Proper 17C                R Lundquist                           9/2/07

Luke 14:1, 7-14   http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=55706397

From Entertaining for Dummies by Suzanne Pollack Williamson:  “To keep the conversation fresh, invite a scandalous acquaintance or an intellectual with something to say that everyone wants to hear!” 

Well, Jesus would fit the bill pretty nicely, eh? 

In surveys people often list Jesus as #1 dream dinner guest.  Seriously?  Did they read this Gospel passage?  Look at what he does.  He:

                                                insults the host

                                                gives unsolicited advice

                                                states that reciprocity is NOT a value (no return invite from him)

                                                criticizes the status seekers

Do you think he liked the food?

Jesus and the Pharisees agreed on 2 things:  the importance of table fellowship, and their dislike of Herods, the corrupt family of local rulers.  But the Pharisees also loved all the rules, codes, and customs they could find.  So   Jesus is not merely critiquing the seating arrangements (though it is good advice for saving face even to this day).  He’s confronting a class-conscious culture, in which status was more important than wealth and possessions.  He challenged the entire concept of social-ranking, of a pecking order, of the idea that some are higher than others.

There is a Xhosa proverb:  “A person is a person because of other people.”  That doesn’t mean that a person is dependent on others for self-esteem.  It means consciously living in a community of inheritors of the Kingdom, a gathering of bearers of the Image of God. 

 A noted Rabbi once asked his students, “When is it at dawn that you can tell the light from the darkness?”

 When I can tell a donkey from a goat?

 When I can tell a palm tree from a fig tree?

 “No.  Only when you look into the face of every man and every woman and see your brother and your sister.  Only then have you seen the light.  All else is still darkness.”

 All of today’s lessons touch on humility.

            It’s said that people who are humble can’t be put down.  The word humility is related to the word “humus,” earth.  “To humble oneself is not to cultivate low self-esteem, but simply to live according to heaven’s priorities.”            Stephen Ministry teaching.

Heaven’s priorities.  That’s what this is all about.  It’s why Jesus coaches us in self-forgetfulness.  Self-forgetfulness, to forget the place of honor and ask “who is my brother, who is my sister?”  To forget getting paid back and asking “who is in need?”

            How are we doing?  Are we indeed the inclusive church welcoming all people that we proclaim?  Are we truly welcoming those least like us?  Do we really welcome those in whom it is hardest to see Image of God?  The poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind?  How well do we accommodate their needs?  It’s a challenge to us as an explicitly Christian community.  It is a challenge to move beyond the illusion of a lack of resources…

Heaven’s priorities – resiliency is one of them.  Humility means having soft edges & solid core.  Like a Koosh ball.  Remember those?  Something from the ‘70’s, a novelty rubbery ball with soft flexible spines.  It’s opposite?  An egg, with hard brittle edges & squishy core.  An egg cannot share space with another object, it can’t overlap with something else.  A humble resiliency is the ability to embrace & share space without losing your heart.  The Koosh ball can hold even an egg close to its center.  That’s how we be & become the family of Christ, by embracing what’s different & holding close to our heart, where Jesus lives.

So how does one approach the paradox the Jesus offers today?  How do you humble yourself in order to be exalted?  And by extension to another of Jesus’ great puzzles:  How do you lose your life in order to save it?

                        Jesus says the key is self-forgetfulness.  Buddhists call it “renouncing the fruit of the action.”  Sometimes we speak of “not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing.”  Forget yourself and do what is right, with total disregard for the impact on you.  As a mystic put it, “The life of self-forgetfulness to which Christ calls us in the only true way to happiness; but if you follow it to get the happiness, you’ll never find it.”

There were two brothers, who jointly farmed a field and shared the yield equally.  One night the first brother awoke and thought:  “My brother is married with 3 children.  He has expenses and anxieties that I don’t.  Dividing the crops equally isn’t truly fair, so I’ll move some of my sacks to his storeroom.  I’ll do this tonight, so he won’t refuse out of his own generosity.”  And so he moved 12 sacks to his brother’s storeroom.  Later the second brother awoke, thinking:  “It’s not right I should have half the grain – my brother is unmarried.  He lacks  the pleasures of family, and will have no one to care for him when he is old.  Since it is not just for us profit equally, I’ll move some sacks to his storeroom tonight, when he can’t refuse.”  The next morning, both were silently amazed to find the same number of sacks in their own storerooms.  This went on year after year, this   humble sharing and self-forgetfulness on the part of each brother.

Idries Shaw, Caravan of Dreams, 1968

So… are you ready to host Jesus for dinner?  He will probably be a challenging guest, the scandalous acquaintance.  And if you are so bold, I have a couple suggestions:

1. Make sure to include some homeless folk who can’t possible return your invitation, and

2. Be careful to see that the table is round

And you will be blessed.  How do I know?  The bible tells me so.

            Amen.