Year C

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14: 1, 7-14

The Rev. Denise Vaughn

Humility is Like Underwear

The late Fulton J. Sheen, an archbishop in the Roman Catholic Church, in one of his sermons once said; “Humility for the Christian is like underwear. You should always wear it, but you should never let it show.”  Not many wear humility well. Humility is certainly a virtue.  Experts in management tell us that most of us wear an invisible sign that reads, “Please make me feel important” and if we heed that sign we can succeed in human relations. On the other hand, if we say or do things that make people feel unimportant, we can fail. It is part of our human nature to want to be noticed and made to feel important. After reading today’s gospel, we learn nothing much has changed in the world. For in Jesus’ day, like today, there were status symbols that helped people enhance and protect their high standing in society.

For instance, you wanted to be invited to the “right homes” and be seated in the “right places”, because then people would know how important you really are. The closer you sat to the host of the dinner, the higher you stood on the social latter as these positions were usually reserved for the persons of highest office, wealth, position, or power. If a more prominent man arrived late, someone of lesser rank was asked to move to a less prestigious location. This was the protocol, the etiquette of the day. The emphasis was on reputation, not necessarily character. It was more important to sit in the right places than to live the right kind of life.

As Jesus is dining at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, he notices how the other guests some of the most honorable men in the town are choosing places of honor for themselves instead of waiting to be told where to sit according to the preference of the host. He remarks on their behavior and decides to use this moment as a teaching moment by publicly challenging the very order of things at the table to point to the new order that he is establishing: a kingdom of radical hospitality, justice and peace. Borrowing from “The Wisdom of Solomon”, Jesus tells the guests to follow the traditional wisdom guiding proper etiquette at a meal in the presence of an aristocratic host. The guests should not rush to the head table, but sit in a humbler location on the happy chance they should be invited closer to the attractive host.

Those who come to the table seeking honor for them-selves will be ashamed of themselves in the end, and those who are humble, repeatedly putting others first, will experience the true, deep and lasting honor of the kingdom of God. In this kingdom, a different kind of table etiquette characterizes life before God, “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Jesus then turns to the host and criticizes his choice of guests and reminds him he should not be inviting those who can repay him, but rather he is to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, who can offer nothing in return. Jesus issues a call to reverse the normal order of things.

It is a call to a different set of standards than what the world offers. No wonder they eventually lead Jesus to the cross. The “great reversal” of the reign of God, is where human relations are no longer characterized by prestige, wealth and competition, but rather by deep, rich communion with each other and God.  It is like the great reversal that awaits us at the heavenly banquet with the risen Christ reshaping the way in which we sit at table in this world.  God’s love is for all humans—rich, poor, prominent and marginal. Jesus calls his audience that day and us today, to live in relationship to others as God lives in relationship with us.

There is a lot talk right now on the weather channel about the several storms out in the Atlantic. Growing up in Florida we watched the weather closely during this time of year as we do also here in Georgia. We fared pretty well for many years. Several storms came close but it wasn’t until hurricane Charlie in August of 2004 that my area was hit straight on by a category 4 hurricane. Of course everyone lost electricity and most, like my mother, lost roofs so there was major water damage in 98% of the homes. With the heat at that time of year, there was danger of mold. It was a tough time much like the people in Louisiana are having right now but during the weeks following the storm, barriers were broken down and people were reaching out to help—neighbor to neighbor.

Within twenty minutes after the storm was gone, my mother’s neighbors behind her had come over to check on us. People from the surrounding areas not affected as much by the storm, were in our area the next day helping people put tarps on their roofs to keep the everyday rain out. Everyone was reaching out to help their neighbor in anyway they could. People were cooking what was in their freezers and inviting the neighborhood. I saw God’s love everywhere and I remember thinking wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could live this way always. It was a perfect example of God’s love in action, this reversal at the table.

God made us to be people of love and when the things of this world are destroyed, it seems it is then that we come to realize that extending God’s love in genuine hospitality to our neighbor, whether rich or poor through acts of unselfish kindness can wash God’s blessing over us. Although, we are not to do God’s work because we believe we have to or with false humility because our relationship with God is not something we can work our way into through acts designed to display our worth. We become naturally generous when we live humbly, recognizing God’s unmerited gifts to us of grace and salvation, for as we recognize all the good that comes to us by God’s grace, we become agents of that same grace in relation to others. Our example is Jesus’ ministry and as we discovered on Easter morning, Christ’s humility is what God truly honors.

The passage from Hebrews today sums it up: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” Here surly is life’s greatest challenge and adventure into which our lessons invite us today: “we are invited into the great reversal of the kingdom…to do good and to share what we have.” By doing so, we can be sure to serve people who cannot repay us. This is the kind of radical hospitality that reveals one’s true intentions. This kind of banquet is righteous, offered with purity of heart and in humble gratitude which draws us into relationship with those who have less than we do, and it draws us into fellowship with God. The Lord calls us into this fellowship, into the abundant banquet and invited are those who humbly take the lesser positions for then they will hear Jesus say, come closer, sit by me.