Hebrews 13:1-8; 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14
On Christmas afternoon, the Pastor’s wife dropped into an easy chair saying, "Boy! Am I so tired." Her husband looked over at her & said without thinking, "I conducted two special services last night, three today, & give a total of five sermons. Why are you so tired?"
"Sweetheart," she replied, "I had to listen to all of them."
For all who humble themselves will be exalted, and all who exalt themselves will be humbled.
We all need a good dose of humility from time to time, especially when you come to learn you are now eligible for membership in the AARP. The letter came in the mail just last week with membership cards and everything. I can’t make this stuff up. It’s totally true.
Now more than ever the world needs a good dose of humility and modesty because it seems to me that everybody wants to be a show off these days! At the Ironman 70.3 Brazil race last weekend, Jeremy Jurkiewicz of France was the first one finished with the race, but for some inexplicable reason he stopped short of the finish line. Nobody knows why. Maybe he thought he was so far ahead of the person in second place he could just mess around a little. Little did he realize was that Brazil’s Igor Amorelli, who was in second place in the race, came around the corner, saw what Jeremy was doing and broke into a full sprint. At the last second, Jeremy noticed Amorelli coming in fast and quickly pushed himself in front of him to actually win the race. The excessive pride and arrogance of this guy is too much. What led Jeremy to think nothing bad would happen if he simply stopped short and chilled out just before the end of the race? He just swam, biked and ran 70.3 miles, but now he feels like pulling up for a quick visit with the pretty people gathered at the finish line. We see this happening more and more these days. We live in a culture that thrives on this kind of behavior and approach to life where we exalt ourselves at the expense of others.
It’s September! School is in session and football is back! And do we love football. Not just here in Texas, but across the nation. The NFL in recent years has worked tirelessly on doing away with excessive celebrations by teams after they score a touchdown. It started years ago with a simple, one-handed spike of the ball, but it snowballed into group high-fives, sack dances, push-ups, cartwheels, sit-ups, boat-rowing, snow angels, and worm crawls. The arrogance of these athletes has become so bad that excessive celebrations have been prohibited and players’ teams are penalized fifteen yards on the ensuing kick-off. The excessive, in-your-face celebrations say more about the person’s character than anything else. The push for excessive celebrations is a sign poor sportsmanship and is demeaning to ones’ opponent. It is condescending and humiliating to the opponent. In the words of D.L. Moody, “Be humble or you’ll stumble.”
Muhammad Ali, the world famous boxer, wasn’t familiar with humility. He is reported to have boarded a plane at the height of his career, and resisted the instructions of a stewardess (as they were called then). The stewardess told him to buckle up (repeatedly) and Ali said, "Superman don't need no seat belt."
The stewardess, without missing a beat, replied, "Superman don't need no airplane, either. Buckle up." Ali swallowed his pride and buckled up.
Jesus had no patience with prolonged, premeditated and excessive granduear and self-promotion. When going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, he said, "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down in the place of honor" (v. 8). Don't assume that you are all that. Don’t assume you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. Don’t assume you’re the greatest singer in the world, the greatest fighter in the world, or the greatest athlete in the world, or the greatest anything in the world as too many of us seem to think. Jesus knows that someone more distinguished than you might show up, which would cause your host to come to you and say, "Give this person your place," forcing you to take a walk of shame and go to the lowest place (vv. 8-9). Talk about your awkward moments.
Instead, says Jesus, "When you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you" (v. 10).
This kind of behavior is not a sign of arrogance. It's a sign of humility. In the words of C.S. Lewis, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." It’s thinking of yourself less and others more. We are to walk with humble hearts; we are to walk in humility, a humble spirit.
Jesus’ parable summarizes the way God’s kingdom turns our world upside down. This passage in Luke is a call for commitment to the ways of God rather than to the ways of the world.
The ways of the world instill a sense of entitlement in our children and parents, who want trophies for participating in sports, not just for winning tournaments. Many parents expect their kids to be admitted to Ivy League colleges, even though only one in ten will get in. College students want A's, not because they have studied hard and learned a lot, but because they have simply showed up for class and paid $3,000 for it. Basketball players go to prestigious universities not necessarily because they want a first-class education, but because they want to play a year and then jump to the NBA.
And let's not forget the arrogant antics and unapologetic self-promotion on reality television. Reality TV is full of people who become famous for being outrageous, not for any specific skills or talents or achievements: The Real Housewives of Orange County, Jersey Shore, The Bachelor, Big Brother, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Jesus makes a prediction that should be heeded by the stars of reality television and by all of us: "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted" (v. 11).
George McGovern died last year. He was a United States Senator who will long be remembered as the Democrat who lost to Republican Richard Nixon in one of the most lopsided defeats in presidential history. Because he opposed the war in Vietnam, he was painted by some as a cowardly left-winger.
McGovern was no coward. In truth, he was a decorated bomber pilot in World War II, a man who served his country bravely and well. His staff urged him to talk more about his war experience, but like so many veterans he was reluctant to do so. He described himself as the son of a Methodist minister; a "good old South Dakota boy" who went off to war; a man who had been "married to the same woman forever."
In short, he was humble.
Maybe that humility served him well, because at the end of his life he was awarded the World Food Prize along with Republican Senator Bob Dole. Writing in The Washington Post, Dole said that "our most important commonality -- the one that would unite us during and after our service on Capitol Hill -- was our shared desire to eliminate hunger in this country and around the world. As colleagues in the 1970s on the Senate Hunger and Human Needs Committee, we worked together to reform the Food Stamp Program, expand the domestic school lunch program and establish the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children."
Later, they worked together to strengthen global school feeding, nutrition and education programs. They jointly proposed a program to provide poor children with meals at schools in countries throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, one that was supported by presidents Clinton and Bush. That program has now succeeded in providing meals to 22 million children in 41 different countries.
George McGovern and Bob Dole. Democrat and Republican. Both fought in World War II. Both ran for president and lost. But they are not, in any sense, losers. Losers do not work together, quietly and effectively, to provide meals to 22 million hungry children.
Jesus certainly has concern for feeding the hungry, especially those who have no way to repay our generosity. He says, "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" (v. 12).
That hits close to home, doesn't it? Most of us give luncheons or dinners for precisely the groups that Jesus mentions: Friends, family members, relatives, neighbors. We enjoy feeding them and then being fed by them.
But Jesus says to go a different direction. Think of hungry children, whether they are two or 22 million. "When you give a banquet," he says, "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" (vv. 13-14).
Feed those who cannot repay you, commands Jesus: the poor who live in cheap motels without kitchens; the inmate in prison who has no visitors; the crippled who have trouble entering most rooms with their wheelchairs. The lame who need to have meals brought to them. The blind who are often stuck at home because travel is so difficult.
We make lunches every Saturday for those in need in our community, as Jesus suggests. Not for the folks who easily pay you back with a lunch or dinner of their own. And should it be more than a meal – maybe more of a banquet, a celebration.
We can never forget that no matter the situation God is the real actor here. God humbles the pretentious and exalts the humble. We are all on the same team. We must be humble or we will stumble. God’s direction for each of us is that we think of others more than ourselves because God’s kingdom includes everyone: male and female, protestant and catholic, black, white, latino, and asian; Jews, Christians and Muslims, gay and straight; those with disabilities both physical and mental; everyone is included at the banquet table in the kingdom of God, no matter what the culture says or thinks. Jesus came to turn the world upside down by extending hospitality to all and committing ourselves to the ways of God rather than the ways of the world.
May we be God’s representatives to extend God’s hospitality to all whom we meet and know inviting them to come as they are to the table of grace.
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