Luke 14:1, 7-14
Seating charts are the Rubik’s Cube of event planning.
- Few tasks are more comically daunting…or more fraught with peril…
- Then deciding who sits next to whom at a wedding reception…
- It’s a delicate dance of diplomacy…requiring the wisdom of Solomon…the creativity of Picasso and…the conflict-resolution skills of a hostage negotiator.
A wedding seating chart is not just about logistics…
- It’s a test of imagination…because if done right…
- It is not just about keeping the peace but creating a magical mingling of personalities where everyone…
- At least for one night…feels as though they are in the best seat in the house. The Lord be with you.
It’s a seating situation that gives Jesus an opportunity to direct our attention to two groups of actors in our drama this morning:
- The guests and the hosts.
- The text says that Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath.
- So…let’s start with the guests.
Ordinarily…absent restraints like queue belt barriers at TSA security lines…
- The average person is going to jockey for or pay for the best affordable seat on the Airbus 320…or in the opera house…or sports arena.
- In fact…it is this very human tendency that has been the driving force behind most efforts to prevent damage when chaos may ensue.
- Southwest Airlines had a longstanding policy of allowing passengers to pick their seats once they have boarded.
- But not anymore.
In our passage…Jesus observes how guests choose places of honor for themselves.
- He quickly sees that the host and guests have it all wrong.
- Instead of clamoring for the best seats…Jesus advises choosing the lowliest…least desirable seating.
- Like the one in which a large fern obscures your view of the speaker’s dais…
- Leaving the hosts to move you to the front if they see fit.
- He ends with the principle:
- For all who exalt themselves will be humbled…and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Humility goes a long way…does it not?
- There is something about humility that makes us look good.
- I believe it is because…like disciples…humble people are coachable.
- They seem intuitively to recognize that they do not have all the answers…and are open to learning from others.
- Humility is kind of a hedge against catastrophic errors of judgment.
- This is what the French philosopher Montaigne (Mann-tayn) was getting at when he said:
- I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.
- Humility never claims to have all the answers.
- And this is refreshing when we see it in others…especially in sports icons or those who are well known.
Why is humility so attractive when we see it in others?
- Well…I think we all like humble people because they are often authentic and have an aura of wisdom and a commitment to others.
- It is a virtue that balances confidence with kindness…ambition with service…and success with self-awareness.
- Humility is about lifting up and valuing others more than ourselves.
- And this is rare because we live in a world often dominated by self-promotion.
- So… it is kind of awesome when we spot someone who is other-centric…
- And therefore someone who inspires us to be a better version of ourselves.
On the other hand…the perks of pride are short-lived.
- Pride overestimates its importance.
- It whispers: You deserve the best seat.
- S. Lewis called pride the complete anti-God state of mind…
- Because it focuses entirely on self…ignoring God and others.
- And so…here…Jesus points to the perils of pride or pride’s peril.
- Do you really want to dash for the best seat in the house…plant your flag…
- Only to have security arrive and not-so-gently suggest you take a seat in the balcony?
And so…for Jesus…there was no better example of this than the ego-stuffed…pompous and self-righteous Pharisees…
- Who seemed to be just begging to have someone poke a pin in their pride.
- Jesus had little patience for super-pious religious types who looked as good on the outside as they were awful on the inside.
- This is what pride and arrogance do:
- They camouflage how empty and superficial the subject actually is.
One more issue remains here…because Jesus surprises us by offering an incentive: a future reversal of fortunes.
- If you humble yourselves now…do not worry.
- Someday you will be exalted.
- Why do we and should we defer to others?
- Because it is in our best interests to do so?
- If so…this is a problem.
Do you see where this is headed?
- It just seems a little crass to do something good because we shall someday be repaid in kind…
- Or because humbly offering the best seat to someone else makes us feel good.
- But…here’s the thing…it is what goes unnoticed.
- Jesus’ advice about seeking a humble seat at the table is not really about the reward…
- But rather about the One doing the rewarding!
- It is God who will lift up the humble.
- It is God who will exalt the righteous.
- It is God who will grant us our reward in this life and the next.
- This makes a huge difference.
So…we should not get overly concerned about whether the gentle reminder to humble ourselves is really a back door…
- Side door…or garage door way of suggesting that altruism is the best way to draw attention to ourselves.
- It is not.
- In this world…the chances that we are going to get upgraded to First Class just because we have a nice smile and a modest demeanor are slim to none.
- We will still have the middle seat between a chatty Patty on our right…who can talk our ears off…
- And on our left…a plus-sized…350-pound offensive linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Finally…a quick word about the host’s concern about the guest list.
- Jesus reprimands his host about a banquet for family or friends…
- Jesus says…instead invite the poor…the crippled…the lame…and the blind.
- Here…Jesus reminds us about the restorative and radical nature of our mission…
- But also calls for a hopeful image when the people of all nations…tribes and languages will sit down at the feast prepared for them before the foundation of the world…
- A feast at which we…too…will be present.
The late Pope Francis said:
- The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need…those who have nothing apart from their poverty.
- A Church which goes forth is a Church whose doors are open. Going out to others to reach the fringes of humanity does not mean rushing out aimlessly into the world. Often it is better simply to slow down…to put aside our eagerness to see and listen to others…to stop rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered along the way.
- At times we must be like the father of the prodigal son…who always keeps his door open so that when the son returns…he can readily pass through it.
In God’s kingdom…the best seat on the seating chart is not earned by self-promotion…
- But by a heart of humility and a meek-shall-inherit-the-earth (Jimmy Carter like) desire for peace.
- Jesus himself is our template.
- He not only taught us about humility…he lived it.
- Philippians reminds us that although Jesus was equal with God…
- He took the form of a servant…humbling himself to the point of death on a cross.
So…before we scramble to get the best seat…to get to the head of the line…to grab the pole position…
- We might remember his promise:
- You will be blessed because they cannot repay you…for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.