This week,
I really annoyed one of my sermon prep colleagues. As many of you know, I belong to a couple
groups where we talk shop.
Unsurprisingly, one of those places we talk shop is in sermon
preparation. It’s a fun group. We share what we are preaching on and sermon
illustrations, or sometimes we ask for illustrations when we have brain
freeze. I was, unfortunately, late to
the party this week due to pastoral considerations. By the time I got to where I could begin to
think about this week’s sermon, my favorite group had covered all the rabbit
holes. I learned, for example, there are
parabologists. People get PhD’s as
experts in parables. This is a real
thing. Apparently, one can be an expert
in the parables of Luke, the parables of Matthew, the parables of Mark, or just
of parables in general. That was an
important discussion because the teaching today is the subject of much
discussion among parabologists.
It’s not
really germane to my sermon, but think of your favorite parable. It is generally told by Jesus in the third
person. Why? It’s so our perspective can change as our
walk with God changes, right? Think of
the parable of the Prodigal Son. What
will be a teaching on that parable?
Great, forgiveness. What if I
announced today I was preaching on the parable of the Loving Father? What will be the likely subject of that
sermon? That’s right, our loving Father
in heaven pursuing and wooing us. You
guys are sharp today. What if, instead,
I said I was preaching on the Ungrateful Older Brother. What would be the subject of my sermon? Exactly.
Grace-hoarding or something like that.
See. Y’all are parabologists. You understand that the parables are stories
that invite us to take on the perspective of one of the characters to help
teach us and others about God and about human beings, especially ourselves. All three titles speak to the same parable
taught by Jesus. All the details are
identical. It’s just that our focus, our
attention, can change, even as our walk with God changes.
I share
that rabbit trail with you because a number of experts, apparently, argue that
this teaching in Luke today is not a parable at all. Chiefly, the argument seems to be that Jesus
teaches in the second person, you, rather than in the third person, there
was a man or there was a woman. In
other words, it’s very pointed to us, the audience. It’s more like tutoring than like an
invitation to learn. The problem with
that line of thinking is that Luke introduces the teaching in verse seven as a
parable. Now, did Jesus teach this
lesson in a parable and Luke wrote down his own engagement with that direct
teaching? I doubt it, but it’s
possible. Does it matter? In the end, I would say no. It’s the kind of things about which academics
argue, just like the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin, but those
of us trying to live our faith with integrity really could care less about.
Of course,
one of my colleagues came across a theologian who was very disappointed in this
teaching of this lesson. All Jesus is
doing, according to this particular writer, is teaching us table manners and
giving us good, solid advice for daily living.
From this writer’s perspective, there was no theological perspective
that made this event particularly applicable in the daily life and work of
readers. That drove my colleague
nuts. How could the professional not see
the eschatological perspective that was self-evident? You can well imagine that thread and the
accompanying rabbit trails! Of course,
my colleagues were struggling with modern sermon illustrations which illustrated
their contention that this is, indeed, a theological teaching. That, it turned out, was my only contribution
to a number of sermons this week.
I should
also note, before I begin, I see the irony at play. As y’all can tell by the grouping of the
readings, we should be focusing on humility.
We are not to be full of pride, at all.
But, I was also chewed out this past week by three families giving
consideration to joining us formally.
Each of the families is a blended family. Well, the adults are. Somehow, someway, neither Adventers nor me
may have mentioned to them during their visits my work for the Pope and
Archbishop of Canterbury. For those
adults who are faithful Roman Catholics, such mentioning may have lowered their
anxieties about joining our parish. A
couple, in fact, suggested that I lead with that in my introductions. So, on a week when I am supposed to teach us
to be humble, some may hear a brag. I
guess we would say that’s God having a jest with us?
Anyway,
some five years ago, a cardinal was interviewed by the local big paper in
Rome. Those of you who do not know how
the Roman church works, cardinals are assigned parishes in Rome. They are sort of living patrons of those
local parishes. When they are in town,
they are expected to preach and celebrate at the parish. It is their connection to the local
populace. And, when they are in town,
they are all working to become the next Pope.
This particular gentleman was giving out coins in front of his parish as
Archbishop David and our group walked by his church – that’s how I got all the
background information. Much like every
US Senator thinks he or she could be the next US President, every Cardinal seems
to think he should be the next Pope.
This man was giving out coins, David admitted he was being a bit
cynical, because he wanted the groundswell of popular support to cause other cardinals
to vote for him.
Now,
remember, this was five years ago.
Francis was beloved by the Progressive wing of the Roman church and
distrusted by the Conservative wing of the Roman church. In this interview, the good cardinal was pushing
back against the Pope’s new policies.
The Holy Father expected them all to give up their wonderful homes and
castles and live in mundane apartments.
The Holy Father expected them to give up their Mercedes and drive
something like Fiats instead. Heck, the
Holy Father expected them to eat with the homeless and the starving! Can you believe that?! On that last part, the cardinal went on to
complain about how bad homeless people smell.
One cannot enjoy a meal with such stink in the air. The cardinal in question went on to say
something along the lines that he could not wait for the Holy Father to grow
into the office, that he become more Pope-like, and allow them the privileges
of their offices.
David
shared with us that Pope Francis often got in trouble with the Swiss
Guard. In fact, he later shared that a
commander or two had already resigned over the new Pope’s habits of not
listening to his security—it’s like a President ignoring the Secret Service. One of those habits that annoyed the Swiss
Guard was Francis’ sneaking off in civi’s to help churches feed the homeless in
St. Peter’s square! Now, given that
information, you might well imagine the Pope was not particularly sympathetic
to this cardinal’s complaint.
Shortly
after I started here, and I’m talking weeks rather than months, the reporter
noticed that new construction had begun on St. Peter’s. His interviews with workers led him to
believe bathrooms were being installed.
During a q & a session with the Pope for the paper, he asked about
it, knowing that nothing happens in the Vatican without the Pope’s tacit, if
not implicit, approval. And St. Peter’s
Square is more likely to require tacit approval as the Pope address the masses
there all the time.
The Pope
mentioned to the reporter that he had read the article in the paper a couple
months back that included the comments from his “brother bishop.” As the Holy Father prayed over those
comments, he realized his brother was correct.
It is hard, if one is homeless, to get cleaned up. Businesses are not good about opening up
their establishments for free.
Residential folk are not too keen on allowing the homeless to come in
and clean up. Most churches do not have
showers in their facilities. It pained
him to think of the number of homeless people, aware and embarrassed by their
predicament, who had no doubt been forced to decline his brother bishop’s
invitation to dine. No doubt they did
not want to sit down to a meal with him without first cleaning up. So, as a solution to the problem, the Pope
had ordered public showers to be erected around St. Peter’s. That way, the homeless could get cleaned up
before going to his brother bishop’s meals and so spare him their smell and
them any embarrassment. In one fell
swoop, the Holy Father both provided a necessary service for the needy in his
community, and he ensured that the next Pope would NOT be the cardinal in
question.
Our lesson
from Luke this week takes place at a meal on the sabbath. The religious folk have their eye on Jesus
because of the healings He has done on the sabbath, in clear violation of the
torah from their perspective. Those of
you who attended our Maundy Thursday meal have seen this in person, but such
meals would have had the tables arranged in a square “U”. The host sat at the middle of the U. The most important or honored guest sat to
the host’s right. The second most
important or honored guest sat immediately to the host’s left. The third was second to the right; the fourth
was second to the left. And so on. The middle of the U was for servants and
slaves to tend to the needs of the guests and the host. Most of the ANE was very conscious of social
status. The Paris Hilton’s and Kim
Kardashian’s of the modern world are amateurs at such things.
When one
was invited to such a feast, a great deal of energy was spent determining where
one sat. One could always try and sneak
a bit closer to the front, but one ran the risk of overstepping one’s bounds. Plus, host’s would invite a few people from
above their social status. The hope was
that the more famous person would attend, thereby improving the significance
and standing of the host’s party, or, if worse came to worse, ensuring that one
might get a future invitation to that higher guest’s dinner party. Imagine today if you went to a party and
Garth Brooks or Taylor Swift showed up.
If you were the host, how much would you be hoping you’d get invited to
a future event of theirs? But how famous
would you be in your own social circle if they attended your event? Get it?
Now, we are amateurs at such things.
The ANE folk, and Romans in particular, were professionals on steroids
when it came to honor and social status!
The folk that we think thrive in this kind of environment would have
been devoured in that one!
Jesus is at
one such meal and, as is typical for Jesus, he observes and uses the everyday
experience to teach His disciples and us.
On one level, His instruction is about table manners. In the scene I described above, where we
would spend time and energy trying to figure out the appropriate place to sit
if we were invited, we would have to figure out how close to the host we could
sit without causing offense to more important guests or the host. If I sat at the 10th most
important spot, but I was the 30th most important guest to the host,
I ran the risk of experiencing the scene described initially by Jesus, where
the host tells me to move down because so-and-so needs my seat. I would experience the shame of having
over-reached my status and having to be put in my place. The whispers for the next few weeks would
probably remind me of my mistake, and I would probably not be invited to a
number of future feasts because I did not know my place. But could I get away with sitting at the 25th
most important seat? The 22nd? See the game?
Jesus’
wisdom, on one level, speaks to that everyday problem. Choose the least important seat. If I sat at the least important seat, no one will
make me move. Nobody wants that
seat! One barely made the cutoff for the
meal if one is assigned that seat! I
will not be perceived as haughty. I will
be known as one of those guests who knows his place and ensures future
invitations. But, if I am important to
the host, what could happen? The host
may make me move closer to the front! As
dishonoring as the walk of shame was for the one asked to move down, imagine
how power the walk of importance would be for one asked to move up! Now the whispers would go the other way! He’s such a nice guy he has no idea how
important he is. Can you imagine that
Brian thought he should sit at the end of the table, as if he’s not one of
Ralph’s favorite guys?! See the
difference?
Jesus’
teaching does have practical application.
In this game of seeming infinite importance, Jesus has instructed His
disciples how to win all the time. Of
course, Jesus has a different game and different perspective in mind, but we
should not be surprised that being faithful, living as He did, in the small
things points to an eschatological blessing that is seldom in our minds.
One of the
big questions I get asked constantly in private discussions is whether somebody
is Christian enough. Nobody panic, I
will not be citing specific names.
People will come into my office and ask if they are Christian enough. My answers usually frustrate them. I, naturally, ask if they believe that Jesus
is the Son of God, came down from heaven, died for their sins, was raised on
the third day, ascended back to heaven, and will one day return to judge
us. If they answer yes, I tell them they
are probably Christian enough. The
probably, as you might imagine, scares them.
I have to remind them that judging their salvation is above my
paygrade. The guy who hung on the Cross
gets to decide who is in and who is out.
He sees the heart; I can only listen to the words and see the behavior.
It’s at
this point in such conversations that the person in question will begin to
wonder whether they are “doing enough.”
As a pastor, I have to be careful.
We can never do enough to earn salvation—that’s the opposite of
grace. But sometimes, people are
expressing a call or feeling of a call on their lives that they have been
resisting. So we have to work through
what it is that the Adventer is really trying to say. If God is calling us to something, and we are
fleeing like Jonah, then, yes, we should feel guilty. That’s part of why we pray for those things
left undone.
How might
the humility in small things evidence themselves today, particularly for those
of us whose social circles do not include fancy dinner parties? Are we cussing out the lady in line in front
of us at Publix who only begins to dig for her checkbook through a purse the
size of a camping backpack after the cashier is finished ringing up her
groceries, as if paying for the groceries is a new thing? Are we quick to flash folks the universal
sign of respect for their driving skill and efforts to cut us off on the roads
of Nashville? Do we avoid eye contact or
people altogether when we think they may want to ask us something? DO we participate in the office gossip? Do we bully the kid at school? There are lots of ways you and I can exhibit
humility in everyday life. There are
lots of ways where we can follow the example of holy living set forth by our
Lord Christ and teach others about Him without saying a word.
And here’s
the kicker! What is Jesus’ promise? If we had red letter Bibles like many of our
friends and co-workers today, what would be in red letters? Look at verse 11. Who’s doing the real acting? God.
Those who exalt themselves in this life will what? That’s right!
Be humbled. Be humbled by Whom? Good.
You are paying attention. God
will humble. But what will God do for
those who humble themselves as His Son taught?
That’s right! The Creator of
heaven and earth, the Maker of all that is, seen and unseen, will exalt for all
eternity those who humble themselves on earth!
To use the
image of the feast, God will tell us to move closer to the head of the Table. Those who humbled themselves will get that
walk of exaltation, of joy, of peace that knowing that God was well pleased
with them! Sitting here, you might
wonder how big the Table is if every disciple gets exalted. Truthfully, I have no idea. I do not know how this exaltation works. In the end, I know it does not matter much. Whatever exaltation I might conceive and
teach, God is going to swamp it by orders of magnitude. I just know that He is promising to exalt
those who live like His Son. So, we can
measure our own behavior if we are worried.
Am I loving others as I want to be loved? Am I serving others to His glory? Do I evidence to others the Peace that passes
all understanding? If we don’t, we
know we have repentance and work to do.
Jesus, of
course, is not finished. He has further
instructions for those of means. When
they host parties, Jesus instructs them to invite those who cannot repay
them. I’ve already covered how folks
invited others expecting invitations to their parties. Jesus’ new instruction, of course, is
double-edged. Guess who never got
invited to the good parties? That’s
right! Those he specifically
mentioned. Some were perceived as
accursed by God. Some were simply
ignored because they had nothing to offer potential hosts. In that culture, in that time and that place,
what would be the effect of such invitations on the one receiving the
invitation? That’s right! They would know they were noticed. How easy a step would it be to teach them,
based on that experience, that God notices them, that God loves them?
But what of
the invitors? What would be their
lesson? They’ve been given much? Certainly.
That they can incarnate God’s grace in their lives? That’s another good one. Teach others about the grace of God? Man, y’all are on point today! There are lots of good lessons for those
doing the inviting.
What does
Jesus promise them, if they do as He commands?
That’s right! That they will be
repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.
To use modern language, God will make sure they are reimbursed for the
cost, be it financial, social, or other, at the resurrection of the
righteous. Whoa! Think of that for just a second. Jesus is promising, in red letters yet again,
that God will cover the IOU’s of such extravagance lavished on the poor, the
crippled, the lame, and the blind!
I am
sometimes asked by folks both within and without the parish if I am worried
that people are ripping us off in our various ministries. What if folks are reselling the food? What if folks are misusing the
toiletries? What if the people you are
helping do not really need your help?
What if they are not really addicted?
What if they are not really homeless? First, I cannot see hearts. I can only take people at their word. If they are taking food or toiletries to
resell them, that’s on them, not us. Plus,
it’s a lot of work for very little money.
But what of those whom we are called to help? What is God doing in their lives, guiding
them to us, meeting their needs. What is
our reward for that divine work? That’s
right. He will repay at the resurrection
of the righteous. Will God write us a
check and reimburse us for the food we bought?
I doubt it. But He will
repay. It’s Jesus’ promise. So, like a good humble group of servants, we
serve, trusting that God will settle all accounts, both ours and theirs,
whoever the theirs is, at His Second Coming!
In one sense,
it is incredibly easy work. In another,
it could not be more counter-cultural.
But it is the work He has given us to do, or so it seems to many of us
at Advent, and so we pledge Him our best efforts just as He pledged His best,
eternal efforts to us!
At the
beginning of the sermon, we talked a bit about parables and about table manners
and practical lessons. In some sense we
chuckled, but I hope it was a chuckle that captured God’s sense of humor and
sense of living. Do things on the earth
matter? Yes and no. They are not lasting and so, in that sense,
they do not matter as much as we tend to think; but God does will that we
represent Him well in this life. Here is
where we face the refiners fire and the temptations and stumbling blocks that
teach of us our need to trust, to depend, on Him. Being faithful in the little things means we
can be trusted to be good stewards the big things. How we live our lives, in the mundane, day to
day, ordinariness of our lives is even a testimony to others regarding our
thankfulness to God. Do we believe we
are only stewards of His material goods, His time, and even the talents He
gives us? Our lives testify to our
answers. Do we really believe that the
Creator of all that is, seen and unseen, came down from heaven to make our
eternal communion with Him possible? The
way we live our lives testifies to whether we truly and inwardly digest that
understanding? Are we redeemed people,
both individually and as a group? Do we
live our lives joyfully, confidently, and full of that peace that passes all
understanding, confident that our Father in heaven will reward us at the
resurrection of the righteous? The way
we live our lives testifies to whether we have internalized that and every
other teaching Jesus gave us!
Brothers
and sisters, I get that it’s hard. The
world tells you you deserve it your way today.
Every message outside these walls is one of immediate gratification and
putting yourself first. If that was all
that there was, the world would be right.
But you and I know better. We
have been taught better. And the One
teaching is none other that the One who was raised from the dead, the Firstborn
of the righteous. The One who made it
possible that we might share in His eternal glory is the One who teaches, who
instructs us, that others might come to His saving embrace through the living
of our lives. And as an added bonus, as
if eternal salvation were not enough for us, it is our Savior Jesus who promises
that, if we live our lives in emulation of His, God Himself will exalt us! At that Feast He promises for all His beloved
children, we will all be moved to places of honor and celebrated for living our
lives as He called and taught each one of us!
That, my brothers and sisters and fellow travelers on this journey of
faith, is worth remembering not just on a Sunday of Labor Day weekend, but
every day of our lives, whether we are bishops living in European castles, Popes
running our own city, normal folks living in Nashville, or those whom society
seems to have forgotten even if He has not!
In His Peace,
Brian†
No comments:
Post a Comment