For the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary 22C   Proper 17C
August 29, 2010
Texts:  Proverbs 25:6-7; Psalm 112, Hebrews 13;1-8,15-16, Luke 14:1,7-14

What role does status play in our society today?

What are some of the status symbols of American society?
How about cars, homes, brand name clothing, electronic gear,
Or knowledge of the latest techie terms?

Here in the Upper Valley, what are some of our particular status symbols?
What does carrying a kayak around on the top of your car say about you?
How about dressing in outdoor type clothing?
How about bringing your re-usable shopping bag to the CO-OP

One day last week, I was at the hospital for longer than I had expected to be.
As I was driving out of the parking lot,
I realized that I had missed lunch,
And decided to stop at the CO-OP for a sandwich.

Once I was in the CO-OP,
I figured I might as well pick up some grocery items,
That are only available there.

Since I hadn’t planned to go grocery shopping,
I didn’t have my re-usable bags.

At the check-out counter,
I felt like a pariah when I asked for plastic bags, 
And when I carried those plastic bags to the car,
It seemed as if people were staring at me.

No matter what culture you live in,
There are a set of written or unwritten rules
That determine who is in and who is out. 

Even when we try to be gender, race and national origin neutral
There always seems to be a means
Of separating people into “like us” and “not like us”.

Do you recycle?
Then you are one of us!

Do you drive a car with NH or VT plates
—OK-You’re a local!
Did you grow up here,
Or are you from away?

Would you rather go hiking or shopping?

US status designators often have some local component to them.

Northface clothing gets you more street credit in Hanover NH,
Than it does it New York City!

Boots might be a form of survival gear in January in New Hampshire,
But my nieces in Florida can’t wait until the temperature drops below 45
So they can wear their Uggs to school. 

In New Hampshire, we laugh at people
Who drive their black Mercedes S class coupe to the dump,
While the same car will turn heads in Boston. 

Why do we use these designators to classify people,
Particularly when we don’t know them,
Or when we first meet them?

It seems to be a human trait to try to figure out
If this person is somebody who will fit in with us,
And whether or not we will feel comfortable with this person. 

Are they like us or not like us???

In the world in which Jesus lived,
Status was even more rigid and life-determining than it is in our culture.

In first century Palestine,
Everyone had a carefully designated place in society.

Who your parents were, where you lived, what your occupational was,
And whether you owned land were all determinants of your status.
It was nearly impossible to rise above the level to which you were born. 

There was a strong patriarchal and patronage organization to this society.

A young person starting out needed a patron to get started in his professional life.

The patron expected the young man to serve him,
In return for help in developing the right connections.
This was a mentor—mentee relationship driven to the level of serfdom.

In addition, a person’s family clan was his sole source of positioning in society. 
Extended families usually lived together,
Supporting and protecting one another.

Even social gatherings were governed by a set of rules
That were well understood by all the participants.

When Jesus was invited to dinner at the Seriously Religious person’s house,
This wasn’t just a neighborhood cookout.

The expectations at this meal were even more rigid
Than those which would govern an interview dinner with a prospective employer,
In our culture. 

First off, invitations would have been sent out based on the status of a recipient,
And the expectation that this person’s presence
Would do something to enhance the host’s reputation.

Certainly anyone accepting an invitation
Would be expected to reciprocate. 

Secondly, once at the dinner,
People would be expected to know their place.
The places of honor would be reserved for the guest
Who could have the biggest positive impact on the host’s reputation. 

Then, during the dinner, everyone would be watching everyone else
To make sure that they were following the social codes.

Luke does not tell us specifically, what his host’s purpose was in inviting Jesus
But rather sets the stage for this calculated observation,
When he writes, “The other guests were watching Jesus closely.”

Jesus’ family status would have been much lower than the Seriously Religious Man,
And Jesus would not have been in a position to return the invitation,
So we are left to guess that Jesus was being set up. 

In action just prior to the beginning of our story today,
Jesus has done yet one more healing on the Sabbath at his host’s home,
Which has the other guests shaking their heads,
At Jesus’ lack of respect for rules and traditions.

But Jesus turns the tables on the watching game,
As the guests begin to take their places at the table.

As Jesus sees them scrambling for the best seat in the house,
He pulls out a piece of wisdom literature from the Book of Proverbs,
Advising guests to take one of the lower status places,
And then be asked, by the host, to move to a more desirable location,
Rather than letting the reverse happen.

Make no mistake,
This is not Jesus playing Miss Manners. 

Instead Jesus is using this parable of a wedding feast seating chart
To call into question the societal norms of his day.

In case his listeners don’t get the point,
Jesus then advises his host and his guests to break the social code
And invite the undesirables to their next banquet.

Jesus tells them to invite the poor,
The lame, the crippled and the blind,
Rather than more desirable guests
Who could issue a return invitation. 

Jesus’ advice on guest lists and seating charts
Marks him as a first century outsider,
Just as my showing up at the CO-OP without my re-usable bag
Left me outside Upper Valley social norms.

Yet, unlike me who inadvertently offended the norm,
Jesus deliberately choose to use these twin stories
About seating charts and guest lists
To stun his listeners out of their complacency,
And give them one more glimpse of the Kingdom of God.

The way Jesus phrased his sentences
And the type of language he used,
Made it clear that the humbling and exalting
Would be done by God

Jesus wants his listeners of all times to sit up and take notice,
To realize that God’s world
Is very different than the one created by humans. 

When God, rather than a human being, is in charge,
The humble are exalted,
And the lowly are lifted up.

In the Kingdom, the rich aren’t given the opportunity
To set the rules and then monitor everyone else for compliance.

God doesn’t issue invitations to the kingdom,
Based on the status and worthiness of the prospective guests,
But rather on reverse kingdom logic, and God’s sheer grace. 

Because the culture we live in
Is less rigidly stratified
Than the one Jesus lived in,
We probably can’t appreciate
The full shock value of Jesus’ behavior,
As an invited guest at this meal.

Jesus’ stories and parables
Are often always designed to get people to recognize themselves in the text.

In this case, Jesus wanted his listeners to get a glimpse
Of the way God sees them,
And to realize that God is no respecter
Of human status symbols or hierarchies. 

So what do these twin stories mean for us?

Are our cultural norms so different from those of the first century,
That Jesus’ banquet parables make no sense to us? 

Or should we be looking at these parables as practical advice for us,
As to how to act humbly at a formal dinner,
And how to design our next guest list?

Or are Jesus’ words, a revealing insight
Into our own cultural status system,
And our determinations of who is inside and who is outside?

Could there be yet another meaning for us,
Just as there was for the Pharisee’s guests?

What do you hear in Jesus’ words about taking the lowest seat
And in the mandate to invite the outcasts?

When you hear those words,
Did you think about a time that you wished for a seat
At the head table,
Or when you found yourself scrambling
To sit closer to some key visitor?
What were you thinking about
When you heard the words about extending invitations to the outcasts?

If you leave church today,
Focused on yourself,
Thinking about what you have done and not done,
And even feeling a bit guilty about your failings,
Then you will have missed the glimpse into the Kingdom
That Jesus wants to give you.

The better question might be to ask
How are Jesus’ twin parables Good News for you?

God’s ways are not our ways.
Human status means nothing to God.
What you have achieved or not achieved
Is not part of God’s criteria.

You are freed from having to evaluate yourself!
You don’t even have to try to win the humble game,
Or count how many homeless people you have invited to dinner. 

With sheer grace,
God exalts the humble,
And God lifts up the lowly.

What God does for us,
Is not dependent on what we do,
Or who we are.

At God’s banquet table there will be many seats and many guests.
In sheer grace, God invites you and many others,
Even those you might not have chosen,
To that table and to that community bound together by God’s love.

In this sacred time, rather providing you with a self-evaluation test,
God uses WORD and MEAL to give you a glimpse of that table,
Where all are invited, and all are welcome.

Today, you too, are invited to the glimpse of the kingdom.
There is no test for acceptance.
You need only come forward and extend your hand,
You will be served the bread of Christ and the wine of salvation.
In that moment, you will have a foretaste of the feast and kingdom to come.