
v Jesus has invited us all here,
v Jesus washes us, puts the proper clothes on us
v Jesus sets the table before us,
v Jesus speaks God’s word,
v and Jesus is the Lord and host.
In fact, all three seats of honor are already taken: God the Father in the middle, Jesus on his right and the Spirit on his left.
So we, you and I, are of equal value before God – equally worthy to be called to share his heavenly banquet.
But for all of our American principles of equality for all, we have a hard time living this out.
We still want for some to be better than others – somehow.
Jesus provides an alternative to the presumption of pride. It is humility.
The humble person does two things:
1) he fully recognizes and accepts his own true value as a child of God;
she knows she has nothing to prove to God and therefore also nothing to prove to others.
2) The humble person makes it a priority to give others their true value as beloved of God, building them up and giving them praise,
Jesus was teaching this when he reminded these wedding guests that it is better to be asked to move from the back to the honored front seats than to be asked in public to vacate the front seats and have to stand or sit in the back.
(Obviously this was not a Lutheran gathering where most people WANT to sit in the back)
All who exalt themselves will be humbled and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
True in human society and –more importantly—true in God’s society.
After reminding the guests of their place in relation to the host, Jesus turns to the host of the wedding reception—whose role in this story is that of God the Father.
What Jesus tells the host to do is an example of how God’s kingdom comes on earth as in heaven.
Jesus tells the host not to invite friends and family or rich neighbors who are in a position and under obligation to extend reciprocity – tit for tat – quid pro quo.
Instead, the host – just as God does – is to invite those who are in no position to repay the favor: the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.
And Jesus adds a promise: You will be blessed because they cannot repay you.
I want us to look at both sides of this promise:
How is God blessed when he feeds us poor, crippled, blind, and lame sinners at table?
Is it not a blessing when those whom you have invited recognize that it is a gift, that it is by sheer grace that they are there – and love you for it?
The blessing God receives by showering us with grace is our love for him.
The blessing we receive when we invite the poor, crippled, lame and blind to our meals is
1. one, the love of those whom we serve and
2. 2 our wages at the resurrection of the righteous on the last day.
If the wages of sin are death, the wages of God are life.
So, then, we are to exercise hospitality amongst ourselves
– treasuring one another as God’s beloved people and building one another up in the Lord –
And we are to exercise hospitality to strangers
– to the poor, crippled, blind and lame who –except that we invite them – would not dare to approach the fellowship of the Lord’s Table.
Hospitality is God’s first occupation – For in mercy, God has welcomed each of us into his presence here today.
We extend God’s hospitality to others, both inviting and welcoming those who most need to know the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Amen