Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 1, 2013 - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a; Luke 14:1, 7-14]Jesus told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor...." Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment..."
One can only wonder if a great silence fell upon the guests and host at this banquet! Was there an equivalent to "Well, um, yes, thank you for sharing that...Moving right along...." Then a mad scramble for "reclining" arrangements [Greco-Roman style?] followed? And what could the host say to the challenge to his guest-list? "Gimme a break! The whole point of a 'power lunch' is to get reciprocity!" If political and social life in this country were to take today's gospel scripture seriously, there would be a revolution! Certainly, Washington, DC, would never be the same!
The temptation to power and status is a strong one! Even some of Jesus' closest disciples, James and John, were not immune to it. They wanted "places of honor" in the kingdom! In our own day, I think a lot of people regard the virtue of humility with amazement. They might think that nobody ever "went anywhere" by being humble! Furthermore, the whole point of the "power game" is to manipulate others into being obliged to you! The guest list at Jesus' "banquet" is definitely going to be different from the one that political and social "power brokers" would compose! The statement from Jesus: "The one who exalts himself will be humbled but the one who humbles himself will be exalted," would turn our whole political and social theater upside down. This is more than just an interesting thought, it is a direct challenge to us. Which guest-list do WE want to be on? AMEN