Proverbs 25:6-7
Psalm 112:1-10
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14
When I was a police office, I told myself initially, that I wanted to do this job because I wanted to “Help Others”. On the surface, this was very much true, I liked doing, and there is nothing wrong with doing for others. Below the surface was another reason that I was unwilling to acknowledge for many years. I wanted to be seen, I wanted recognition, others to hold me up, to be seen. I really liked that I had a badge and gun and had “power” to arrest people. Better yet was the uniform that made sure I stood apart from others. Although I have always been an introvert, the badge, gun and uniform, allowed me to be an extravert and be seen for what I did. Often, extroverts are seen in what they do, just by the virtue of their personality and what others see, comes out of that. That is not to say that all extroverts and surely not everything that extroverts do, are done for others to see, it is just what comes out and is often seen.
If you recall, for those that were here two weeks ago, I spoke about how faith is a verb. It is not something that can just be tucked into your pocket or put up on a shelf. Our faith needs to be active because God, who is faithful to us and gives us faith through the Spirit, is actively creating all the time. Therefore our response in faith is to be active too.
Jesus carries out being faithful to God, faithful to humanity in all that He does. In our reading today, you may have noticed, we skipped a few verses. In those verses, Jesus heals a person from dropsy, which is a medical issue with fluid build-up in portions of the body cavity. Even though it was the Sabbath, even though Jesus was on the way to a meal, a meal at one of the Pharisees house, one of the Pharisees, who are watching Him carefully, because of the things Jesus has done and claims. Jesus still is a blessing to someone in need and takes compassion upon him and heals the man, despite the possible repercussions, or maybe yet…..because of the repercussions.
After the healing, Jesus tells those that saw what he did, very much what was said in last week’s reading in response to healing on the Sabbath. Now he goes even further with a couple of parables, which were in our reading for today.
The first parable centers upon, why we do what we do and how we do it in response to God and what God has and does for us. Do you respond in your faith, that faith I spoke about being a verb, as a need because you cannot help yourselves but to respond to God? Do you respond to your faith in a verb because you are looking to get a better seat at the banquet table of God? What Jesus tells in this parable should not be of any great surprise to those that heard him that day. The same message was given in Proverbs 25. Not only that, those around him would be aware of the customs of those of greater honor taking the seat closer to the host and if someone of greater honor enters and the seat is already taken, that person would be asked to move.
A feast is given and those who believe they have honor, should humble themselves and wait to be offered the seat of honor. I recall a couple of disciples that asked to be able to sit to the right and left of Jesus in heaven. Jesus plainly told them, it was not for him to decide but the Father. Just the asking, the assumption, is not the characteristics of one who is humble in service. “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11)[1]
The question is not really about being repaid is it? Should we…and do we do things because we shall be repaid? Nothing is that black and white, in fact life is just really many many many shades of gray. Because of the grays, life is not clear cut, is it? God wants us to respond to the grace that God chooses to see us in, for the sake of God’s Son. We respond to because, we are exalted and made righteous…..Oh no! Now we have a problem already. Did we respond to be exalted? Now that we are, does that make something that was a response now a work? We have been told by Martin Luther and now others, works are not needed for salvation but maybe what we did now is works and thus is law and we are not justified by law but by grace. Oh my gosh, it sure gets complicated doesn’t it? God knows what is in our hearts, that is what we hold onto. We each can respond to God in our own ways based upon the talents that God has bestowed upon us. Always keeping Christ as center of our response allows us to make sure that our response is life giving.
If what we do does not give life, does not point to the life-giving gospel, then it is time for us to re-think what we do and why we do what we do. Let me say that again. If what we do does not give life, does not point to the life-giving gospel, then it is time for us to re-think what we do and why we do what we do. If we are expecting to be repaid, is it life-giving? Not only that, sometimes if others, depending upon the situation, know what is done and by whom it may not only, not be life-giving, but can be spiritually harmful. It can be complicated.
A pastor told me of of a couple who heard of a confirmation child who wanted to go to confirmation camp but their parents did not have the funds to send their child and the church was short on funds to be able to pay for the child. When the couple heard of the need, they wrote a check and gave it to the pastor to pay for the camp, asking never to be identified. Later, the parents learned that the camp had been paid for. This helped change their response to what God does for them and their child. They truly began to see that their son was meant to go to the camp. It is in that confirmation camp that children get to hear and experience the Word of God. It is in the hearing and/or experiencing the Word, that faith is imparted or grown by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know what impact the camp had but I trust that the seeds were planted in fertile soil and will be cultivated by the Spirit.
Christ Jesus is a blessing of God the Father upon all of humanity. Jesus responds to God’s blessings to God’s people by being a blessing, when he heals, teaches, institutes the Lord’s Supper and gives fully of himself upon the cross. Jesus lived on earth as a blessing and continues to be in His resurrection.
“We who ‘have been baptized into Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:3) are called to conform to [H]im and to [H]is ways. To live into our baptism is to be ever mindful of those who are typically left out. (“Do not be conformed to this world” [Rom. 12:2].)”[2]
As you go throughout the day, the weeks and months to come, ask: Do we respond by seeking blessing or live our lives as a blessing?[3]
[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989.
[2] Ronald P. Byars, Homiletical Perspective, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 4 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 25.
[3] Emilie M. Townes, Theological Perspective, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 4 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 24.