14 Pentecost, Year C

“STATUS IN THE KINGDOM”
(Proper 17: Ecclesiasticus 10: 7 – 18; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13: 1 – 8; Luke 14: 1, 7 – 14)
Given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL

“Wherever it tastes best”…..

“Wherever it tastes best” is my reply whenever I am asked where I would like to sit when going out to eat, or when joining friends or family for a meal.

(Now I apologize in advance if ever I should use this – or any other of my one-liners – on you in the future.)

“Wherever it tastes best”…..The response speaks of a certain amount of self-centeredness, perhaps…It says (in essence), “I’m here to have the best time – and the best meal – I can have, and that’s foremost in my thinking.”

Self-centeredness is a key part of the situation that provoked Jesus’ teaching, heard today….self-centeredness and pride….As the guests arrive at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, Jesus watches as they take their places around the table. No doubt (judging from what Jesus said), they were angling for the most prominent seats at the table.

If the guests were other Pharisees, our minds might well go to one of Jesus’ pronouncements about the Scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, when He said, “Beware the teachers of the Law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.”[1]

The picture we have of the religious leadership in Palestine 2,000 years ago is not a very good one. Consumed with self-importance, their own prestige, and outward shows of their religion, they were – when we look into their hearts – desperately wicked, for they conspired to kill Jesus on more that one occasion.

But the situation that that ancient leadership fell into is one that could be common to all of us….We shouldn’t be too hard on them, for Jesus’ words are aimed not only at the corrupt leadership of His day, but also at our hearts, which are susceptible to the same corruptions of pride and self-importance.

As we look, then, at today’s text, let’s consider what the setting in first-century Palestine was, and what the implications might be for us, 2,000 years later.

As we begin, we ought to remind ourselves right away that Jesus’ words are not directly strictly to the social conventions of His - or any other - day. Jesus’ words are not the equivalent of social guidance of the sort that Miss Manners might give in the newspaper.

Because Jesus has eternity in view, Jesus’ teaching is directed to the Kingdom of God, God’s overarching plan for saving fallen human beings.

How do we know that Jesus has eternity – God’s “big plan” – in view? The answer can be found in verses 13 and 14: “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be paid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Jesus is speaking of last things, of eschatological things.[2]

Moreover, in Luke’s gospel account, banquets are used as an image for the heavenly banquet, the Kingdom of God.

Miss Manners’ advice aside, we, today, have largely lost sight of the importance which first-century Jews attached to the business of eating. Consider the trouble Jesus got into with His adversaries over issues related to eating: people noticed where He ate (Luke 5: 29), with whom He ate (Luke 5:30), and whether the hands were washed before eating (Luke 7: 44 – 46 & 11: 38). In our age today, we have lost to a large degree the social importance of eating – we are a “fast food” society which has become quite casual about such things.

But if we keep Jesus’ long-range view, the view of the Kingdom of God in mind, and factor into it the importance of the place-settings around the table, then we can come to the conclusion (it seems to me) that what Jesus has to say has broad and deeply importance significance for the nature of God’s kingdom here on earth, and in the age to come.

And it is to the subject of the nature of the Kingdom that we now turn….

Luke’s gospel account is full of role reversals… Consider the Blessed Virgin’s song, the Magnificat: “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and hath exalted the humble and meek”, she sings.[3]

And here we have another role reversal….Today Jesus says, “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”[4]

But we have already seen role reversals of the sort Jesus describes before in Luke’s gospel account…Remember our gospel reading from three weeks ago? [5] In it, Jesus tells a parable about the servants who are left alone to care for the household while the master is away. When the master returns, he rewards those servants who are awake and who are taking care of the household by having the servants sit at the table while the master serves them.

Jesus will also pick this theme up again at the Last Supper…Luke tells us[6] that a dispute arose among the disciples about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus responds by saying, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”

“The Kingdom of God has come near you”, Jesus said.[7] Indeed, it has. In fact, it’s already here, present among us this morning, for Jesus said,[8] “The Kingdom of God is within you.”

God’s kingdom comes breaking into our everyday world, altering by its coming our perception of the world and our place in it

The world we live in, characterized by a relentless pursuit of status, importance, meaning and indulgence, is superseded by the coming of the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God is a radical call to service and to humility. Our Lord served His disciples at the Last Supper, and in His sacrifice on the cross demonstrated His willingness to take the last and most humble place for our salvation, “emptying himself” as Philippians 2: 7 says, in the process.

The Kingdom of God is here, among us, this morning. Its presence is made known in the Holy Eucharist in which we will share in a few minutes. The heavenly banquet comes to us on the altar set before us. The Holy Eucharist is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet which awaits us, as the Lord Himself is really present in the bread and the wine.

As receive the blessed body and precious blood of the Lord, Our Lord’s presence within us transforms us, altering our attitudes and behaviors, that we may serve one another in the name of Christ, and be sent out into the world in service to others in Christ’s name, as well.

That is our calling as Christians. That is the example Our Lord gives us. We are grateful for His invitation to this Holy Table of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. So deliver us, Good Lord, “from the presumption of coming to this table for solace only, and not for strength, for pardon only, and not for renewal.”[9]

AMEN.
[1] Luke 20: 46
[2] The word “eschatology” comes from the Greek word for “last”.
[3] Luke 1: 52
[4] Verse 11
[5] Luke 12: 32 - 40
[6] Luke 22: 24 - 30
[7] Luke 10: 9
[8] Luke 17: 21
[9] Taken from Eucharistic Prayer C, page 372 of the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.