“Humility at the Feast”
So the scene today is a
dinner party on a Sabbath day, probably after the weekly synagogue
meeting, in which Jesus is invited to dine with some Pharisees in the
home of a ruler of the Pharisees. But this was no mere social event.
The pleasantries and hospitality were colored by the shadow of the
Pharisees' glare. Luke says, “they were watching him closely”.
Jesus is under the microscope.
Who knows what legalisms
and protocols there were to follow in that gathering? But be sure,
the Pharisees were very concerned that everything be done the right
way, just so. The food would have been prepared a day before, so as
not to “work” on the Sabbath. They had laws upon laws to help
them get everything right, and they followed them closely. “But
what about Jesus? We've heard some strange things about him and his
teaching?” And likely this dinner gathering was as much as
anything, a chance to trap him. To catch Jesus saying or doing some
pharisaical no-no. An opportunity to gather ammunition for the
confrontation that was sure to come.
And, behold! Look! Luke,
says, “there was a man with dropsy.” That is, a fluid build up
or edema of some kind. Perhaps this was one of the servants who
would have tended to the meal. Jesus shows his characteristic
compassion and heals the man, but not without also teaching the
Pharisees a lesson. “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”
Silence. Crickets. Now they are the ones in the trap. But he
presses them more, “Which of you, if your son, or even your ox,
falls into a well on a Sabbath day, will you not pull him out?”
This same Jesus would
later clarify that the Sabbath was made for man. But these Pharisees
got it backwards. Their whole approach to the Sabbath, indeed their
conception of God himself, was entirely upside-down. Their religious
observances and self-righteous piety were absolutely backwards. And
Jesus is here to set them straight. And you and me, too.
He goes on to tell a
parable. He sees the way these proud men are jockeying for position
– seeking the higher and more honorable places at table. It's one
of the favorite past-times of the sinner. Comparing our status with
others. Keeping up with and surpassing, if we can, our neighbors.
Making ourselves look good. Looking out for #1. A selfishness and
self-righteousness that rears its head in multiple ways, but always
lurks in our dark heart. And at our core, we would even de-throne
God himself if we could. It's the original temptation. “You will
be like God...”
Surely Jesus knew the
Proverbs, and well could have had in mind this reading from our Old
Testament passage today:
Do not put yourself
forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of
the great,
for it is better to be
told, “Come up here,”
than to be put lower in
the presence of a noble.
(Proverbs 25:6-7)
But there is a deeper
point here, too, than just a lesson in etiquette. This is not Jesus
acting like Miss Manners. He's striking at the sinful pride of each
of us. He's pulling the rug out from under us who think we are
something when we are nothing. The Pharisees needed to hear it.
You and I need to hear it,
too. You don't deserve to be at the head of the table. You don't
qualify for the place of honor on the right hand of the host. Your
sins make you unclean, and not just in a ritualistic pharisaical
sense. We're talking about a blackness of the soul.
But our delusional self,
our puffed-up pride wants to bend reality. Put all the perfume you
want on a corpse, it still lies dead. Put lipstick on a pig, but
that doesn't make a pig a prom queen.
Rather, take the lowest
seat at the table. And you will find yourself exalted. Or even
better, be like the gentile woman who confessed herself a dog, but
whose faith looked for the crumbs that fell from the master's table.
Jesus not only granted her request, but commended her great faith!
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. And everyone who
humbles himself will be exalted”.
And Jesus Christ knows
about humbling oneself. He is the grand-master of humility. He came
from the highest throne of heaven to take up residence in an animal
feed trough. The Son of God became a man, and a simple, humble man
at that. He had no place to lay his head. He had no particular
beauty or majesty that we should regard him. He ate with sinners,
associated with fishermen and tax collectors, and even stooped to
wash their dirty, stinky feet.
He put aside his rightful
crown of glory in exchange for a crown of thorns. He swapped the
praises of the seraphim for the fellowship of condemned criminals.
And this man of sorrows, when you think it couldn't get any lower,
saw his own Father turn his back on him in the darkest moments of his
suffering. And then Jesus died. Death is the great humiliator of
all men. It brings us all low. He didn't even have his own grave,
but had to rely on the kindness of others to provide this last bit of
respect.
All this he does for you.
His humility is your exaltation. His making himself low, brings you
up, from the dregs of sin, from the darkness of death, into the light
of eternal life and heavenly bliss. He took his seat at the very
worse place – on the cross – to procure for you even a place in
heaven, and a crown of righteousness.
And having been thus
exalted, having seen the loving humility of Christ which brings us
from sin's lows to heaven's heights, our love for the lowly can only
grow.
In this last section of
the reading, Jesus imagines the one who hears these words of his
throws a banquet of his own, and invites some unusual guests. Not
the high and mighty, the noble and the powerful. Not those who can
do something for me, or bring me some benefit. But rather, invite
the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, for they cannot repay
you. And you will be blessed!
What a radical shift of
world-view! But isn't this what has first been done to us? Weren't
we, already, the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind? And
hasn't Christ invited us to his banquet, and called us from the
lowest place at the table to his very side? Now, you, go and do
likewise. Show the love for others that has been shown to you. And
let God sort out the rewards at the resurrection. Exalt the humble.
Regard the lowly. Serve the undeserving, for so it has been done to
you.
And so it is, even today,
when we gather for the meal that Jesus sets before us in his
Sacrament. Here we come in great humility, confessing our sins.
With contrite hearts, and bended knees, we take our lowly places at
invitation to his table. And he will lift you up. For here your
sins are forgiven. Here are far more than crumbs from the master's
table, but a feast of heaven's finest food. The very bread of life.
Here is Jesus, for you.
Lay aside your sinful
pride, turn from it, and come in repentance to the feast. Take the
lowest place, the place of the sinner, and see how Christ will raise
you up. For he became lowly, that you might attain heaven. And he
calls you to humble service of others, for his name's sake. Repent
and believe live in him. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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