Proper 17 -- Year C -- September 1, 2013
Text: Luke 14:7-14 Tinh Huynh+
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"When you are invited to a wedding banquet
do not sit down at the place of honor..."
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Sound like words spoken at a wrong place and wrong time,
don't they?
The Pharisee and his friends at the dinner
must have frowned as Jesus spoke.
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What would you feel like if you heard words like those while eating at a banquet?
No wonder why those men hated Jesus so much.
The guests in the Pharisee's house
must have quietly fought with each other
over spaces at the dinner table.
Location meant status,
and perhaps some among them were exchanging dirty looks.
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Anyhow, there are two parts in the Gospel we read this morning.
The first part is the advice to the guests.
The second part is the advice to the host.
What Jesus says about inviting the poor to the table,
in the second part,
did not sound right.
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Bread matters in the Gospel of Luke.
Jesus and his disciples broke bread together.
Jesus ate with the outcast.
Jesus deigned to be one with them.
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What is at stake here?
The issue is not about where to sit at a banquet,
or about whom you should invite to a meal.
It is about self-seeking
and about fear.
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In 1955 I was a first grader in the elementary school
in Dalat, Vietnam.
I excelled in class,
and when the school year ended
I was awarded a box of colored pencils
and a leather school case.
My father was the pastor of the Evangelical Church in that town,
and my family lived in the parsonage that was in the same building with the sanctuary.
The school was a short walk from home,
down the hill.
The day after I received the award,
I went to the school to loiter around with other kids.
I wanted to take along the school case with the colored pencils in it.
My mother told me to leave it at home.
She asked, "What for?"
But I took the case along anyway.
While at the school I was distracted.
I left the case on the ground, by a bush.
I ran about with the other kids.
When I came back for the school case,
I did not see it.
It had disappeared.
I came home without the things I cherished.
My mother was very upset.
I was upset.
Gone was my award.
Gone was my pride.
Now I ask, "Why did I want to take the award items to the school?"
I wanted to show off.
I had the "look-at-me" problem.
I was like those seeking a higher place at the dinner table.
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Jesus' teaching in Luke is on humility. Yet how can one be truly humble while the need for recognition is always there?
You cannot try to be humble, or do something to become humble, or pray that God make you humble.
Richard Foster, in his "Celebration of Discipline,"
says that we cannot gain the virtue of humility merely by seeking it. (1)
Foster suggests that you may grow in humility only by serving others and caring about their needs. (2)
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Shall we say that humility and hospitality go together?
Once your mind and heart are fixed on the Kingdom of God,
you may overcome the subtle fears, and, therefore,
the need for recognition may fade away.
Perhaps the Kingdom of God is where the "look-at-me" mentality is replaced by one of sincere and attentive listening, and where fear is banished.
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As a priest, I have met many people from the streets
who come knocking at my door for help.
No matter how used I am to seeing them,
there is always a fear in my mind --
the fear of a stranger,
the fear of being taken advantage of,
the concern about my own safety,
the uneasiness of encountering poverty,
and the frustration of being interrupted,
and of hearing made-up stories.
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This last week I met Richard.
Late on Sunday afternoon,
a man appeared from nowhere
to startle Kim-Anh
as she was alone on the driveway of the rectory.
He asked whether we had a church service,
and he asked for the pastor.
After knowing that I was not available, he left.
On Tuesday evening, at about seven,
when I was putting away my garden tools in the screen room behind the carport,
I heard from the street someone shouting at the top of his lungs,
and the person was standing near the maple tree.
He raised his arms and faced the rectory.
I could not understand what he was saying,
except the mentioning of "Vietnam War."
After that burst of uttering he turned around and walked away.
It was the same man who came on Sunday.
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On Wednesday, about the same time,
Kim-Anh saw the man walking
toward the church.
I got out, called him back and said,
"Hey, what's happening?"
He turned around, smiled readily, and greeted me back.
I said I was sorry for not being able to catch up with him when he came the other day.
- "No problem."
- "Yesterday you shouted in front of my house.
You must have been very angry about something."
- "No. I did not shout, and I was not angry, either."
- "You've come for help?"
- "No. Actually, I'm looking for the Lord. I have a concern about spiritual warfare,
and about salvation for the Jews,
and I am particularly interested in the Episcopal Church."
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There was a Bible in his hand.
He was surprisingly gentle.
We sat together on the bench in front of the church,
and he did all the talking, non-stop, for about 20 minutes.
He opened the Bible at various places as he spoke to me about the Lord,
about sin,
and,
when he came to mention the CIA and its spy work,
his voice dropped to a whisper.
There was a faraway look in his eyes.
His shoes were terribly worn out.
His smile was beautiful.
I liked the way he laughed.
Richard said he had a five-year old daughter,
and that his wife had divorced him, and
he had not seen his daughter for a long time.
Yet that did not seem to be the main issue in his mind.
The greatest burden that he wanted to share was about salvation for the Jewish people.
That night I gave him some money for a meal,
and advised him to go to the shelter.
He would not stop talking,
but I said I must go back to my home.
The next day he came again,
with a list of Jewish names for me to pray for.
I prayed with him and let him go,
with money for another meal.
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You wish to proclaim Christ's love,
and yet you just can't be fearless.
Hospitality demands sacrifice.
Yet, the things love calls for do have boundaries.
Jesus might have wanted to say:
Allow the lame, the crippled and the blind
a space at your table,
and you will be liberated.
Who can do that?
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Jean Vanier wrote in his "Tears of Silence":
"Two prisons divided by a gulf:
the miserable man......
and, imprisoned in the cell next door,
the man of means
comfortably installed.....
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two worlds that never meet
divided by a gulf called fear.....
who can assuage this fear
who can heal the wounds of this fear
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where to find this strength
springing from hope
which will conquer fear?" (4)
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I, too, need liberation.
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Jesus spoke about hospitality as
allowing a person a space at the table.
The idea may suit our thoughts on
offering an ear to the person who needs to speak out.
Oftentimes we find ourselves
not willing to listen to each other.
Listening attentively to someone
who is desperate to speak
is setting him or her free.
Listening is also liberation
to the one who listens.
Listening with humbleness
can be like choosing to seat yourself
at a less important place.
This may also be what our Lord meant in today's lesson.
May God graft in our hearts
the love of his Name, which can cast out fear,
and bring us to the "messianic feast"
where all are welcome,
and all are liberated. Amen.
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(1) Richard Foster,
Celebration of Discipline -- The Path to Spiritual Growth, Harper & Row, SF, 1988, page 130.
(2) Ibid.
(4) Jean Vanier, Tears of Silence, Darton, Longman and Todd, ltd., London, 1982, page 77.
(5) The Collect for today reads, "Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen."