Being Humbled or Being Honored?

September 2, 2007
14th Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Luke 14:1, 7-14

Preacher: The Rev. R. Bruce Todd

Imagine this situation, if you will: a husband comes home from work on a Friday night, say the Friday of Labor Day weekend. And as he drives into the driveway, he sees that there is a rented tent in the back yard. Under the tent are tables and chairs for about 40 people. A bandstand and dance floor are assembled in one corner of the tent. Paper lanterns are hanging all around. Now none of this was there when the husband left for work that morning! Seeing all these preparations and having them come as a surprise, the husband started to panic: "Good Lord! It's our anniversary, and somehow I've forgotten! And, look at the preparations! It must be one of the big ones!" But, assuming he does some quick arithmetic and realizes it isn't their twentieth or thirtieth or fortieth, he might continue thinking, "I guess all this must be for a Labor Day party, which I forgot."

Then imagine the husband walking into the back yard to find his wife furiously basting a dozen chickens and discovering a pile of choice steaks in a cooler nearby. What might he think then? Probably, "This is going to cost me a bundle!" Then suppose his wife looks up, smiles sweetly and asks, "Guess who's coming to dinner?" Now his guess might have been: "Relatives, longtime friends, neighbors and business associates." But before he can respond, she answers: "I've invited twenty homeless men from the NOAH Shelter in town, a family of boat people from Haiti, and all the residents of a group home. Don't worry, dear, you won't know a soul. And best of all, not a single one is likely to ever pay us back!"

At this point, most husbands would think their wife had lost it! But, God bless her, she would only be literally following the words of Jesus: "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But 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 repaid at the resurrection of the righteous".

This isn’t the way it’s normally done! Jesus overturns the world's values. For one thing, we generally stick to entertaining people in our own "social circle," people we know. And, one invitation to dinner often is reciprocated with another invitation to dinner. That reminds me of Oscar Levant, the pianist and author who, with his wife June, received an invitation to the White House to dine with the Trumans. As they left Harry and Bess at the White House door, Levant turned to his wife and said, with resignation, "Now I suppose we have to have them over for dinner."

Jesus isn't saying that it's wrong to want to entertain our family and friends. That's perfectly natural. And this passage is about more than just how to make out a guest list for dinner. No, - Jesus is encouraging us to engage in what one writer calls "disinterested charity."

We are being asked to give of ourselves, our time, energy, talents and treasure, and not look for any in return. To some extent, what Jesus proposes is like that bumper sticker that says: “Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts Of Beauty.”
A random act of kindness would be helping someone just because they need help. Or maybe giving something to church without insisting on having a plaque installed so everyone knows who gave it. Perhaps you might give a server a 40% tip just because you know they’ve been on their feet all day, trying to maintain that smile that greeted you, so they can buy those school clothes for the kids who are getting ready to go back to school on Tuesday. And you know something, those are the acts that are remembered.

I‘ve been to a lot of weddings. Many of them I do not even remember. I get the invitation - send in the RSVP - go to the church - sit on the Bride or Groom’s side, attend the reception - give my gift. A few weeks later I receive the obligatory Thank You card. Now don’t get me wrong. At the time I really enjoyed the event, was glad to support my friends in their new beginning. But these events come and go, and I don’t remember the details as vividly as the Wedding Couple might remember them. However, I think of weddings when I read today’s Gospel lesson about the wedding guest who walks in and just takes the seat of honor only to be told to get up and move! Jesus tells us to be humble. Don’t assume you deserve the best seat in the house. It’s better to take a lower seat and then accept the Honor when you are asked to take a higher seat, than to sit in the best seat, and be embarrassed when you’re told to move!

One wedding I will always remember is a wedding where I didn’t even know the Bride or Groom or their parents. No, I wasn’t Wedding Crashing! I attended this wedding during a trip to India with my friends Asha and Kim. I may have shared this story before, but a friend of Asha’s father called our hotel and asked, would you be interested in seeing an Indian wedding?

I thought it’d be a great cultural experience, so we accepted the invitation. I figured we’d go and sit in the back and just watch the interesting customs of a foreign wedding. When we arrive at the church, the Father of the Bride greets us at the door! We are introduced-greeted warmly and enthusiastically, and instead of being seated at the back, or even just on the Bride’s side or the Groom’s side, the Bride’s Father walks us down the center aisle, all the way up to the front row, then tells 3 of the family members to get up and move! Then he insists that we sit in those Seats Of Honor!

“For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Would you rather be humbled - or be Honored? Jesus says to always go for the Humbled side.

I’ve had some good honors in my life. I had the honor of having a private conversation with Maestro Eugene Ormandy while I drove him from his center city apartment, up Broad Street to rehearse at Temple University. As the Seminary Organist, I’ve had the honor of taking Internationally famous performers out to dinner following concerts at the Seminary. I remember the honor of being face-to-face with violinist Isacc Pearlman. I felt honored when I was invited to play the new organ at Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center. Just last week I was honored to be invited to preach at the King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England - an invitation I’m thinking of accepting. Many of these honors have been humbling experiences.

But the most honored I ever felt was when I was given that seat of honor at a wedding in India for a Bride a Groom I did not know, and then welcomed to their banquet table and not even have been expected to bring a gift.

“For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The whole Gospel passage for this Sunday has to do with humility. The first parable, the parable of the Guests at the Wedding Feast, reminds us of the dangers in thinking too much of ourselves. Those who try to build themselves up, like the pushy guest at the wedding feast, get "put down." But the second parable, the parable about who to invite to dinner, is also about humility. I think we are called to reach out to "the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind," because at various times, the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind are us. Perhaps we're not financially poor. But we can be "poor in spirit," grieving or confused or angry or lonely or discouraged. And we may not be crippled physically. But sometimes we're crippled emotionally. And, while most of us have our sight, we can be "blind" about various aspects of our lives, like how much we're hurting someone who's near us.

Jesus wants us to give generously of our time, our treasure, and our talent to the needy. And he wants us to do so in humility, realizing that we're needy ourselves. What Jesus is proposing has that kind of spirit, but goes even further, for what Jesus is calling for is more than just an occasional act of kindness done for a stranger. This passage encourages us to make a special place in our hearts for the disenfranchised, for those on the margins of society, for the broken, weak, and poor. "When you give a dinner," Jesus says, "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind." In other words, have a "soft spot" in your heart for anyone who is needy, and do good for them, without expecting any "pay off" in return.

Let’s imagine another situation, if you would, one of the angels returning from a hard day's work, doing whatever angels do in heaven. Imagine that angel coming back to see Jesus, God's only beloved Son, working hard to prepare a feast. It's a spiritual banquet, an offering of every good thing God can give: joy and peace and satisfaction and grace and forgiveness of sins. Imagine Jesus looking up at the angel and smiling and saying, "Guess who's coming to dinner!" And, when the angel shakes his head and says, "I don't know, Lord," Jesus continues: "I've invited sinners. I've invited anyone who's ever broken God's laws. I've invited husbands and wives who have betrayed each other. I've invited children who have let their parents down.

I've invited parents who feel like they have failed their children. I've invited people who have subjected their bodies to all kinds of abuse. I've invited those who are twisted up inside, crippled by all kinds of painful memories. I've invited those whose eyes are blind to other people's pain. I've invited people who say they love me, but whose actions say otherwise. I've invited all the people who, in any way, have ever failed me. I've invited anyone who has ever done anything that sent me to the cross."

"Why would you invite those people? asks the angel. How could they possibly deserve to be with you? There’s No Way they pay you back?" "They can't," responds Jesus. "But still, I love them. And I understand their hunger. And I hope that once they have been fed, they might just be moved to feed somebody else. There's a world down there full of people who are poor and crippled and lame and blind and lonely and hungry. In fact, they're all poor or crippled or lame or blind in some way. It's a world that needs to be loved with my kind of love. The kind of love that keeps on giving and doesn't count the cost."

Although I’ve had my sermon finished for a few days, I just read a story that perfectly describes how a group of people humbled themselves to honor someone else. At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?' The audience was quieted by the question.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself,
and it comes in the way other people treat that child' Then he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His

Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted in the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat and everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!' As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world.' Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

"When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind." In other words, give to others who can't pay you back. Look for nothing in return. Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.

Today Jesus is inviting us to his table. The invitation is for all the People of God! Not just the ones who give 10% of their income. Not just the Perfect People who have never done anything that would have disappointed God. Not just the ones who avoid being the center of focus on the Evening News. No, these places of honor are reserved for each one of us. Why are we given these seats of honor? In a way to Humble us, in hopes that we will go out and honor others. Amen