Taking the Low Road

Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Luke 14:1,7-14

Dear Friends in Christ,

A refusal to crawl! Just this week, a friend of mine told me a story about his niece who at about age one learned how to walk. And as soon as she learned how to walk, she wanted nothing to do with crawling (Sort of like 16 year olds who as soon as they learn how to drive, they want nothing to do with riding a bike or walking!) Anyway, back to the one year old who took off walking into a whole new world. Which wasn’t really a problem until her parents took her to a particular playground that included a tunnel which was just a little too small for her to walk through it. She did want the adventure of walking through that tunnel, but she was just a couple inches too tall, and so she walked to the tunnel, she pressed her head against the top of the tunnel, and began to cry. She refused to crawl. I don’t really know how long she cried or if she ever did get down and crawl, I don’t really know the end of the story, but this I know. She serves to illustrate the sermon theme for today, which is “taking the low road.”

Now usually we think of taking the high road as doing that which is full of grace and beneficial for all concerned, but as is His custom, in our text for today, Jesus takes a bit of human wisdom and turns it on its head. He notices that the invited guests at a wedding were pushing and shoving their way to the places of honor, he teases them a bit by saying if you really wanted to be honored in public kind of way, maybe you should sit down low and hope the host will tell you to come on up higher. Jesus didn’t just want them to see bad their behavior was. He wanted to warn them against exalting themselves, he wanted them to think about what it would mean to choose humility, of course what he really really really wanted was what he has always wanted, what he is wanting for us this very day, what he will be wanting in every chapter of our lives, he wants to have mercy on our sorry souls!

Two lessons I invite you to learn in our sermon today, under the theme of “taking the low road and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Lesson #1 is what it means to be taking the low road as invited guests, and lesson #2 what it means to be taking the low road as the ones doing the inviting.

(First of all) Taking the low road as invited (guests). In that day, guests would recline at low tables, the place of honor at each table would be on the left, and the tables with the most honor would be those closest to the groom. The person reclining on the left side would have the fullest view and the guests to the right would have to bend back in order to see what was going on. I don’t suppose they had multi media visual presentations on the big screen in those days, and I’m not even sure the guests would be cracking their spoons against their fine china to get the groom and bride to give a big smooch, but this we know, there was a definite pecking order in the way guests would be seated. Two truths Jesus would teach us today about what it means to take the low road, what it means to choose humility, what it means to spend our days as my father would say “to not get too big for your britches”….two truths:

Truth #1 is remembering that mirrors never (lie). The Pharisees were looking at themselves in the mirror and outwardly they appeared to be righteous, but Jesus was holding the mirror to the inside and declared them to be full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. The Pharisees looked at their behavior at wedding receptions and saw behavior that was not only normal, but necessary. Jesus watched what they were doing and saw the kind of arrogance that was not simply annoying, it was keeping them from entering the kingdom of God.

So also would Jesus hold the mirror before us as invited guests at his table today. We may agree that we’ve made some mistakes in our day, we may admit that we can be a bit full of ourselves some days, if push comes to shove we will agree that we have habits that are annoying, habits that are offensive, yes, habits that are hurting the very people we really do care about. But Jesus Christ would hold the mirror before as this morning, and with absolute disappointment in his eyes, he would say, “dear brothers and sisters, it’s way worse than that, you haven’t just made a few mistakes- you have sinned against my father in serious fashion and have fallen far short of the glory of God……your habits aren’t just a little bit annoying, they are grieving the very Spirit of the living God and are enough to keep you out of the kingdom of God.” Truth # 1 about taking the low road as invited guests is to remember first thing in the morning that mirrors do not lie.

Truth #2 is believing that humility eventually (wins). In our text for today, Jesus begins with a healthy dose of sarcasm. He suggests to these presumptuous guests that if they really wanted to win a few points in this game of social climbing, they should do the opposite of what they were doing. Instead of rushing for the highest seat of honor and risking public humiliation by being asked to move down lower, they should clamor for the worst seat in the house in anticipation of public exaltation by being asked to move up higher!

Understand, dear friends, that Jesus took no pleasure in making fun of these knucklehead Pharisees. He takes pleasure in having mercy on their souls. He took no pleasure in putting them in their place and revealing them to be the self-righteous and on their way to hell sinners that they were. What brought Jesus joy then and what brings Jesus joy now is genuine humility, the kind of humility that drops back like the publican in the temple and says “God be merciful to me a sinner.” The kind of humility that comes running home like the prodigal son and says, “dad, I’m an idiot and I am so very sorry.” The kind of humility that steps forward to the Lord’s Table today and says, “dear Lord, I’m struggling and I don’t really know where else to turn and I don’t deserve at all to ask, but would you be so kind as to forgive me one more time?”

As often as we cry out for mercy, mercy is ours. As often as we humble ourselves, the victory of the cross and the empty tomb is delivered into the deepest recesses of our hearts and minds. It was Jesus Christ who for the joy that was set before him chose humility, who for the joy set before him took the low road and endured the cross, who for the joy set before him accepted the dishonor of the cross, who for the joy set before him was crucified until he was almost dead and then he was dead and buried into the ground. His joy was in knowing that the Father would in fact raise him up on the third day, that he would be exalted into the heavens on the 40th day, that on the 50th day he and his father would send their Spirit to be the one who helps us through all the highs and lows of life, they would send their Spirit to keep on guiding and to keep on counseling and to keep on nudging us to stay low, drop back, keep on nudging us to remember what matters in life and what does not matter very much at all. Truth #2 – a broken and a contrite heart God will not despise, or to say it another way, genuine humility always wins.

Lesson #2 today is to focus on taking the low road as the ones doing the (inviting). Jesus speaks now as the one who has gone to his bloody death and been vindicated by his resurrection. He speaks as the one who was exalted in the very act of humiliation. He speaks as the stone rejected by the builders but has become the very cornerstone. In this parable he turns from the invited guests to the host and focuses on whom to invite. He says that his hospitality now will affect his status at the end time banquet. It is absolutely imperative, Jesus says, that you do not invite those who can repay your hospitality, but instead invite those who cannot repay you. He is saying to the Pharisees on this Sabbath evening that they should break every rule of etiquette they hold dear, that they should invite folks they consider unclean to their high brow events, that they themselves should choose humility now in anticipation of a blessedness yet to come. Two truths we would learn today about what it means for us to spend our days inviting others into the table fellowship we enjoy as the people of God.

First, it means letting everyone know the tables are (round). (Read text)Our Lord’s Table has neither a head nor a foot, it is circular. At our Lord’s Table, there are no places of honor or dishonor, there are no places closer to or farther away from the groom, there is neither male nor female, there is neither rich nor poor, there are no distinctions between people who have messed up more than others. At the Lord’s Table, there is one kind of sinner, a sinner who has already been redeemed and is in that moment sorry for the way he has been thinking, sorry for the way he has been talking, sorry for the way he has been acting, sorry for the bad habits into which he has fallen, sorry for the incredible amount of good he has failed to do.

Friends in Christ, life doesn’t get any better than at our Lord’s round table. Here is Jesus Christ in all of his bloody glory, forgiving our sorry souls, reassuring our troubled consciences, soothing our wounded spirits. And that’s not all who is here, if we listen closely,we can hear the angels and the archangels singing. If we look closely, we will see the saints who have gone on before us rejoicing. If we taste carefully, we will taste just a little bit of heaven here on earth!

Means refusing to cross people off the (list). Read Text) (Three examples of crossing off 1) Story of crossing people of my Christmas list, story of crossing people off wedding reception list for daughter’s wedding / Facebook decisions to give up on people, to not hear people, to not engage with people

The kingdom of God is like a couple who is planning their wedding and decides to add names to the list, figuring to themselves the more the merrier! It’s like a widow who starts thinking already in August about adding names to her Christmas card list. It’s like Facebook participants actively looking for opportunities to engage with people that they like and people they have a hard time liking / Like married couples choosing in this very moment not to keep a record of each other’s wrongs, in response to their Father in heaven not keeping a record of their wrongs, for Jesus’ sake. It’s like a man deciding this very day to mend a fence with a former friend, in response to God finding a way to reconcile sinners to Himself. It’s like a woman who is repenting in this very hour for bridges she has burned, in response to the ever so deep and wide and long love of her God. It’s like a young person feeling sorry this very moment for doors she has slammed shut, it’s like a middle aged person confessing resentments held onto for years, it’s like an elderly person crying out for grace to cover the many times she has been less than gracious.
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Finally, the kingdom of God is like a large church in a small town full of people determined this very day to guard against an inward focus that keep them from being the kind of place where everybody is in fact welcome. Or to say it another way, they go forward from their Lord’s Table looking for people to forgive, looking for hurting people to encourage, looking for angry people to listen to and engage with in conversation, looking for folks who have messed up their lives again and again just to see how they might help them, looking for people to invite closer to Jesus and always with this one purpose in mind, that Jesus Christ could have mercy on their souls. In the name of and for the sake of Jesus. Amen.