Proverbs 25: 6–7a / Psalm 112 / Hebrews 13: 1–8, 15–16 / Luke 14: 1, 7–14
This
is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran
Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 31, 2025 by Fr.
Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.
“LAGACIES RECEIVED, LEGACIES CREATED (PART II)”
(Homily
text: Proverbs 25: 6–7a & Luke 14: 1,
7–14
Last Sunday, we spoke about the
legacies that come down to us, passed along by those who’ve gone before us, or
– perhaps – by those who’ve been a part of our lives today. To review, we are
using the meaning of the word “legacy” in this way: 1. Money or property left
behind in a will; and 2. Something resulting from and left behind by an action,
event or person.
God’s chosen people, the children of
Abraham, in the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, were the inheritors and the
beneficiaries of a wonderful legacy. That legacy consisted of the Law of Moses,
and the wisdom of the Old Testament prophets, to cite but two examples.
Part of that legacy consisted of a
concern for cleanliness, cleanliness in everyday living, and cleanliness before
God.
A legacy can be regarded, and can be
used, to our benefit. But it can also be misused.
The misuse of the legacy that that had
been given to the people among whom Jesus ministered and taught was often
misused. They were squandering their wonderful inheritance, and their misuse is
on full display in the event that our Gospel text for this morning relates to
us.
Mark tells us of a banquet, to whom
Jesus had been invited, and which was given by a local Pharisee.
As the banquet was getting underway,
Jesus noticed that the guests vied for the most prominent places to be. (Perhaps
the most prestigious places were those that were closest to the host. We don’t
know that for sure, and Mark doesn’t tell us.)
(At this point, I can’t resist
employing an old bit of Army wisdom, which says, “It’s kinda hard to soar like
an eagle if one hangs around with turkeys”.)
The guests at the banquet were making
good use of that bit of wisdom, as they determined – for themselves – where
they stood in the estimation of the host and the other guests.
But our Lord, as He watches this little
game of one-ups-man-ship unfold, turns the conventional wisdom of the guests at
the banquet on its head. He says that when a person is invited to a feast, they
shouldn’t put themselves forward as being more prominent in their own
estimation than they really are. Instead, they should wait for the host to make
that determination. (Notice that the Lord seems to be making use of the wisdom
of our reading from Proverbs, heard this morning.)
But then the Lord goes further, telling
the host of the event that, when they decide to have such an event, they
shouldn’t invite their own friends or relatives or rich neighbors. Instead, He
says, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.
We should pause for a moment here.
The poor, the crippled, the lame and
the blind weren’t the “eagles” of the society of the day (making use of the
Army adage, provided above). Instead, these persons were regarded as being unclean.
Moreover, they were regarded by many as being in the conditions that they were
because God was punishing them for some egregious moral failure.
They were (to quote the Army adage
again) the “turkeys” of society.
It will be useful for us, as we read
the accounts of our Lord’s work in the Gospels, to hold in mind how prominent
was the belief that if a person was rich or was wealthy, the root cause of
their condition was due to their own efforts to behave like an “eagle”.
Conversely, the opposite was also regarded as being true. Such an attitude
seems to have permeated the society of the day, widely.
Luke’s Gospel account is filled with
examples that – by the conventional wisdom of the time of Jesus’ ministry, and
in our own day – upset and turn over our usual ways of thinking. (I’d like to
think that Luke took delight in passing along those accounts that challenge us
to review our attitudes and expectations.)
If we apply Jesus’ wisdom to the list
of those who should sit at table with the host of the feast, we might say that
He is telling us that we shouldn’t choose to soar like an eagle because we’ve
chosen to hang around with other eagles, but that we will soar like an eagle if
we choose to hang around with those whom society regards as being something
radically different from eagles.
The legacy that the children of Abraham
had inherited instructed them to seek to live holy, righteous and upright
lives. But that same legacy also instructed them to care for the poor, the
sick, the disadvantaged and the hungry.
Somehow, part of their rich inheritance
was forgotten or was overlooked, that second part.
Our own legacy, as followers of Jesus,
instructs us to seek to live holy righteous and upright lives. But our legacy –
our inheritance as Christians – also instructs us to care for those for whom
there is little comfort, little hope, and little evidence that God loves and
values them, for they are – regardless of their station in life – beloved
creations of God, valuable beyond measure in God’s sight.
We pray then that God will assist us
mightily, that we might reach out to the downtrodden of our own world today, in
order to lift them up, even as God has opened His arms of love and mercy to us
in the waters of baptism, elevating us into the status of children of God. For
God has bequeathed to us a rich legacy, and we, in turn, are called to create a
legacy with which to bless others.
AMEN.
