Where's My Seat?

I think Jesus must have been an extrovert. Here he is again, eating out, this time in the home of a leader of the Pharisees.

You will remember that there was an ambivalent relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees whom he often described as hypocrites for their focus on small things which obscured the important things. Pharisees interpreted the law of Moses for contemporary living and Jesus often annoyed them with his disregard for the niceties of convention.

So he was invited to a meal by a leader of the Pharisees, but they were all watching him closely. And Jesus watched them. And he noticed how the guests all tried to choose seats of honor.

A quick sidebar here: the culture of 1st century Palestine was based on honor. Everything you did had the potential to bring honor or dishonor to your family. Honor was far more important than material wealth, so people wanted to show that they were honored by having the most important seats.

So, seeing how they were trying to get the best seats, Jesus told a story about honor. He told them about a wedding banquet where they did not have a seating chart, and guests jockeyed for the seats of honor. Beware, he said, of taking the most honored seat and then having the disgrace of being asked to move down. Instead take a less honored seat and have the honor of being asked to move to a higher table.

And he used this story for one of his topsy-turvy comments – “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." That’s topsy-turvy like ‘the first will be last’, and ‘if you want to save your life you must lose it.’

But wait, wait there’s more. If you are going to give a luncheon he said, don’t invite your family and your buddies, invite those who can’t repay you and you will be blessed in the resurrection of the righteous.

There’s a lot to unpack here.

In the second lesson, the one from the letter to the Hebrews, the writer has turned his attention from theology to how we should live and gives some very explicit instructions.

• Let mutual love continue.
• Do not neglect to show hospitality.
• Remember those who are in prison,
• and those who are being tortured,
• Let marriage be held in honor by all
• Keep your lives free from the love of money, and
• be content with what you have

These don’t seem to need much interpretation. They are things we get to do as Christians, clear standards of behavior based in our knowledge of God’s incredible love for us.
But Jesus’ teachings need a little more work.

I had lunch with a friend this week who said “I like things to be very clear. I don’t want to do a lot of interpreting.” Her current spiritual path is not based on the teachings of Jesus!

We get to interpret, but we never do it in a vacuum – we have the teachings of those who have gone before and have struggled with the same questions, we have the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and we have one another – the community of faith. So we have resources to draw from.
Now back to Jesus. He is always challenging the status quo. He is always challenging us to live differently, a life lived in his footsteps not in the dominant culture in which we live. So what is the challenge here?

“All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Humility.
Humility has never been so counter-cultural or so unpopular.

Yet it is a mark of the followers of Jesus. We don’t humble ourselves in order to be exalted but because we are disciples of Jesus. And because we are followers of Jesus, we are promised that we will be with him in glory. But that is not our motivation. Which is why Jesus’ story of the wedding banquet is a parable. He is not telling us to take a lower seat so that we will be asked to move higher and so be honored by everyone who sees.

Jesus is saying something much more profound.

Jesus is calling us to live lives grounded in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is calling us to live lives imitating him.

Humility is not about having poor self-esteem. Humility is knowing that we are absolutely surrounded by the love of God and so we do not have to do things to prove our worth. Humility is quietly and confidently living our lives in God’s service and in service to others.

We do not need other people’s esteem. We do not need to be invited up to a higher seat so that everyone can see how important and how honorable we are.

The writer to the Hebrews said, ‘be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."…’ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’

People of God, we are called to live our lives grounded in this truth; Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever has promised never to leave us or forsake us. And knowing that, we can be content with who we are, and what we have. We do not need to throw dinner parties with influential people to increase our influence in the world, no, we get to throw dinner parties for those who are marginalized – the poor, the disabled, the immigrants, the queer and transgendered, the people of color.

We are at a time in our country when the powerful are becoming more powerful, the rich are becoming wealthier, and systems that have supported the common good are being dismantled.

It is our calling to see these things clearly and to call out sin when we see it. But it is so easy to think that somehow we are better than them, that our knowledge of Jesus and his ways allows us to look down on those who are caught up in the rush for power and who themselves look down on other people. The trap is always that in challenging that which is wrong, in attempting to build a fair and just society for all people, we get caught up in the same attitudes and tactics.

I think the antidote is humility.

Humility says that we too are sinners in need of God’s grace. Humility says that we can only act as a result of our knowledge of God’s love not just for us but for the people whose ideas we oppose. Humility prays for our leaders and our opponents. Humility listens for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, trusting that all will be well.

I am going to end by quoting a few familiar verses from 1 Corinthians 13 but changed slightly:

4 Humility is patient, humility is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Humility does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  1 Cor 13:4-7

the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall