Best Seats In The House

Recently my wife Kim and I were flying home from Mexico where we went on our honeymoon trip. After several days in paradise the voyage home felt bittersweet. We boarded the plane, feeling a bit like human cattle, and found our reserved spots—we were sadly not flying Southwest Airlines. Once in our seats we waited. Who would it be coming down the aisle to sit next to us?

Eventually a middle-aged woman approached the position right next to Kim. She looked disheveled and at first appeared to be talking to herself. Later we found out she was traveling with someone sitting across the row from her. On top of this, for the entire flight--from wheels up to wheels down-- this person did not stop eating. She brought an entire backpack full of pretzels, trail mix, and even some Funyons. I had never seen anything quite like it, except maybe at a hotdog eating contest. Much to my wife’s credit she casually kept her cool even when the crumbs were raining down upon her. I came off the plane thinking about our next flight, “How much would it cost to get into first class?”

We are not always so graphically filed into socioeconomic classes as when we fly on airplanes. To afford a plane ticket in the first place means that one has some means. And yet, is there a more stratified situation among those with resources than loading onto an airplane? What are we then to do?

This coming Sunday’s Gospel lesson from Luke tells the story of Jesus in an analogous situation. At a Sabbath meal in the home of a leader of the Pharisees Jesus observes how people seek out the places of honor. Using the setting of a wedding banquet the teacher warns of choosing the seats of privilege, as the host may come and move you to a lower spot to make room for someone with more prestige. It is better, Jesus tells us, to sit in the lowest spot so the host will say, “Friend, move up higher.” If only the pilot might say that to some lucky passenger sitting in row 99!

So that’s it right? Jesus is righteously angry at those who exalt themselves and praises those who humble themselves, including the poor folk who are sitting back in coach. Not exactly! While an airplane is not a universal symbol, a banquet table might be. And, what comes after Jesus’ advice (let's face it, it's not really a parable) about the wedding banquet sheds light on the importance of where we sit not just at dinner parties, but in our lives.

Humans yearn for gratification. We long to be told we are worthy. The truth is that all of us are both unworthy (compared to the Almighty One) and completely worth (because of the Almighty One) at the same time. The trouble is that some of us tend to forget this paradox and side only with the misunderstanding that me and my folk are worthy while others are unworthy. When Jesus challenged the leader of the Pharisees to give a banquet for “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” he was trying to remind the self-aggrandizing, religious elite of this Truth apparent in the Torah commandments to take care of the widow, the orphaned, and those on the margins. Still, there is more.

Jesus in this imaginary banquet for the fringe-dwellers pulled the curtain back to reveal the feast that awaits all guests who are invited into the Kingdom of God. By all invited guests I mean everyone! Sill, we must realize that some have a hard time understanding that they have been sent a personalized invitation! The first bit of this Gospel lesson serves as practical advice, but it also put into the heart of the listeners that feeling of being disgraced by being told that one is in the wrong place. And, those who are traditionally disgraced in the eyes of society (the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind) do not get told they do not belong at the banquet in the kingdom. Instead, the host tells them to come and sit in the seats of honor.

How would our churches change if we did not feel that we had to have our spot at the expense of the visiting family? How would airlines change if they did away with classes or privilege members? How would we change if we went beyond our human nature of trying to categorize and put down others so that we feel worthy of some contrived spot of honor? God calls ALL OF US to the Kingdom of God banquet. Even if we are simultaneously worthy and unworthy God calls us. Invite others to join around the table at which we all have seats of honor, even if it means giving up your own place of privilege in this life to do it.

Luke 18:9-14: 2,000 Years Later the Religious Folk Are Still Pharisees

Luke 18:9-14 (NRSV):


Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."


In yesterday's sermon on Luke 18:1-8, the Rev. Evan Garner pointed out how even though we are drawn to looking at the red-lettered words (those spoken by Jesus) in certain Bibles, often times we need those black words to help us understand what is going on in a certain text (full sermon text here). Like the parable from last week's gospel, this parable is set up as an instructive message for a certain group of people. Last week it was a parable for disciples who need to pray always and not lose heart, this week Jesus' instruction focuses on those who trust in themselves that they are righteous and regard others with contempt. If I didn't know any better I would think that Jesus was aiming this story at the judge from earlier in Luke 18. Yet, if I leave myself out of those who often thinks of themselves as righteous regarding others with contempt, then I end up being just like this Pharisee, and, perhaps I am not alone in this.


According to this article from Christianity Today, the Barna Group found that 1 in 2 Christians today hold attitudes and act in ways that are characterized by self-righteousness. The president of the research foundation, David Kinnaman, tends to think that because of how many Christians live their lives, others see them in much the same way as Luke portrays the Pharisees. In Kinnaman's words they "do the 'right' thing, but with improper motives." The Barna Group's survey results seem to show that even though Christians love to point to Pharisees as the antithesis of who Jesus wanted his followers to be, we very often act just like them. Perhaps it's not quite hypocrisy, but rather just going through the motions, so that we can be proven right by our "rules" as Christians. So what do we do as followers of Christ?


Jesus ends the above gospel, "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." The culmination of this parable appears a bit like a dog chasing her own tale (you humble yourself, which might make you feel exalted, which in turn humbles you), yet the words that Jesus leaves us with tends to make me believe that we are called to always start from a place of humility. This means that none of us begins from a position of judgment, power, and self-righteousness, but rather we start with curiosity about our own lives. Where are the places where I have separation between God and me, between my neighbor and me, and even between who I am called to be and where I am now? To observe our own faults, to recognize our own separation (that is sin), and to be inquisitive as to how we turn back is the beginning of a humble walk with God.