Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 14:1, 7-14
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, IT TAKES A LOT TO CIVILIZE US. I CAN REMEMBER MY MOTHER TELLING ME TO EAT WITH MY MOUTH CLOSED, TO GET MY ELBOWS OFF THE TABLE, NOT TO TALK WITH MY MOUTH FULL – ALL ARBITRARY RULES; IN SOME SOCIETIES IT'S CONSIDERED BAD FORM TO EAT WITH YOUR LEFT HAND, OR TO TELL YOUR HOST YOU CAN'T EAT ANOTHER BITE. BUT EVERY SOCIETY HAS ITS ARBITRARY RULES, RULES ABOUT EATING, RULES ABOUT HOW MEN AND WOMEN INTERACT IN PUBLIC, RULES ABOUT HOW WE SPEAK TO EACH OTHER. AND WHEN SOMEONE DOESN'T FOLLOW THE RULES, PEOPLE AROUND HIM OR HER ARE MADE VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. HERE'S AN EXPERIMENT. NEXT TIME YOU ARE TALKING TO SOMEONE, MOVE CLOSER, OR MOVE FURTHER AWAY; THE OTHER PERSON WILL UNCONSCIOUSLY ADJUST SO THAT THE SAME DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU WILL BE MAINTAINED. ONE OF THE REASONS WE ARE A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH PEOPLE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST IS BECAUSE THERE, PEOPLE STAND CLOSER TO EACH OTHER WHEN THEY ARE SPEAKING.
SO WHAT IS JESUS DOING TODAY? IT SOUNDS LIKE HE'S GIVING SOME POINTERS ABOUT MANNERS. BUT MANNERS, IMPORTANT AS THEY ARE FOR THE SMOOTH FUNCTIONING OF A SOCIETY, SEEM LIKE RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT THINGS FOR THE LORD OF CREATION TO SPEND TIME ON.
BUT JESUS HAD FOUND A TEACHABLE MOMENT, AND HE WAS NOT GOING TO LET IT GO TO WASTE.
YOU AND I ARE FAR REMOVED FROM THE FIRST CENTURY IN PALESTINE. IF PEOPLE CAME TO A PARTY WE GAVE AND JOSTLED AND PUSHED TO GET AS CLOSE TO THE HOST AS POSSIBLE, IT WOULD BE CONSIDERED EXTREMELY IMPOLITE. BUT THAT WAS ACTUALLY NORMAL BEHAVIOR IN THAT TIME AND PLACE. IF YOU WERE INVITED TO A PARTY, YOU KNEW YOU HAD A BOND WITH THE HOST, AND IT WAS CONSIDERED GOOD FORM TO TRY TO SIT AS CLOSE TO HIM AS POSSIBLE. IT WAS A SIGN THAT YOU APPRECIATED HIS FRIENDSHIP, AND THE HONOR HE HAD GIVEN YOU BY INVITING YOU. THE JOSTLING AS PEOPLE TRIED TO SIT CLOSE TO THE HEAD OF THE TABLE WAS NOT MALICIOUS; IT WAS EVEN FRIENDLY, AND THERE WOULD BE PRETEND ARGUMENTS ABOUT WHICH ONE SHOULD GIVE WAY TO THE NEXT; “I'M HIS FIRST COUSIN, I SHOULD SIT HIGHER THAN YOU!” “BUT I'M HIS SON-IN-LAW, THAT GIVES ME A HIGHER PLACE.” SOMETIMES OTHERS WOULD JOIN IN THESE ARGUMENTS SIDING WITH ONE OR THE OTHER.
AND INDEED, AS JESUS POINTS OUT, SOMETIMES THE HOST WOULD ASK SOMEONE TO MAKE ROOM FOR A SPECIAL GUEST, AND IF EVERYONE HAD ALREADY FOUND A PLACE, THAT PERSON WOULD HAVE TO MOVE TO THE FARTHEST SPOT. AND THIS WAS MORE THAN EMBARRASSMENT, IT WAS AN INSULT; THE HOST WAS MAKING VERY LITTLE OF THE RELATIONSHIP YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD HAD.
WE DON'T IDENTIFY WITH THE GUESTS AT THE BANQUET. WE CAN'T SEE OURSELVES BEHAVING IN THIS WAY AT ALL. BUT WE DO IDENTIFY WITH THE BEHAVIOR OF THE HOST. LIKE HIM, WE INVITE TO OUR DINNER PARTIES ONLY THOSE PEOPLE WE KNOW AND LIKE. WE MAY SOMETIMES HAVE A FRIEND OVER WHO CAN'T INVITE US TO HER HOUSE, BUT WE DO SO BECAUSE OF FRIENDSHIP, AND SO WE ARE PAID BACK; WE WANT TO GET TOGETHER AND SOCIALIZE AND THE PRICE IS A SUPPER. AND BY EXTENSION, OUR CHARITY IS SIMILAR. WE PICK AND CHOOSE WHO WE WILL HELP. IT'S MUCH EASIER TO GIVE MONEY TO A CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION THAN TO GET OUR HANDS DIRTY HELPING PEOPLE WHO ARE UNLIKEABLE, OR WHO HAVE BROUGHT THEIR MISERY ON THEMSELVES THROUGH DRUGS OR ALCOHOL; OR PEOPLE WHO AREN'T LIKE US – IMMIGRANTS FROM COUNTRIES HALF-WAY AROUND THE WORLD, DISPLACED PERSONS.
WE SEE OURSELVES AS CHARITABLE, BUT WE PICK AND CHOOSE WHERE OUR CHARITY GOES, BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT OUR HELP TO GO TO WASTE; IF WE HELP SOMEBODY, THEY BETTER STAY HELPED!
JESUS IS TEACHING US THE MANNERS OF THE SOCIETY IN WHICH WE ALL HOPE TO LIVE, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. THERE, WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES AT THE BANQUET, WE WILL SUDDENLY SEE OUR TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR HOST-- WE WILL FEEL PRETTY SMALL WHEN WE THINK OF THE RELATIONSHIP WE REALLY HAVE, AS OPPOSED TO THE ONE WE THOUGHT WE HAD. WE WILL REMEMBER THE TIMES WHEN WE TURNED AWAY FROM OPPORTUNITIES TO GET TO KNOW OUR HOST BETTER, OPPORTUNITIES TO PROVE OUR FRIENDSHIP IN SERVICE, OPPORTUNITIES TO FURTHER HIS IDEALS, HIS PLAN. WE WILL REMEMBER THE TIMES WHEN WE PUT OURSELVES FIRST, AND GAVE LITTLE THOUGHT TO OUR HOST. WE WILL TAKE OUR SEAT AT THE FOOT OF THE TABLE, AND IF WE ARE ASKED TO COME UP HIGHER, IT WILL BE A GENUINE SURPRISE.
AND AS WE LOOK AROUND THE BANQUET HALL AND SEE THE REST OF THE GUESTS, HEROIC MARTYRS, FOUNDERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS, MISSIONARIES, NOT TO MENTION PARISH PRIESTS, SELF-SACRIFICINGMOTHERS AND FATHERS – ALL THE PEOPLE WHO POURED THEMSELVES OUT FOR THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS IN THE NAME OF OUR HOST, WE WILL FEEL OVERWHELMED BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN INVITED TO THE BANQUET – AND WE HAVE NOTHING TO GIVE BACK, NOTHING WITH WHICH TO RECIPROCATE.
IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, THE MANNERS ARE DIFFERENT THAN THEY ARE IN OUR SOCIETY. THERE PEOPLE KNOW THEMSELVES; THEY KNOW THEIR FAULTS AND LIMITATIONS, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, THEY KNOW WHERE THEY STAND IN RELATION TO OUR FATHER; THEY KNOW HOW MUCH THEY ARE LOVED, THEY KNOW THAT IN RESPONSE TO THIS LOVE THEY SHOULD GIVE EVERYTHING BACK, AND THEY KNOW TO WHAT EXTENT THEY HAVEN'T MET THAT MARK. AND NO ONE IN THE KINGDOM CAN LOOK AT ANOTHER PERSON AND HONESTLY SAY, “I SHOULD BE CLOSER TO THE HOST THAN YOU. AND THAT IS HUMILITY – TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF OURSELVES AS WE APPEAR IN GOD'S EYES.
IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, OUR HOST OVERLOOKS OUR LIMITATIONS; HE LOVES US EVEN THOUGH WE AREN'T VERY LOVABLE AT ALL. HE INVITES US TO THE BANQUET WHERE THERE IS NO HOPE OF US RECIPROCATING; HE PICKS US UP AND DRESSES US IN A FINE ROBE AND THROWS US A FEAST, WHEN WE HAD BEEN HOPING AGAINST HOPE THAT MAYBE HE WOULD AT LEAST LET US BE SERVANTS IN HIS MANSION.
AND THAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO PIECES OF ADVICE OUR LORD GIVES THE GUESTS AND THE HOST AT THAT DINNER PARTY IN PALESTINE SO LONG AGO. LOOK AT THE OTHER PERSON, AND NEVER FOR A MINUTE ALLOW A COMPARISON TO ENTER YOUR MIND. AS FAR AS YOU KNOW, THAT PERSON DESERVES TO SIT CLOSER TO THE HOST THAN YOU DO. AND IF YOU LOOK AT YOURSELF HONESTLY, YOU KNOW THAT YOUR PLACE IS LOW, AND YOU'RE LUCKY TO BE INVITED AT ALL.
AND SINCE YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED, YOU WHO DON'T DESERVE EVEN THE LOWEST SEAT IN THE BANQUET HALL, IT MAKES SENSE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN TO IMITATE YOUR HOST, WHO INVITED YOU WHEN YOU HAD NO WAY OF REPAYING. SO WHEN YOU SERVE, WHEN YOU ARE MOVED TO ACTS OF CHARITY, DO LIKEWISE; BECAUSE IN SERVING THOSE THAT NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO SERVE, YOU SERVE YOUR HOST, AND YOU STRENGTHEN THAT RELATIONSHIP, AND MAYBE YOU WILL HEAR THOSE WORDS SOMEDAY, “FRIEND, COME UP HIGHER.”