Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 28, 2016 - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Heb 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. [Luke]
I dread "head tables," especially the ones that are a straight line across the front of a room. But I know some folks rather enjoy being able to sit up front and have a view of everyone else in the room. There's also the prestige, etc. that is supposed to come with such a place. This was true in Jesus' day and it is still true in our day. In Jesus' day, your "honor" was determined by who you associated with and where you sat at table. This is behind the request of James and John (Mark 10:37) to sit at Jesus' right and left in the "kingdom," which Jesus often represented as a banquet. Furthermore, if you were invited to such an event, you were expected to reciprocate, which explains why some people in the gospels would not attend a banquet! It's all somewhat socially complicated but the parable aims at the way in which "honor" would be determined. Jesus says that it comes from associating not with the rich and famous but from the lowly and oppressed!
At the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, every place at table is a place of honor. For some, this would take away the fun of going to a banquet! They might quote the lines from Gilbert and Sullivan, "When everybody is somebody, then nobody is anybody." They want to see and be seen. This is not what Jesus teaches. The idea of the gospel is to give honor to every human person. The guest list is as big as humanity. What's more, we are not required to reciprocate but simply to come, and to be appropriately attired with our lives of integrity. We can be sure we are clothed that way if we forgive and ask forgiveness, and if we consider anyplace in the kingdom worthy of us! AMEN
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