Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 29, 2010 - Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a; Luke 14:1, 7-14]On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table........
Did you ever give a dinner party and invite some people who might have been, shall we say, in a "higher socio-economic bracket," than yourself with the idea of obliging them to invite YOU to their home, which you're dying to see? If you give a dinner party, do you invite only people of your own social rank? Does it matter to you, when you do go to a banquet or dinner party WHERE you sit and WHO you sit next to? If any of these questions strike a note of recognition, then today's parable is meant for you! Be sure to read the whole thing! The Middle East in Jesus' time and now considers meals and banquets to be very important forms of social communication (Don't we?). Usually one invited only those of one's own social ranking. (Do we?) The concept of "honor" (What we might call "face.") usually dictated that a person choose a place a bit "below the salt" to be sure that one did not take a place intended by the host for a more "important" guest. You can imagine Jesus watching with some amusement as this "jockeying for place" was going on. Remember, he accused the Pharisees in another place of always wanting the places of honor at banquets. (Is this why one must pick up a little card at the front door, indicating one's "place?") Instead of being the one who is being "observed," Jesus "turns the tables" (as it were) and makes the banqueters the ones being observed. He gives two pieces of advice. His first piece of advice, which echoes the words from Sirach about humility in the first scripture for today, is practical - both in this life and the next. Choose a humbler position. This is a better path to honor. The host may immediately reward you with an invitation to "come up higher" and/or you will surely be rewarded at the "resurrection." (Of course, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, which means they were trying to get their "honor" NOW!)Furthermore, it is the HOST who determines the honor, not oneself. And we know who the real host is in this parable, don't we? Furthermore, in the Middle East, there was a reciprocity expected of guests. I invite you - you invite me! This often led to people declining invitations if they knew they could not afford to reciprocate! (Does this sound familiar?) This leads to the second piece of advice The second piece of advice concerns the people we invite to dinner! The Pharisee (and many others) would not dream of inviting people of a lower social status to a banquet! It is interesting that he considered Jesus to be of at least equal social rank! This reflection has a universal aspect to it, given the problem of world hunger. Millions of people go hungry on a planet capable of feeding them all. They just don't get "invited" by those who control the food! Most of them certainly are not in a position to "reciprocate." They are barely surviving as it is - which was true of many of the people with whom Jesus associated! On a more personal level, whom DO we invite (putting aside the question of "reciprocity")? If nothing else, Jesus' parable, in addition to its powerful teaching about humility and generosity, can make us better "observers" in addition to being "observed." AMEN
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