Sept. 1, 2013
Heb. 13:1-8, Luke
14:1, 7-14
What is the social
code in your home, work, church, school for inviting someone to participate in
some event? For example… your having a party… who gets invited? What criteria
is used to invite them? I could imagine… they’d be close friends…some family…
maybe your neighbors…those you share common values with… they might be the
popular or unpopular ones… or the jocks… or the geeks…etc.
We tend to invite
those whom we share something with whether its at a cookout, the lunchroom, the
locker room, the school bus or the car pool. Today my friends… that’s where we
find Jesus in our gospel story and what our reflection will focus on… “The
Invitation”
Prayer
Jesus once again is
challenging the religious elites with the social code of his day. Jesus lives
in an honor-shame culture where ones status is pretty much everything. And… one
of the places which status is most displayed is at gathering that feature
meals.
To be an invited
guest is an honor and one that you don’t take lightly… and if this invitation
was for something significant… it meant you sat near the host. It was an honor
to be present and the closer to the host you sat… the more honorable you are
and the more honorable your place was to the host. It wasn’t only honorable to
sit close to the host, it could also bring valuable benefits to your business
and your life as well.
So in this story… we
see Jesus touching on a couple of important matters and he makes a couple of
interesting and inter-related comments as well.
First… Jesus seems
to give some good advice. Jesus says, “don’t
think too highly of yourself… Be modest… Better to start from a lower position
and be invited higher than place yourself ahead of others and asked to move
higher.” It’s the kind of advice I gave my kids when they started high school.
It will be ok… Just remember to be yourself.
The second
commentary Jesus offers, is not addressed to those attending the banquet but to
those giving it… and it moves beyond good advice to something that might have sounded
pretty ridiculous: Jesus says… “don’t
invite those in a position to do something for you, but rather invite those who
cannot give you anything in return.”
In an
honor-and-shame culture, you see, counting is everything. Status, favors,
debts, honor -- it’s all about counting.
I’ve done this in
the past at where I worked. I would punch out and work longer than I was
suppose to get ahead and show the boss I was willing to do extra. I would cover
for co-workers. I would help others… I would do whatever to create bonus points
because someday I would call in a favor. I always liked having people in my
debt… it was an advantage. I would do whatever it took to get ahead. It’s how I
got ahead or so I thought.
Which is why Jesus’
“advice” challenges me to think like God thinks. You see… kingdom life stands
in stark contrast to an honor-shame culture…and when you think about it… this
is the kind of culture we also live in. So… this story is not only an 1st
century story… but also a 21st century story as well.
Do you remember how
obvious the pecking order was at school? How important it was to sit with the right
folks at lunch? How much it meant to you to have someone invite you to a party
or even just save you a seat at lunch? The clear social demarcations of the
various groups from band, sports teams, techies, or whatever? The seats of
honor and, well, if not shame at least uncool, on the bus?
Our schools very
much operate on a status system where everything counts and everything is
counted. Truth be told, I don’t think it ends at school. It happens in the work
place and its present in the volunteering we do and even at church. It happens
just about everywhere; it’s just a little more obvious at school. And given
that most of our kids will be returning to school this coming week… Parents
& Gr Parents maybe this would be a great time to ask them if their
Christian faith means anything.
So I’d like to
invite you to ask yourself and your kids some fairly pointed questions.
- What would it be like to invite a kid who seems always to be alone to sit with your group?
- What would it be like to reach out to someone who is very different from you?
- What would it be like to give up your seat on the bus to someone who got on late?
- What would it be like to stop someone from bullying someone else.
- What would it be like to post on Facebook something kind about someone?
- What would it be like to invite someone that doesn’t often get invited to a party or outing?
- What would it be like to tweet a quotation -- maybe even verse 13 from this week’s reading -- about looking out for others?
- And what would it be like, if someone asks you why you’re doing this, to say it’s because it’s what you think God wants?
The Invitation Has Gone Out… God has invited you to live differently. God
is inviting us to share forgiveness and love with others. In a sense… God is
inviting us to do the extraordinary as is stated in our Hebrew’s reading and
Jesus in our story today invites not just his first-century hearers but also
his twenty-first century followers to live differently, to break the rules of
“what have you done for me lately?”, and to value others not because of what
they can do for you but because they are -- we each are! -- children
of God.
The Invitation has Gone Out!!!
See You out on the Road
