Receive the Invitation -- A Message for August 28, 2022

 

    This morning, our focus shifts to one of Jesus’ parables. This text reminds us of our Christian calling to humility.  We are called to never consider ourselves and our needs to be more important than anyone else’s. Humility is perhaps one of the most difficult Christian attributes for us to embrace; the secular world puts a lot of emphasis on prestige and power, on fame and infamy. Yet, our calling is to perceive others as our equals, and to not take actions that take away from our unity and equality with them.

            Hear Jesus’ words as they are recorded in Luke, chapter 14, verses one and seven through fourteen:  

Scripture Reading                                    Luke 14: 1, 7-14

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 

“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. 

If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 

But 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 the other guests. 

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

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,  

and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

O Lord our God, your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Give us grace to receive your truth in faith and love, that we may be obedient to your will and live always for your glory; though Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Message                              Receive the Invitation               

            Imagine you are at a wedding reception, perhaps at a country club or a beautiful hotel ballroom overlooking a river.   The bride and groom have spent months planning the details and preparing for the wedding. The flowers are colorful and carefully arranged. The bridesmaids are dressed to the nines, all in silver gowns. The cocktail hour had delicious, dainty hors d'oeuvres.  When it is time for the meal, everyone moves over to the tables where each guests’ name has been carefully printed on a card, because the bride and groom have spent hours planning out who would sit with whom, carefully arranging the guests around the room. At the most prominent place in the space is a long table, where the bride, groom, and their wedding party are supposed to sit.

            Imagine your astonishment when a guest decides to ignore all of the place setting cards, walks up to the seats set aside for the bride and groom, and plops themselves down in the groom’s chair?! Instead of observing the “rules” of wedding decorum, they take the best seat in the room for themselves.

            This morning, Jesus talked about a wedding banquet. Although the rules for wedding etiquette were different in First century Israel verses 21^st century American, Jesus’ parable still works today.  At the dinner Jesus was attending, the guests all seized each other up, and then arranged themselves in the seats based on the status they perceived themselves as having.  Possibly the richest person in the room sat next to the host, or perhaps the most renowned Biblical scholar chose that spot, or the mayor sat in it. We may not understand the rules of the gathering, but we understand there were rules.

            Jesus’s message is that as followers of God, we are supposed to humble ourselves. We humble ourselves in worship to God. We humble ourselves in the presence of other people in our churches. We humble ourselves out in the world as we interact with other people.

            We are called to be humble. We are no better than any other person. We are no better than people who are a different racial group than us; we are no better than people who have less education than we have; we are no better than people who have less money than we have; we are no better than people who are citizens of other countries than ours; we are no better that people who are younger than us or older than us. We are called to be humble, and to remember that we are no better than anyone else.

            Lately, in the media, we have heard stories of people dubbed “Karens.” The reason why these people are criticized is because they forget to be humble. They are often people who feel a sense of privilege or entitlement over and above the people they are interacting with.  They belittle clerks in stores or servers in restaurants.  They call the police to report people who are not doing anything wrong or illegal, just because those people are doing things the Karen doesn’t like or finds inconvenient.  They claim a superiority over people they believe are their subordinates, even when they have legitimate reason to make that claim. Instead of being humble, they attempt to act with superiority.

            Jesus not only calls us to be humble, but we are also supposed to be driven to do actions that help people who have lower status than we have. When we chose to be generous, we shouldn’t do it for prestige. We shouldn’t be generous so that we are acknowledged for our generosity. We should not do things so that others tell us how great we are.   We shouldn’t be driven by the goal of being acknowledged.

            Instead, we are called to help people who don’t have as much as we have, not for the glory, but because our faith compels us to care about others.  Jesus said, “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”  When you throw a party, invite people who aren’t usually included, people who are poor, people with physical disabilities, people who are unpopular, people who have mental health differences, people who are homeless, people who suffering…invite people who will not repay your kindness by inviting you to a similar event.

            Jesus instructs us to behave in a way that is not natural for us.  Jesus instructs us to do things that are difficult, that are scary. And, although this instruction is extreme, Jesus’ words remind us that as Christians, we are called to work to help people who are troubled, people who are struggling financially, people who are suffering will illnesses, and people who are having a hard time. Our work is to use our gifts and our resources to help people who are suffering. Our work is to be generous and not to expect our generosity to be reciprocated by other people.

            God’s Holy Spirit is in our midst all of the time. The Holy Spirit observes our every move. When we are generous, God’s Holy Spirit notices our actions. God knows we are choosing to do the right thing, even if no other people notice our choices. God calls us to work to lighten other people’s burdens, and God sees us when we are faithful to what God calls us to do.

            May we do so in love. Amen.