Luke 14:7-14
I
am completely confused. Being a political animal I hang on every word uttered
by our Presidential candidates. I chew on their comments. I let them rattle
around in my brain while trying to form an objective opinion based on my
understanding of how I believe God would have me live. This year’s election is
giving me a real headache. One candidate claims he will make America great. His
opponent claims America is already great. Jesus claims the objective is not to
be great but humble. Some would suggest this is why we have separation of
church and state. Matters of the nation should never be discussed from a
spiritual perspective. I am quite certain Jesus would disagree. There needs to
be a separation of church and state in order that we have the freedom to
consider the moral condition of our nation. Are we a great nation? Obviously
that seems to be debatable. Are we a humble nation? Are you kidding me? Would a
little more humility make us a great nation? Jesus seems to be suggesting it
would not hurt.
I
am well aware nowhere in the 14th chapter of Luke does Jesus suggest
he is trying to heal a nation. He is just making casual observations about
dinner parties. (I hope there is no one here that really
believes that.) Jesus is always challenging us to wrestle with difficult issues
by using everyday examples to bring us into the
conversation.
While
I know very little about etiquette, I seemed to get invited to a lot of
weddings. It sort of comes with the job. I have noticed folks who arrange these
celebrations spend an awful lot of time on seating arrangements. In the good
old days there was a table for the bride’s family, a table for the groom’s
family and a table for the wedding party. Today, everybody gets a place setting.
That gets a bit complicated. Let’s say Betty Jo is getting married to Billy
Bob. Betty Jo’s mother was divorced when Betty Jo was two. Where does the
father of the bride sit? Billy Bob’s
father is on his third marriage. Where do the three wives sit? How many tables
do you set aside for all the grandparents?
Then
there are the complications of having a wedding party. More than once I have
officiated a wedding where the best man and the maid of honor were “best
friends forever” when the save the date magnet was attached to everyone’s
refrigerator. Before the wedding dress was bought, they became the next hot
item. Unfortunately, the week of the third bridal shower, they had a fight and
broke up. So where do you sit them? Truth is, where do you sit anyone?
Jesus was sitting in
the back of a room watching people claw over each other trying to get the best
seats. One of the disciples said, “Jesus, if we don’t sit near the front? I
don’t think anyone knows we are here.
Why come if no one notices us?”
Jesus
responded, “The host invited us and he knows we are here.” Then Jesus made a
mistake. Now I know some folks would argue Jesus was perfect, but clearly he
misspoke when he uttered his next words. “If you start out in the back, the
host will notice, reward your humbleness, and move you closer to the dinner
table.” How many times have you seen folks putting on the face of humility in
order to be moved up the social or corporate ladder? Isn’t this is just another
form of arrogance.
Let
me give you a classic example from my line of work. Next time you are at a
fellowship dinner at any church, watch the minister. It is one of our humility
tricks. Clergy always go to the back of the line. Everyone must be fed before
us. That way we stand out and our humbleness is celebrated. We are just waiting
for someone to call out, “Pastor, come up here in the front of the line before
we run out of fried chicken.” We forget humbleness celebrated is hardly
humbleness at all. Secretly we all want to be noticed. Secretly we all want to
be seated at the head of the table. And if Jesus gives us a strategy to make it
happen, isn’t that all the better.
Fortunately,
Jesus can be wrong but not wrong for long. Perfection has a way of quickly
perfecting itself. Once Jesus sees his back of the line mentality has been
misunderstood he upsets our status quo by saying, “If you are asking me to
comment on proper etiquette, I believe the wrong people have been invited to
this party. If you really want to do the right thing, invite those folks who
never get invited. Send an invitation to the poor, the blind, and the cripple.
They are really the ones who love to be invited to a party.” The folks who
understand this are the real saints in our midst.
As
you all are aware, we lost a saint this week. Many of you knew Sarah as the
heart and soul of the first service choir. She picked the music, kept up with
our busy schedules, nursed our bruised egos and sang like an angel. But her
role in the choir did not award her sainthood. She was a soprano. It is hard
for sopranos to be humble and with a very good reason. They sing higher than
the rest of us and without sopranos there would be no one to sing melody.
A
few of you are aware Sarah gathered with others each Monday morning and prayed
for this church. This was a real act of humbleness in which these folks set
aside the beginning of their week in order to ask God to be with this
congregation and community. It is a gracious and selfless act. But even this
was not why Sarah attained sainthood.
Once
upon a time, probably because she had a father who loved foreign missions,
Sarah began to go on mission trips. When she became a member of Rockfish, she
went on one of our Mexico trips where a lot of good work was accomplished. But
Sarah struggled with those trips. I her eyes it seemed like the haves were
working for but not with the have-nots. Then Sarah went to Guatemala. Suddenly
she was thrust in a situation of complete dependence on folks she had never
met. Trust me; Sarah was not the type person who liked things spinning out of
her control. But in Guatemala, Sarah’s very livelihood was placed in the hands
of folks we might consider poor and illiterate. Sarah embraced the women of
Guatemala as they embraced her. Then she made it her mission to help us to see
the love of God in folks we hardly ever think about. Through the humbleness,
generosity, and faith of the women of Guatemala, Sarah found her soul. She
desperately wanted others to experience her epiphany. Admittedly many of us
never quite understood why the Guatemala trip was so important to Sarah. All I
can say is thanks to her, the folks who spent time in Guatemala will never view
issues of poverty, or racism, or even immigration the same. We now see the
world as one big dinner party where everyone is invited. It is a round table.
The guest of honor is anyone who is seated. Amazingly, every time it seems like
there is no more room, a few more chairs arrive and no one is left without a
seat. This was Sarah’s gift to us. This
is why she became a saint. When she threw a party, everyone was invited. All
she ever asked was the acknowledgement that each of the guests is our brother
and sister. Such is the nature of humility born from God’s grace.
We
will miss you Sarah. Amen.
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