August 29, 2010
Pentecost 14
Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16
Luke 14:1,7-14
(prayer)
Have you ever gone for a walk down a path in the woods? One of those windy paths that you can’t see all that far ahead because of the twists and turns and the tall trees and brush on both sides. You may have seen a map or been told where the path leads, but your destination is out of view. You just don’t know all of the details. You are left to trust the exploration.
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This is the last Sunday of August, the final Sunday before we welcome Alex Bois-Bonifacio as a student minister here at St. David’s, the last Sunday before kids go back to school.
It is the final Sunday of my sermon series on discipleship characteristics. I have spoken about Attentiveness, Commitment, Authenticity. But I have saved the best for last: Humility.
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Humility is the acceptance that we are not God; we do not know everything; we do not control everything. Humility is an embracing of mystery and trust and faith. And it is a ‘requirement’ expected by God, according to the prophet Micah. We sang it earlier:
Micah 6:8b What does the Lord require of you: but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
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Jesus was given the honour of dining on the Sabbath with a leader of the Pharisees. This, in and of itself, is not surprising. As we look at the worship practices of Jesus, at the way he reads scripture, the ethical nature of his teachings, we can see that Jesus held much in common with the sect of the Pharisees. In fact, it would be fair to say that Jesus was a pharisaic jew. When we read stories of Jesus at odds with another group (called Sadducees), he is disagreeing with people who hold a very different theology and worldview to his own. But even within his own “denomination” (to use our word), the Pharisees, Jesus had his detractors.
In this dinner with a leader of the Pharisees, Jesus has four distinct teachings for the host and the crowd. In the verses I read from Luke (vv7-14), we heard the second and third of these teachings.
The first one (we didn’t hear today) is quite similar to the story that was read last week from Luke chapter 13: it concerns healing on the Sabbath, whether was lawful or not. “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a Sabbath day?”
The fourth teaching is the story of the great banquet that no one seemed able to attend. When the gospel of Matthew relays the story, it says that this was a wedding banquet. But the RSVPs came back with “no” after “no”:
I cannot come,
I cannot come to the banquet,
don’t trouble me now.
I have married a wife;
I have bought me a cow.
I have fields and commitments
that cost a pretty sum.
Pray hold me excused, I cannot come!
The host wanted a full house, so when not enough of the invited guests committed to coming, servants were sent into all of the side streets and alleys and people from all walks of life were compelled to come to the banquet.
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The bookend stories of Jesus’ teaching, that night at the leader’s house, were about radical inclusion. The normal rules of society that normalize exclusion will be re-written. “Is it lawful to cure people on the Sabbath or not?” His actions speak the answer: “It doesn’t matter how you interpret the law, I’m doing it anyway! And you would too if it was your ox or your child who needed help. You help them right away; you wouldn’t make them wait until Sundown.”
That’s radical inclusion.
“Go into the roads and lanes and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.”
That’s radical inclusion.
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The middle stories, the content of the reading today, describe the attitude that makes ‘radical inclusion’ possible.
Jesus saw how people jostled (politely) for the best seats in the room: those up near the front, close to the host. So had a teaching for everyone involved: first, a lesson for guests:
“When you go to a banquet, say a wedding feast, don’t just rush to the best seat. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if you were asked to move down later because someone more distinguished than you arrived. Why not start at the bottom? Who knows: maybe you’ll be asked to move up.”
AND then a lesson for hosts ...
“When it is your time to host a dinner, don’t invite only those close to you or those you’re hoping to get a return invitation (some rich neighbour). Invite also those who need that dinner, the poor, the cripple, lame, the blind. Your act of blessing will come back to you!”
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Jesus preaches “humility” as the fuel to allow for radical inclusion. Humility is possible and desired for both the host and the guests.
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In a way, I think Jesus let the crowd off a bit too easy. Perhaps he knew that there could be an inherent selfishness that could stand in the way of people acting with humility. So Jesus ends both of these stories with the one who showed humility, ultimately exalted.
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But maybe that’s not simply to appeal to our selfish side. Maybe that is part of the message – the difference between the humble and the exalted will be blurred in the end. To God, the people at the banquet are simply guests. It doesn’t matter how they got there or when, what is important is that they are there.
There are no seats that are more honoured or lesser than others. Everyone’s cup runneth over.
Humility is an attitude that can help us begin to believe the truth about Jesus’ ‘radical inclusion’.
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Whether we find ourselves relating to the metaphor of the host or the guests, the message is the same. Be open to the bigger picture of need and compassion. Leave room in your image of God’s love for others.
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As I was putting the final touches on my plans for today’s service, I had CNN streaming live on my laptop. I was switching between coverage of the “Al Sharpton Rally” and the “Glen Beck Rally” both being held in Washington DC on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. In case you don’t know, Glen Beck is a conservative commentator, host of a radio talk show and a FOXnews TV program and Rev. Al Sharpton is an outspoken personalities from the liberal side in the US, often becoming involved in issues of race and civil rights.
It was a very interesting contrast.
As a Canadian, I have to sift through the volumes of what even Beck called the “American gospel” – the idea that the US was practically divinely ordained to be the beacon of freedom to the world. But, underneath it all I was kind of surprised how both rallies, at least on the surface, were professing a similar message. There needs to be justice and liberty for all. Of course, once you get below the surface and the conservative-liberal ideologies come into play, how liberty and justice are achieved becomes a matter of debate.
But being as optimistic as I can, I would say that the starting point is the same, as it relates to us as individuals: SEE BEYOND YOURSELF.
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A person needs healing, but I prefer to no worry about those things on a Sabbath day.
See beyond yourself.
I want to arrive early so I can get a good seat. If someone else needed to it here, they should have got here first.
See beyond yourself.
I want to impress others with my party. Maybe I’ve move up the social ladder.
See beyond yourself.
I am too concerned about my own life to make time to celebrate someone else’s wedding.
See beyond yourself.
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Humility is ‘seeing beyond ourselves’. It doesn’t necessarily come naturally. It is more natural and easy to self-preserve, to focus only on our self and those emotionally close to us. Our DNA is hardwired to protect our inner circle.
Humility is a learned behaviour that has to run against that instinct. It is natural to want to be in control or at least to control as much as we can, so it requires work to risk the uncertainty that humility can bring.
So, why would we do it? Why be humble?
Because, our inner circle is not all that God has provided in this world. We are part of a bigger whole, something larger than ourselves. We are challenged by Jesus’ notion of ‘radical inclusion’.
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Even as I share this message on humility, I know that I need to hear it as much as I need to preach it. As open as I think I am, I realize that I still have my safe limits. Humility is a progressive attitude – one cannot be or become a humble person. The best we can do is be humble in a given situation. Each situation that comes up is an new opportunity to test how deep our humility has taken hold of our lives.
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Following the Way of Jesus is not easy. Discipleship has costs. Sticking with that metaphor, the costs of discipleship are an investment in trying to bring the nature of God’s realm into our world in real and tangible ways.
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And so I hope it is helpful to think about some of the characteristics of how we can learn along Jesus’ Way.
Let us pay attention to holy all around us.
Let us be committed to the big biblical themes of God’s love reaching beyond division.
Let us live in an authentic way so that this love is obvious to those who peer into our lives.
Let us accept that we will always be humble disciples (learners). We are not better than others, not higher or lower, but along side.
As I said three weeks ago: I like the word “disciple”. It is fraught with a sense of humility – there is more to known and experienced. It is filled with a promise for what will be. It also implies concentration and effort. And like its sister-word ‘discipline’, being a disciple can involve adhering to a program and practice that leads to transformation.
It may be a twisty path, where we can't see the end from where we are, but that’s where this is ultimately going. We seek to be changed: to be transformed into people who lives show the light of Christ to the world in all that we do and say.
That is a lofty goal, it is a humble goal. It will be the work of our lifetime.
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Let us pray:
Holy God, give us the courage we need to be humble followers of Jesus, our Christ. AMEN.
#79MV “Spirit, Open My Heart”
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