Best Seat in the House Luke 14:1, 7-14 A Sermon by Rev. Bob Kells

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1 Best Seat in the House Luke 14:1, 7-14 A Sermon by Rev. Bob Kells By now, I m sure most of you have had the experience of getting a bad seat. Whether it was at the movies or on an airplane or bus or whatever, most of us have been through the inconvenience of a poorly located seat. I can remember a few choice spots I had to endure: - Years ago, when my wife and I were dating, we were one of the last ones into a sold out movie. The only two seats together in the entire theater were in the front row all the way to the left of the screen. We had to sit there with our necks turned and our heads craned back to the left (like this) for the entire two-and-a-half hours of the film. Talk about bad seats. - Another time, I took the family to a Washington Nationals game at Nationals Stadium. We were excited to have seats in right field at the field level but when we got there, we found that the seats were so far back under the upper decks that every time the batter hit a fly ball, we couldn t see where it went. The only way we knew what was happening was to watch the players on the field as they ran to get under the ball. That was another bad seat. - But the one seating arrangement that sticks in my mind the most is the one I had in college. You see, I went to a private military school in Vermont. And like all military schools, first year students (cadets) are treated like fourth-class citizens. When it came to mealtime, we sat at a table with two upper classmen, one on each end. When the food came out from the kitchen, guess who got it first the upperclassmen. And on top of that, we freshmen had to eat sitting at attention back straight, head up, eyes looking down at your plate, as you try desperately to carve a piece of steak or chase peas across your plate. Now at the time I was thinking, this is a pretty bad seat. Fortunately, it only lasted a semester. And what stands out to me now, as I think about my freshmen mealtimes is the idea of status, honor and position. There was no doubt who held the 1

2 privileged positions and who did not. The seating was assigned upperclassmen at the head of table, lower classmen on the sides. This sense of class status is something most of us normally don t encounter. Even when we go out to dinner, in most restaurants its: booth or table? The only exception is if you go to a formal banquet or a wedding reception. That s where you encounter privileged positions. Usually there s a head table, where the guests of honor sit, and everyone else is seated at other tables, with family closest to the bride and groom, and friends seated farther away. In this situation, the closer you sit to the head table says something about your status where you sit says that you count for something among the company of people gathered for the feast. Today s lesson is based on a parable Jesus told that has to do with status, honor and position. It uses a familiar image, that of a banquet, to teach a lesson. But the lesson is not what many of Jesus original audience might expect. On the surface, it appears to be about proper etiquette for a fancy meal. But it s not. It s actually a lesson about how the Kingdom of God works. Here s the setting: Jesus was invited to dine with a group of Pharisees they were the self-appointed religious lobbyists of the Jewish faith at the time. They had had runs in with Jesus before and asked him to join them for dinner to see if they could catch him doing something against their interpretation of the Sabbath Law. But while the Pharisees were watching Jesus, guess what? Jesus was watching them even more carefully. After a short time, he told them a parable with lessons for two sets of people: the guests and the host. 2

3 First, the guests. As he watched the guests arrive, Jesus noted how they came in and chose places of high honor for themselves. When he saw this he had some advice for them: don t chase after the most honored seats. Go for the low seats, because if you go for the places of honor, someone with more stature might come along and you ll have to move down. [Example: going up on stage and you weren t the one called. Awkward!] So Jesus tells them to go for the low seats and when we hear this right away we say: aha! There s the lesson! There s Jesus being provocative once again. There he goes again, turning over tables, poking the Pharisees in the eye, and challenging the status quo. But this time, he really wasn t. Because this time, Jesus was reminding them of what they already knew, but weren t doing. There s a story from ancient Greece about an old man who wandered around the Olympic games looking for a seat. The Greeks all sat by cities kind of like the way modern-day Olympians sit by countries, all the Athenians in one section, all the Thessalonians in another, and so on. Now all of them had been taught to respect their elders and to give up a seat if someone older came along. But instead of respect, the crowd jeered the old man until he reached the seats of the Spartans. When he did, every Spartan younger than him, and some that were older, stood up and offered him their seat. The crowd applauded and the old man turned to them with a sigh and said: "All Greeks know what is right, but only the Spartans do it." 1 1 Sparta: Famous Quotes About Spartan Life, pbs.org, article on internet, accessed 30 Aug

4 The same thing was true in the parable Jesus told. The Pharisees and their guests knew what was right, but they didn t do it. What Jesus told them about seeking the lower seats wasn t revolutionary. It was actually supposed to be accepted practice, a cultural norm. 2 There s a reminder of this from the Hebrew book of Proverbs, a book that the guests at the party should have known pretty well. Listen: Proverbs 25:6-7: Do not put yourself forward in the king s presence or stand in the place of the great; for it is better to be told, Come up here, than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. 3 Sound familiar? It should. This was precisely the advice Jesus had given to the guests who were scrambling for the most highly coveted seats at the table. The kingdom lesson here is that God is the one who will exalt those who do the right thing. The guests who seek the lower seats out of humility, will find the host seeking them out, saying: come up here with me. 4 The host. Jesus lesson for the host was more clearly controversial than that for the guests. Don t invite friends and relatives who can pay you back, he said. Instead, bring in the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind the kind of people who can t pay you back. Then you will be richly blessed at the resurrection of the righteous (paraphrase, Luke 14:12-14). 2 Eugene Boring and Fred Craddock, The People s New Testament Commentary, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), Emerson Powery, Comments on Luke 14:1, 7-14, Working Preacher.org, article on internet, accessed 30 August Ibid. 4

5 While the guests were being reminded of what they should have known (but weren t doing), the host is told what he was doing was wrong from the start and he needed to do something different. Jesus told them, in essence, to take out their guest lists, fold them in half, tear them up, and start over. That s right, start over. I m sure that party hosts in the first century weren t too different than party hosts in the 21 st century they wanted to be known for who comes to their party. They wanted to invite people who gave their party status, people they could boast about, say they rubbed elbows with. This was desperately important in class-conscious first century Palestine because a family s business prospects or marriage proposals could be affected for the good if the right people show up at the party. Likewise, public shame could negatively affect the family status. So you just had to have the right people at your party. But Jesus would have none of this. He challenged the class system of his day by saying here, and elsewhere, that the Kingdom of God belonged not to the rich and famous, but to the poor and unseen. In the kingdom of God, the poor, dispossessed, widows, orphans, lame, all are the guests of honor. The surprise for the host of the party is that his reward will not come now through the network of influential friends he invited. His reward will come in the future, at the resurrection, but only if he invites people who can t do anything for him in return. Inviting nobodies, as the world sees them, to a party. Can you imagine that? I can. After all, Jesus also said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5

6 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God (Matthew 5:3-5, 8-9). To such as these belong the Kingdom of God. So where do we go for the lowest seats? Where can we serve with humility, not seeking power, position and influence? Wherever there is pain. Wherever there is loss. Wherever there is want. Wherever there is anger. That s where we can serve. Whether it is in Thurmont, or a mission trip, or somewhere else, God is calling us to bring the love of God in Christ to those who need hope and blessing. This is how we can pursue lives that are pleasing to God. Friends, Christ encourages us to seek the lowest seats. There, we will be in excellent company along with fellow servants and saints who are also living by Jesus Kingdom values. Where we will be treated not as strangers or servants, but as friends of the host. 5 So go ahead, have a seat. Enjoy an appetizer, or two. Have a nice cold drink. Revel in the conversation of fellow travellers along the way. Rest. But only for a while. Because there is more Kingdom work to do. Because at some point in the meal, someone sitting across from you will take a piece of bread, break it, and hand you a piece, along with a cup of wine. Then he ll invite you to come up here with me, for he has need of you. Amen. 5 Sermon by Robert W. McClennand, article on internet, accessed 28 August

Dinner with Jesus Luke 14:12-14

Dinner with Jesus Luke 14:12-14 Introduction: Baxter T. Exum (#1075) Four Lakes Church of Christ Madison, Wisconsin July 18, 2010 As we think about the four gospel accounts, we realize that Jesus loved