(prayer)
Last Sunday, in exploring
the prophetic call of young Jeremiah in the 7th century BCE and a 1st century
CE sabbath healing by Jesus, I spoke about how it can be a deeply faithful act
to question established barriers that function to limit people's connections to
each other and their relationship with God.
That theme is expanded
within today's scripture readings from Luke 14 and Hebrew 13.
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The context of the reading
from Luke is that Jesus is at a Sabbath evening dinner party with with a leader of the pharisees. In the verses
just before our reading this morning. At
the same party was a man who suffered from edema/dropsy - a disease that
resulted in fluid accumulation under the skin... most commonly in the legs and
feet (although it can affect many areas of the body).
The common treatment for
edema is to elevate the affected part of the body and allow gravity to drain
away the fluid. But the role of is only
temporary, once the person goes back to normal activity, the fluid can build up
again.
I imagine that the man who
attended the same sabbath dinner party as Jesus could not walk for stand for
very long before his legs swelled up again.
By making his way to the home of the pharisee, the man's endema was made
worse. In fact, I assume that when this
person was out in public, his affliction must have been on display. Had people gotten used to the way he looks,
so much so, that it was normal and warranted little special attention?
For an outsider, like
Jesus, the ailment would be noticeable on sight. A need for healing was obvious.
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As we heard last week,
Jesus had a previous Sabbath experience encountering a person in obvious need
of healing. In that case (cf. Luke 13),
without a word to anyone else, Jesus simply approached the woman and helped her
stand up straight for the first time in 18 years. After the fact, Jesus was chastised for
breaking the fourth commandment by "working" on the sabbath day.
Then (in Luke 14) at the
home of a pharisee on another sabbath, Jesus proactively brings up the fourth
commandment issue: is it lawful to heal
on the sabbath day, or not?
The text of the first
verses of Luke, chapter 14 say that no one was willing to argue that sabbath
healing was a breach of the seventh day work restrictions. The text doesn't describe the actual healing,
but there is no reason to assume that it didn't happen.
Unlike the sabbath healing
in Luke 13, chapter 14's event did not devolve in to a debate on the ten
commandments.
The fact that there was no
barrier to restoration work on the sabbath, the evening provide an opportunity
for Jesus to engage the dinner guests in a different conversation about other
barriers that can happen at events such as the sabbath feast they were all
sharing... that was today's reading in verses seven to fourteen.
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Jesus pointed out an
obvious reality of large feast event... that where you sat often held some implied
status: certain places in the room were more highly sought after by those for
whom the appearance of status was important.
Think of it like concert
tickets. There is a difference between
having front row seats or sitting up in the nosebleeds of the upper balcony.
If you hold balcony tickets
and try and sit in the front row, you will likely have an usher ask you to
move.
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Whenever I watch the
parliamentary question period on CPAC, the seating chart of the MPs is an
indicator of the status within their party.
In my late teens, I was
part of of the TUXIS Youth Parliament of Alberta. Usually we, held our 'sessions' in a school
gymnasium over the Christmas break, but one year, we were honored to get to use
the Alberta legislature.
This was the early 1980s,
so it was the days of massive Tory majorities.
There were so many government MLAs that there was not enough room for
rent all of them to sit on the right side of the speaker. In fact, at the time there were more
government members sitting to the left of the speaker than there were
opposition members.
I'm not sure, but I think
that this overflow section for parliamentary members sitting on the opposite
side of the house is unofficially called the 'rump'. (David??)
I can't remember which MLA
of day that usually sat at the desk I got to use, but I remember finding a
seating chart. Out of curiosity, I searched for my MLA's name. He was
assigned a seat in the very back corner of the
rump... it had to be the least
desirable place in the house. And it said volumes about my MLA's status
within the Progressive Conservative caucus. In fairness, he was the youngest
person in the legislature and a rookie MLA.
Can you imagine the uproar
if my MLA went and sat in Peter Lougheed's chair?
Whether it is at a concert,
or sporting event, in a legislative assembly, or at a wedding reception...
where you sit can hold some implied and explicit value and indicate the level
of importance you have at the gathering.
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I don't know if there was assigned seating at the pharisee's
sabbath dinner party. Even if there
wasn't, I am quite sure that there were some unwritten expectations as to who
should it where.
So, Jesus said to the
guests. 'Hypothetically, pretend that you are attending a wedding feast. You should watch where you sit; because, if
you settle in too prominent of a place, you may be asked to move. Imagine how embarrassed you will be as
everyone looks on as you are escorted to a lower place.
Here's a
better idea, choose a humble, out-of-the-way seat. Who knows... you might get moved up.
And if you do, people will marvel at your obvious status upgrade. How nice would that feel?'
This parable is dripping
with irony. Jesus was clearing playing
on people's sense of pride more than
their humility. And if that was end of the lesson, we might
be left scratching our heads about how that fits into the wider themes of
Jesus' gospel.
But there's more.
'Jesus
also said... the guest list to a dinner should include more that your friends
and other prominent people who you want to hobnob with or impress.
What about
those who are (too often) left out of these circles of status?
The more righteous thing to do is to invite the
poor, the sick, the disabled.
Invite people
because of what they need from you, not for what you need from them.'
//
Luke doesn't tell us how
Jesus snagged the invite to the pharisee's feast. There is another story in Luke (chapter
7:36ff), where Jesus' appearance at another pharisee's home for a meal seems to
be because Jesus was viewed as a 'prophet'.
That pharisee was shocked at what he saw as un-prophet-like behaviour
when it came to Jesus' interaction with a undesirable
party-crasher.
When I read Luke 14, I
imagine that Jesus was viewed as a honored guest by his host: one worthy of a
place of honour. And... I assume that
(at least part of) the host's motivation was to puff up his own reputation by
being seen with Jesus.
//
Healing the edema-stricken
forgotten man and starting a conversation about the contrasting attitudes of
humility and pride must have made this sabbath dinner party an impactful and
memorable one indeed... although perhaps in a very different way than the host
originally envisioned.
In retrospect, it was a
deeply honourable and holy time. Exactly
what commandment number four calls for: honour
the sabbath day and keep it holy.
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The attitude that Jesus
expressed at the pharisee's home was picked up and maintained by the early
church leaders of the Christian movement of the late first century.
Today, we also heard the
author of Hebrews write about mutual love.
I love the first verse of Hebrews 13.
It exhorts to let mutual love continue.
That final word is
significant.
The community is being
congratulated for the fact that they already are living out a mutual love, at
least in some way. Let this continue, the letter says.
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Then the author expands on
what this means - mutual love is to extend beyond just the Hebrews Christian
community. Be hospitable to
strangers. Be empathetic for those who
are in living in the harshness of prison.
It is not explicit in the
letter, but perhaps we see hints of a Matthew 25 attitude when Jesus is quoted
as saying: 'When you feed the hungry or give a
drink to the thirsty; when you welcome the stranger, visit the sick, clothe the
naked or visit the prisoner... you are caring for me.'
These are actions of
outreach, but the letter also encourages mutual love within their community by discouraging unloving acts such as
infidelity and greed.
We might summarize this as welcoming in and reaching out.
The letter encourages the
church to follow the best examples of those who are (and have been) honourable
leaders in this faith and action.
Do
not neglect to do good
and
share what you have.
Let
mutual love continue.
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'Mutual Love' is (by
definition) not one-sided. The loved
also love. The lovers also receive love.
Mutual love is shorthand
for a compassionate society.
It is an expression of a
compassion without barriers and assumptions of worthiness.
Mutual love is an
expression of care for care's sake,
not as a hidden motivation for self-gratification.
For love to be true and honest, it has to be deeper than simply
behaving respectfully and being tolerant.
The kind of love that Jesus
modeled and that the early church encouraged was an authentic and honest
compassion that is founded in honour and acceptance.
Honour is deeper than
respect.
Acceptance is deeper than
tolerance.
//
The devine promise in the
biblical good news is that Our Maker
accepts the Child of God that we are - with a compassion that is eternally
forgiving.
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There is honour enough for
all.
There is honour enough for
all.
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Unlike seating arrangements
at a feast, there is no hierarchy within the realm of God.
We don't need to compete
for God's affection.
There is honour enough for
all.
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We are not God.
And so, not one of us lives
this out perfectly in every moment.
And yet, everyone of us has
given and received honest and authentic selfless compassion.
The encouragement in our
scriptures today is to let those
examples guide us.
Let mutual love continue.
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Our tasks - as people who
hold faith in the kind of a world where mutual love reigns - is to see each
face as the face of God in our midst and to relieve ourselves of the burdens of
prejudice and resentment.
Each time we do, there will be angels among us, for we are the
messengers of God.
Let us go to love God with
our whole heart, mind and might and to love those we meet as ourselves.
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Let us pray:
Holy One, we have honour in your
eyes. This is not competitive - you have
a place for all. Amen.
#271VU “There’s a Wideness in God’s
Mercy”
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