And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you…
Texts: Luke 14:1,7-14; Proverbs 25:6-7
As a young boy, pot-luck dinners presented a challenge. Of course the food was great. There were always dishes that my mom never made. The problem was, I was the preacher’s kid. Folks usually urged the Pastor and family to go first. I really did not like the feeling that other kids were looking at me, wondering why I got to get my food while their parents were giving them a lesson in patience. That feeling stayed with me. Later, however, I noticed something. As the table with the side dishes moved into the display of desserts, people who were early in line tended to not take a piece of pie. I believe they were doing that as a gracious attitude of sharing with those who came later. However, if I were at the end of the line and all the others had passed on the pie, why shouldn’t I just go ahead and take a piece.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus said, …all who humble themselves will be exalted. Elsewhere he said in different words with similar meaning, The last shall be first… What would Jesus do? I get it! Jesus. Last in line and first in pie. Good deal.
Oh; but wait. Jesus has more to say? The other day I am heading into a place to get a bit of coffee and will pay far more than if I made it at home. On the sidewalk, a woman asks for money. I know all the warnings, that when you give cash you are feeding bad habits. I walk by. Then I hear Jesus say, When you go for coffee (well, he didn’t say that exactly, but if he were with it he would have) When you give a luncheon…invite the poor…because they cannot repay you…
We must always remind ourselves what is happening here with Jesus. We assert that Jesus was and is the Son of the Living God. We assert that this living God made the universe and placed creation in the care of us humans. It does not take much to see that we humans have messed up creation. The how and the what to do about this are the big problem for us. We are limited in knowledge. We tend to look to ourselves, first. The creator God, however, did not abandon the world he made. So, God became fully human in the person of Jesus. God did this to restore creation. And, this gracious God knew the only way this purpose of making creation right again could come about was to walk the way of death. Jesus is on that path, for that purpose.
In the story we are reading today, Jesus is encountering the religious leaders, the folks who thought they had it all figured out.
It is important to remember this story begins by noting this took place on the Sabbath. Last week we looked at another encounter on the Sabbath. We need to remind ourselves that for the folks living around Jesus, the Sabbath had profound importance. There was much more than hoping to get a day off. The Old Testament lays out several layers of sabbatical. We find this in the book of Leviticus. (It is important to point out that Christians in the United States are very picky about which parts of that third book of the Bible they emphasize.)
There is the weekly cycle – six days of labor, after which comes the seventh day, a day to step back and reflect on God’s purpose for our working and living. Then, in the seventh month of each year, there are a series of days to be devoted for atonement – that is, working on the broken relationships in our lives, and how they reflect on the relationship we have with God.
Following that is the pattern of seven years. This seems more for agricultural purposes: That is, in the seventh year the land is to rest – we would say, lie fallow. Nothing is to be planted. Obviously, there needs to be calculation of saving food from each harvest for that seventh year.
And then there comes a pattern that seems more about the economy. Remember, for the Jews of Jesus’ day, there was no separation of church and state. Economics and politics were answerable to religious and moral teachings. This is not to advocate a theocracy – with the examples of religious extremism so devastating to our world today. However, Jesus is not saying we can keep our religious values out of our public life. His proclamation of the Sabbath had profound economic implications. His listeners knew it. And that is why some of the religious and political leaders wanted to get rid of him. They understood that what he said, what he stood for, would take away their positions of wealth and prestige.
In the book of Leviticus [chapter 25] we read about the year of Jubilee – the fiftieth year, after seven groups of seven years each. We do not know how often this was actually carried out. We do know that early in Jesus’ ministry he proclaimed that he had come to bring this year of Jubilee, also known as the year of the Lord’s favor [Luke 4:19].
The year of Jubilee seems to be based on the reality that, over time, some people are able to accumulate more while others less. Sometimes that is due to personal failure, mistaken priorities, inadequate effort. However, the stratification of wealth is based on much more than individual effort. I was not born into a wealthy family. I remember when we lived in oil-country, seeing a bumper sticker that said, If you don’t have an oil well, get one! Right! I knew what it took, even if one had land with mineral rights, what it took to get that well drilled and producing. Yet I was born into a family that had adequate financial means and other factors that put me in a very good and comfortable position. I realize this position means that I am not living paycheck to paycheck. I realize the position I was born into, the opportunities that has given me. That meant that at the start of the school year I did not have to choose between school supplies and adequate food. Illness will not mean I have to choose: Will I repair the car so I can go to work, or will I pay the rent.
The Bible seems to take for granted that humans – who did not know how to enjoy the Garden of Eden – will divide in to haves and have nots. And the year of Jubilee was about setting things back to the original. The Sabbath of Sabbaths was so that everyone could once more, truly have equal opportunity. And that is what Jesus proclaimed. That is really what is going on here in our gospel reading. We can try to finagle through this passage, proud that we are humble in social settings, yet forgetting that Jesus is talking about care for the poor. And, he is talking about this in the context of the Sabbath – seven days, seven years, seven times seven years.
In Jesus’ day and in many societies today – honor was so very important. Where did one stand in the order of things. Was a person given proper honor by those around, especially by those considered lower in life? We claim that our society is about equality. These words of Jesus tell us that the way money flows to some people and not to others shows who we really honor.
Warren Buffett said that our economy… rewards someone who saves lives on a battlefield with a medal, rewards a great teacher with thank you notes, but rewards those who can make money in securities with sums reaching into the billions. [AARP, The Magazine, Aug-Sept 2013, p.60f.] When our Bible says that Jesus proclaimed Good News to the poor, he was saying much more than you get to go to heaven when you die. He was saying that he came to make things right according to God’s justice. That is his kingdom on earth as in heaven.
To be sure: How to work our way through the potential pitfalls of any economic policy is difficult. I am not saying that the Bible has the specific policy solution for our nation or our world today. I am saying, I have to take Jesus seriously in all he says.
As we consider this teaching of Jesus, as we are aware of many, many challenges, we also remember that Jesus came to bring us back into relationship with the king, the creator of the universe. So, we remember that we do not have to claim honor for ourselves – for we are children of the King of the universe, we have been made children of the living God. A pie may be cut with only eight pieces or so. The grace of God is boundless.
I remember during my seminary days attending a concert featuring a Noel Paul Stookey, also of Peter Paul and Mary. The large Princeton University chapel was filled with expectant listeners. As the time to start came, an announcement was made that the person we had come to hear was going to be late. However, a local singer was being pressed into an opening act. Poor guy – being a substitute in front of a large audience. He was doing pretty well when the featured singer arrived. I could see him slouching down so as not to be noticed. I saw the great pleasure on his face as he could listen to another. Humility meant he could receive.
So it is with the way Jesus does things, for now, for always.
P-squared 