Lame, Lowly, and Loved: Luke 14:1, 7-14 - Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

¹On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.

  ⁷When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; ⁹and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. ¹⁰But 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. ¹¹For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
  ¹²He said also to the one who had invited him, “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. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (NRSV)

The Banqueting Room by Robert Nunn.  Creative commons image on flickr

I’m firmly believe that what goes around comes around…

One day, as I dropped Becca off at school, she turned off the radio before getting out of the car. 

I asked her “what are you doing?”

She answered, “I don’t want people to hear your lame music!”

Well, the instant that she shut the door, I cranked my lame music back up—and I remembered how I would complain to my parents about the same exact things. 

That being said, I recalled taking Becca and one of her friends to Comic Con.  It is customary to attend the event dressed in costume.  So I felt quite lame when three of us walked into a crowded restaurant with the two teens dressed as Japanese anime characters.  I got more than a few stares from patrons—and I loved every second of it. 

I don’t want to be a lame dad—but I love feeling lame for being a dad!

It’s one thing to feel lame—but it’s another to be lame.  Jesus speaks of “the lame” as the physically or mentally disabled.  In the larger sense, he’s also speaking of the “undesirables” of the world—the kinds of people who wouldn’t get invited to banquets. 

In Jesus’ world, honor was the ultimate social currency.  People of honor were wealthy, powerful, prestigious, and educated.  These were the nobles and elites, who used their wealth and power to control the economic and social systems of their society for their exclusive benefit.

So if you were a person of honor, and you gave a banquet, you were expected to invite other persons of honor—and seat them accordingly.  It someone of lesser status were to take a seat of honor, they would be “put in their place.”  This is how the world they lived in worked.

But Jesus teaches us that things go much differently in God’s kingdom…  Those who pursue honor will be humbled; those who are humble, on the other hand, will be exalted.

Then Jesus takes it one step further: if you give a banquet, don’t bother seeking out the honorable people (who may show up regardless). Instead, invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.”  Invite the people who have nothing to offer you in return.  Invite the people the rest of the world counts as nobody. 

So why is this?

For starters, God’s kingdom lacks the glamor and prestige the rest of the world has to offer. God’s not going to honor or give you any special privileges because you’re such a good person, or because you’re successful or important.  We all know that being a Christian doesn’t make you prosperous or chase all your problems away.  In God’s Kingdom, philanthropists and CEOs worship in the same pews—and partake of the same bread and cup—as ex-cons and people on welfare.

There’s no instant gratification here.

If you want to know why so many churches are empty these days, the reason is simple: people are busy.  This is especially true for the kinds of people we’d love to have in our church: to populate our Sunday school, fill leadership positions, and meet the budget.  Coming to church doesn’t give people the prestige, the rewards, or even the comfort the rest of the world has to offer.  We don’t even have air conditioning!

If someone evaluates this Church only in terms of what they’re going to get out of it, they’re going to find it wanting, plain and simple.  Jesus means what he says when he commands you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him.  What you’re going to get here is death and resurrection.  Real life with real people, and promises that God is slowly but surely bringing to life.

The biggest gift Jesus gives right here and now is unconditional love.  In God’s kingdom, you don’t have to be “good enough.”  Here, Jesus takes away the labels and prejudices the world imposes on you based upon what you do for a living; how much money you have; or the things you’ve done in the past.  Here, you can be who you are created to be—which is a child of God, forgiven and beloved.

If you believe Jesus loves you in this way, your challenge is to practice this love for others. 

Think about the people who you find most annoying—and the people you’d never want to see moving in next door.  Think about people who smell bad; whose appearance or lifestyle offends you.  Think about those people who support the presidential candidate you’re praying won’t be elected!  Think about those people who’ve done things you could never see yourself doing. 

Do this, because in God’s kingdom, humility demands facing the most painful truths about yourself.  You are a sinner and a broken human being.  You are fully capable of doing the things you hate most of all—and the things you fear most may happen to you; all in the blink of an eye. 

I’m reminded of an ELCA bishop, who, in 2013, drove while intoxicated and killed a 52-year-old mother of three.  

I’m reminded of fellow Lutherans who supported Hitler and the Nazis. 

I’m reminded of King David, who committed adultery and murder.

These people aren’t devils.  They’re human, just like me.  They do evil things, just like me—and still, they are loved.  We know God’s love more fully by loving others in spite of their “unloveliness.”

But no matter how bad you fail; or what tragedies and hardships may befall you, you are a child of God.  You need God’s grace just as much as anyone.  Blessed are you if you believe this.  Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.  Humble yourself and Jesus will make you new.