Moving for the Treat: Luke 14:25-33

This is from September 1, 2013:
At first glance it seems pretty easy what to take away from today’s gospel: All who exalt themselves will be humbled and all who humble themselves will be exalted. We can even take it a step further and nod in agreement with Jesus’ advice to the Pharisees about giving up their place at the table and inviting in the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Clearly Luke describes for us Jesus passing out this new form of table etiquette; a Christian Cotillion class, if you will, that seems so obvious that we can just hear it without it affecting our lives. We can, and I often do, rush through life without the Word of God even registering as anything more than a cliché: all who exalt themselves will be humbled and all who humble themselves will be exalted. Yet, Jesus does not simply say something as a throwaway line, this is not dinner party advice, rather it is a parable!

Parables, those seemingly nice, sweet fables overflowing in Luke’s Gospel, are more like a Trojan Horse than a bedtime story. These stories typically possess some sort of hidden kernel of wisdom that tends to hit us when we least expect it. However; before we get to the deceptive story of this wedding banquet, it is worth setting the stage for Jesus’ delivery of this parable.

The gospel starts, “On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.” Like last week when we heard of Jesus healing a long suffering, crippled woman, our reading takes place on the Sabbath, a day that served as a litmus test for how faithful Pharisees to the Law. Unlike last week’s story, which took place in the Synagogue, today’s gospel occurs within the home of a Pharisee. Today this might be like having dinner at the home of a wealthy CEO or even a celebrity. The Pharisees are watching Jesus closely to see if he will mess up something on the Sabbath. Is he going to follow all the rules? Spoiler alert: NO!

While the lectionary cuts this part of the gospel out (Luke 14:2-6), Jesus again finds himself curing on the Sabbath and explaining that healing should not be hindered by what day of the week it is. If someone is suffering, they deserve God’s wellness NOW, not tomorrow! This Sabbath healing sets the Pharisees on edge and of course, does not conform to the rules of the day. Jesus has broken the Sabbath Law in the Pharisee’s home no less! So what does Jesus do to follow up this “heretical practice”? He tells a parable, of course.

I have always loved parables because no matter how many times I listen to them, I always hear something new. One way of deepening our experience with parables is actually by thinking of the shape of a parabola, both words come from the same root. The arc of a parabola goes up and comes down and where it starts it does not end. A parable is actually like a parabolic arc and one example is a doggie treat flying through the air and into the mouth of a waiting puppy. When the dog biscuit leaves my hand the canine has to move to make the catch. If we are to understand what Jesus is tossing to us in a parable we have to shift to grab the treat.

          In the home of the Pharisee, after Jesus has riled up this wealthy religious leader by healing on the Sabbath, He passes out advice, but it is not just about earthly matters. Jesus begins the parable with some insight into how to approach a wedding banquet, but also how to enter the Kingdom of God. We all get the invitation from the host, but the question is “How will we respond to it?” Will we seek out the best seat in the house?

During Jesus’ day, much like in our own day, where you sit at a wedding, in a meeting, and even in a synagogue or church is a big deal. But place is not just the physical seat at the Table, but rather one’s larger position within society. Jesus is saying more than just do not make a faux pas at the next wedding banquet you attend. Sure the arc of the story is leading us to think of the practical side, but what about the Kingdom of God? I believe Christ Jesus is urging us not to go about our daily lives thinking primarily of our place in this world OR THE NEXT! Rather, we are to seek out those lowly seats at the Table, in this world, in the Kingdom of God. It is not about groveling or false humility, but rather knowing that regardless of our place at the Table the way we take our seats requires our reverence of our Holy Host. We sit at this Divine Table having been invited by God who sits in the seat of honor.

         The second part of this dinner party parable is directed at leader of the Pharisees, the host of this earthly party. Jesus says to him do not invite your friends, but instead the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, for they cannot repay your kindness. If seen as advice, this seems so counterintuitive and paradoxical. How will this Pharisee impress his colleagues and prove his place in the world if he doesn’t show off his lavish home to his peers? But Luke’s gospel is so full of paradoxes: when you exalt yourself, you will be humbled; the first will be last and the last will be first; to gain your life, you must lose it. And here in this parable of hosting a party, another paradox: the rich make you poor and the poor make you rich.

          Often in this world I believe we get caught up in trying to impress one another. I have even told Auburn football fans that I like their team, so that they would like me. What Jesus is telling us is that the Kingdom of God is not about doing political favors, impressing others, or pretending we like something, so that we can move up in the world. It’s not even about trying to grab the best seat in the house, but rather it is about taking our true place, right here at God’s Table where everyone’s seat is the best seat in the house.

          Are we catching the treat yet? How is this parable asking us to move, so that we might get a better insight into the Kingdom of God? I think the true treat being tossed up is not good dinner party etiquette, but rather this parable is giving us a glimpse Kingdom living, what it means to help reveal it here on earth. We all have an invitation waiting from God our host, we all have a place at God’s Table, but instead of fighting over where we are sitting our call is to invite others into the Feast. How will you share your place at God’s Table?