Year C
Sirach 10:12-18
Psalm 112
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m guilty\u2026 I’ve gotten better\u2026 but sometimes\u2026 when I’m invited to an open house\u2026 a party\u2026 a wedding\u2026 or a family member’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah\u2026 I wonder who else has been invited\u2026 I compare myself to those imagined guests\u2026 who do I think may in some way\u2026 be better than me\u2026 socially\u2026 financially\u2026 or not\u2026 I wonder when seating assignments are made\u2026 with whom I will be seated\u2026 will I know them\u2026 like them\u2026 be able to make dinnertime conversation with them\u2026 and about what\u2026 ] or will I\u2026 once the dancing starts and seats at other tables become available\u2026 will I move over so I can sit\u2026 at least for a time\u2026 with someone I already know and like\u2026 and will I be found out\u2026 will my lateral move to another table be noticed by the hosts\u2026 the bride and groom\u2026 or the parents of the thirteen year old\u2026 and will I have to relinquish my self-determined place of honor\u2026 for what I experience as\u2026 a lower place<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who here has been to George Vanderbilt’s luxurious country home\u2026 Biltmore\u2026 in Asheville, NC\u2026 at Biltmore\u2026 there doesn’t seem to be any place that could be considered lower\u2026 dinner was such an elaborate and ceremonious affair\u2026 that the event required some of the most extravagant attire of the era\u2026 women\u2019s dresses were made of luxurious silks and satins\u2026 adorned with their finest jewels\u2026 men wore white tie\u2026 and of course everything had to be spotless\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And an early inventory in Biltmore\u2019s archives shows that there were 1,139 linen napkins and 111 linen tablecloths in the home’s collection\u2026 all of which were handmade\u2026 and most were monogrammed by Paris’ famous needleworker Madame Dufoir\u2026 and yes\u2026 dinner customs of the era required seating assignments for formal meals\u2026 often identified using hand-calligraphied name cards at each place setting\u2026 and it was common for Edith Vanderbilt to keep this kind of record in her archive\u2026 ] and whether for grand banquets or intimate family meals\u2026 the Vanderbilt’s head butler and his staff attested to the grandeur of America\u2019s Gilded Age\u2026 and spared no finery in setting the Banquet Hall table\u2026 spread with more than forty pieces of delicate porcelain\u2026 exquisite silver\u2026 and sparkling crystal per guest\u2026 dinner often featured between six and ten courses\u2026 including soup\u2026 salad\u2026 fish\u2026 an entr\u00e9e of roast and wild game\u2026 the home-grown bounty of estate farms\u2026 as many as five different wine pairings\u2026 dessert which included a combination of home-made confections and store-bought delicacies\u2026 and of course\u2026 coffee to aid digestion\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this morning’s Gospel\u2026 it’s the Sabbath again\u2026 and while the Sabbath meal in this Gospel passage\u2026 on Friday evening\u2026 would have been prepared according to Jewish custom\u2026 it could not of course risen to Biltmore’s level\u2026 but Jesus is keenly aware that he is being watched\u2026 and part of the reason at least\u2026 is revealed in the missing verses\u2026 vv. 2 – 6\u2026 because Jesus is about to do\u2026 what he’s done before on the Sabbath\u2026 and what others say ought not be done\u2026 he’s going to heal someone\u2026 in vv. 2 – 6\u2026 we read that\u2026 Just then\u2026 in front of him\u2026 there was a man who had dropsy\u2026 and Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees\u2026 “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath or not?” but they were silent\u2026 so Jesus took him and healed him\u2026 and sent him away\u2026 then he said to them\u2026 “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well\u2026 will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” And they could not reply to this<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so Jesus\u2026 ever the diplomat\u2026 and aware of how people can compensate for embarrassment by at least trying to elevate their social status… tells them a parable\u2026 he says\u2026 do not seat yourselves in the places of honor\u2026 he says\u2026 choose low\u2026 not because you don\u2019t matter\u2026 but so you might be raised up\u2026 it\u2019s better than playing by the rules by which you might be brought low\u2026 and be disgraced\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But we like those places of honor\u2026 don\u2019t we\u2026 maybe it helps us overcome the ways in which we are diminished by culture\u2026 or told how unworthy we are\u2026 but too often\u2026 too many seek the power that comes from those high places\u2026 and they Lord it over others\u2026 but in his book Mere Christianity\u2026 C.S. Lewis wrote\u2026 true humility is not thinking less of yourself\u2026 it is just thinking of yourself less often\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in today\u2019s Gospel\u2026 Jesus also exhorts his host\u2026 when you give a luncheon or dinner\u2026 don\u2019t invite your friends or relatives or rich neighbors\u2026 instead invite the poor\u2026 the crippled\u2026 the lame\u2026 and the blind\u2026 because when you invite those who can reciprocate\u2026 and they do\u2026 your gift becomes a contract\u2026 and you have received all that you’re owed\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n George Vanderbilt may have made many such contracts\u2026 by hosting these dinners and mingling with the social elite of his time\u2026 and we might imagine who he invited into his home\u2026 who might have sat in one of the thirty-eight banquet chairs the table could accommodate\u2026 and just where the seat of honor might be\u2026 and who might have vied for it\u2026 and what he might expect in return for the honor of being seated there\u2026 certainly\u2026 there was a pervasive desire to maintain proper social protocols\u2026 but being socially correct\u2026 doesn’t always mean being morally correct\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Craig Keener\u2026 professor of biblical studies at Asbury Theological Seminary wrote\u2026 while modern Western society is not based on honor and shame to the extent that ancient Mediterranean society was\u2026 most of us still care about our reputation\u2026 and one of the questions we need to ask\u2026 is whether we want that reputation to be shaped by the world’s standards\u2026 or by God’s\u2026 or at least less by the world’s\u2026 and more by God’s\u2026 now that would be a step in the right direction\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But a mistake that some affluent people make\u2026 is thinking that their wealth\u2026 or their social position makes them better than anyone else\u2026 more important than\u2026 worth more than\u2026 because the truth is that in God’s eyes\u2026 we are all the same\u2026 we are loved equally\u2026 but we must remain mindful of\u2026 and guard against the pride about which Sirach warns us\u2026 in thinking that the good that comes\u2026 comes from only us\u2026 because when we move in that direction\u2026 we move towards embracing that self-idolatry\u2026 and towards rejecting those relationships which connect us to each other and to all of creation\u2026 and when we are fed at this Table\u2026 to help us do that work\u2026 Jesus is our host\u2026 Jesus invites us\u2026 and our veils are lifted and we see that it’s really we who are the poor\u2026 the crippled\u2026 the lame\u2026 and the blind\u2026 and we are not invited because Jesus expects reciprocity\u2026 what we eat and drink here at this Table is undeserved new life\u2026 and gift\u2026 it is not contract\u2026 but covenant\u2026 and there is nothing we could ever do\u2026 to repay Jesus for the feast we will receive at the Heavenly Banquet\u2026 and for this we say\u2026 Thanks be to God\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year C Sirach 10:12-18 Psalm 112 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Luke 14:1, 7-14 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 I’m guilty\u2026 I’ve gotten better\u2026 but sometimes\u2026 when I’m invited to an open house\u2026 a party\u2026 a wedding\u2026 or a family member’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah\u2026 I wonder who else has been invited\u2026 I compare myself to those imagined guests\u2026 who do I think may in some way\u2026 be better than me\u2026 socially\u2026 financially\u2026 or not\u2026 I wonder when seating assignments are made\u2026 with whom I will be seated\u2026 will I know them\u2026 like them\u2026 be able to make dinnertime conversation with them\u2026 and about what\u2026 ] or will I\u2026 once the dancing starts and seats at other tables become available\u2026 will I move over so I can sit\u2026 at least for a time\u2026 with someone I already know and like\u2026 and will I be found out\u2026 will my lateral move to another table be noticed by the hosts\u2026 the bride and groom\u2026 or the parents of the thirteen year old\u2026 and will I have to relinquish my self-determined place of honor\u2026 for what I experience as\u2026 a lower place\u2026 Who here has been to George Vanderbilt’s luxurious country home\u2026 Biltmore\u2026 in Asheville, NC\u2026 at Biltmore\u2026 there doesn’t seem to be any place that could be considered lower\u2026 dinner was such an elaborate and ceremonious affair\u2026 that the event required some of the most extravagant attire of the era\u2026 women\u2019s dresses were made of luxurious silks and satins\u2026 adorned with their finest jewels\u2026 men wore white tie\u2026 and of course everything had to be spotless\u2026 And an early inventory in Biltmore\u2019s archives shows that there were 1,139 linen napkins and 111 linen tablecloths in the home’s collection\u2026 all of which were handmade\u2026 and most were monogrammed by Paris’ famous needleworker Madame Dufoir\u2026 and yes\u2026 dinner customs of the era required seating assignments for formal meals\u2026 often identified using hand-calligraphied name cards at each place setting\u2026 and it was common for Edith Vanderbilt to keep this kind of record in her archive\u2026 ] and whether for grand banquets or intimate family meals\u2026 the Vanderbilt’s head butler and his staff attested to the grandeur of America\u2019s Gilded Age\u2026 and spared no finery in setting the Banquet Hall table\u2026 spread with more than forty pieces of delicate porcelain\u2026 exquisite silver\u2026 and sparkling crystal per guest\u2026 dinner often featured between six and ten courses\u2026 including soup\u2026 salad\u2026 fish\u2026 an entr\u00e9e of roast and wild game\u2026 the home-grown bounty of estate farms\u2026 as many as five different wine pairings\u2026 dessert which included a combination of home-made confections and store-bought delicacies\u2026 and of course\u2026 coffee to aid digestion\u2026 In this morning’s Gospel\u2026 it’s the Sabbath again\u2026 and while the Sabbath meal in this Gospel passage\u2026 on Friday evening\u2026 would have been prepared according to Jewish custom\u2026 it could not of course risen to Biltmore’s level\u2026 but Jesus is keenly aware that he is being watched\u2026 and part of the reason at least\u2026 is revealed in the missing verses\u2026 vv. 2 – 6\u2026 because Jesus is about to do\u2026 what he’s done before on the Sabbath\u2026 and what others say ought not be done\u2026 he’s going to heal someone\u2026 in vv. 2 – 6\u2026 we read that\u2026 Just then\u2026 in front of him\u2026 there was a man who had dropsy\u2026 and Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees\u2026 “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath or not?” but they were silent\u2026 so Jesus took him and healed him\u2026 and sent him away\u2026 then he said to them\u2026 “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well\u2026 will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” And they could not reply to this\u2026 And so Jesus\u2026 ever the diplomat\u2026 and aware of how people can compensate for embarrassment by at least trying to elevate their social status… tells them a parable\u2026 he says\u2026 do not seat yourselves in the places of honor\u2026 he says\u2026 choose low\u2026 not because you don\u2019t matter\u2026 but so you might be raised up\u2026 it\u2019s better than playing by the rules by which you might be brought low\u2026 and be disgraced\u2026 But we like those places of honor\u2026 don\u2019t we\u2026 maybe it helps us overcome the ways in which we are diminished by culture\u2026 or told how unworthy we are\u2026 but too often\u2026 too many seek the power that comes from those high places\u2026 and they Lord it over others\u2026 but in his book Mere Christianity\u2026 C.S. Lewis wrote\u2026 true humility is not thinking less of yourself\u2026 it is just thinking of yourself less often\u2026 And in today\u2019s Gospel\u2026 Jesus also exhorts his host\u2026 when you give a luncheon or dinner\u2026 don\u2019t invite your friends or relatives or rich neighbors\u2026 instead invite the poor\u2026 the crippled\u2026 the lame\u2026 and the blind\u2026 because when you invite those who can reciprocate\u2026 and they do\u2026 your gift becomes a contract\u2026 and you have received all that you’re owed\u2026 George Vanderbilt may have made many such contracts\u2026 by hosting these dinners and mingling with the social elite of his time\u2026 and we might imagine who he invited into his home\u2026 who might have sat in one of the thirty-eight banquet chairs the table could accommodate\u2026 and just where the seat of honor might be\u2026 and who might have vied for it\u2026 and what he might expect in return for the honor of being seated there\u2026 certainly\u2026 there was a pervasive desire to maintain proper social protocols\u2026 but being socially correct\u2026 doesn’t always mean being morally correct\u2026 Craig Keener\u2026 professor of biblical studies at Asbury Theological Seminary wrote\u2026 while modern Western society is not based on honor and shame to the extent that ancient Mediterranean society was\u2026 most of us still care about our reputation\u2026 and one of the questions we need to ask\u2026 is whether we want that reputation to be shaped by the world’s standards\u2026 or by God’s\u2026 or at least less by the world’s\u2026 and more by God’s\u2026 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[174,92,175],"class_list":["post-1761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-heavenly-banquet","tag-humility","tag-jesus-invites"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1762,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions\/1762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}