I believe that there are two things
that Jesus does more in the Gospel of Luke than in any other Gospel: Eat and
Pray. Today, we find Jesus at yet another meal. Jesus is eating with the
Pharisees and they are watching him closely. This is not much different than
all the other times they have “watched” him. He has already taught and healed
on the Sabbath; so, what else are they going to do to him. I guess this is
their way of not letting him out of their sight. But once again, Jesus turns
the tables on them; not literally.
Jesus begins watching where they
begin to seat themselves. It appears that Jesus is the one who is watching
closely. I would think that the Pharisees knew which one was supposed to sit
where at the table, but Jesus watches closely. And, as they get their seats,
Jesus begins telling a story. It is a story about the wedding banquet and the
seating chart. We all know about the seating charts. He, Jesus, tells the
Pharisees that they should not automatically ASSUME that they know where they
are going to sit. We all know what happens when the Pharisees assume, right?
There is a reason behind all this
seating charts and wedding banquets; I would also include special dinners. Back
in the time of Jesus, having a dinner party was a big deal! It was a big deal
on several levels: first, being invited, by itself, meant that you had some
kind of status in the community. Just the invitation meant you were important
to the host. Being important also meant that you had something to offer. You
did not get invited just because you were a nice person. You would get invited
because maybe the host needed something from you; maybe a loan, promotion, some
livestock. That something could also be an invite to the guest’s next dinner
party. There was always a reason for inviting a particular guest.
In addition to the invitation, place
setting was also important. Meaning, the more important the person, the closer
to the host the guest would sit. For instance, in the promotion scenario, the
boss would be sitting right next to the host. That way the host can impress the
boss more directly than sitting way at the other end of the table. Could you
imagine the boss coming up to sit beside the host and the boss is told by the
host, “your seat is that one over there.” How humiliating would that be? You
might not get that promotion after all.
That is exactly what Jesus is
talking about. Don’t always assume you are going to the highest place of honor;
because that is when things CAN get embarrassing. Jesus tells us that …you see,
I just switched the grammar from “they (meaning the Pharissees) to” us.” The
reason I did this is because this is still happening in our lives. We have seen
it on television…the boss is invited to dinner because some promotion is on the
line. We see it in our society where people get special status and recognition
for things they may OR MAY NOT have done. We put so much emphasis on this
status and everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame. Some will do anything
to get on television movies or become famous in some way.
It is not only in our culture but it
is in our everyday lives. We want to be known for the Good things we do in our
work because it might get us recognized. We see it in our schools at the lunch
table, in the cliques or groups at school. There are tables where our young
people want to be noticed by the “cool kids.” They want to be invited to sit
with the popular kids. They want to be associated with the cool group of kids
because that is status, especially in school. If they hang out with the cool
kid then they must be cool, also. No one even thinks about the kid that is not
even invited.
And that brings me to the second
part of this Gospel reading. Jesus gives a message to the Pharisees about who
to invite. Jesus tells the host to invite the people you never even thought
about. He tells the one who invited Jesus to invite all those people that
normally would not get an invitation.
Invite the people who don’t necessarily have something you need or want.
Invite the people that won’t boost your status with your neighbors. Invite, the
least, last, lost, and lonely to your dinner; the cripple, lame, blind and
invite them because they are just as valuable as the people that we think are
important. He is telling us to invite the people who cannot repay you, can’t
offer you a promotion, a job, or even give a dinner in return. He tells us that
doing this blesses us.
How can we be blessed by inviting
this least, last, lost, and lonely? We can be blessed because of the love of
God. God showed us how important we are. God showed us that God is the one who
created the heavens and the earth so that we have a place to live. God created
you and me so we are not alone; to be with one another and to help one another,
to lift each other up in good times and bad, and God made all the creatures of
the earth. All this is blessings beyond belief. So how can we be blessed when
we invite our brothers and sisters who are different? It is because we are
showing others that they and we are blessed when we are all together, working
together, celebrating together, and even mourning together.
The big picture of these two
situations in our Gospel comes down to one question, “Why are we here?” As I
said before, God created all these things us, animals, our world, and our
universe. SO why are we here? Are we here to see who can help us get what we
want, when we want it? Is that all there is to this life? I don’t think so. I
think there is more. Jesus is telling us that, with all that God has created,
God did so without worrying about who can pay what back? God created, not for
his own sake, but for ours. God sent Jesus into the world for our sake to teach
us about God and about one another. God sacrificed God’s only son on the cross
for our sake. I don’t think there is any way that I could ever pay that back,
let alone any one of us, because I am not God and don’t have the power to do
all those things.
We can, however, respond to the
gifts of God’s creation. We can respond to the blessing of God’s creation of
the earth and sea by taking care of it as best we can. We can respond to God’s
blessings of animals by protecting the endangered ones and respecting what we
hunt and eat. We can respond to God’s gift of one another by respecting one
another, caring, and helping one another. We can respond by sharing this Good
News with all God’s children; the Good News that we all are loved by God so
much that God’s only son went to the cross for us…to show us God’s love. That
everyone matters and is important.
So to the students of these
congregations, I would say that as you start this new school year, think about
these things:
-
Inviting a kid who seems always to be
alone to sit with your group.
-
Reach out to someone different than you.
-
Post on Facebook something nice about
someone who rarely gets noticed.
-
If someone asks you why you are doing
something nice for a person who rarely gets noticed, say “because its what you
think God wants”
Those
are not just words for students. Let us as adults practice this as well: AMEN!
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