Luke
14:1, 7-14
A Critique of
Social Custom
How do you pick your seat, as you enter
the sanctuary? For the majority of you,
that is easy – you return to the same seat you sat in last week, and the week
before that, and the week before that?
But what happens when you arrive on Sunday morning and someone is in
your seat? It does happen you know. Then what do you do? How do you pick another seat? And how do you make sure that isn’t the seat
typically used by someone else?
I think about this when visiting another
congregation. Particularly if I am with
a group, as I usually am. When I show up
with 10-20 college students at some random local congregation, how many
“regulars” does our seat selection displace?
Perhaps we could write a guide book of etiquette,
a Help-in-Selecting Your Appropriate Pew
pamphlet. But it would quickly turn into
a book, or a file cabinet. There is just
no way to cover every possible detail regarding acceptable social
behavior. And even if we could come up
with just the right compliment to the writings of Emily Post, Jesus would still
be there, telling us that conformity to any social etiquette runs contrary to the
life of discipleship. That is really
what he is doing in this passage. Jesus
offers a critique to both the other guests and his host that "following the
proper rules of social behavior."
Jesus tells them that following the “proper rules of social behavior”
has deafened them to God's call to do the right thing.
Let's look at the story again. We need to understand what is going on here
before we can understand what Jesus is telling us.
Jesus is invited to the home of a
"ruler". This man was a ruler
among the Jews. He is also described as
a member of the Pharisee party. The
Pharisees were a religious group which took very seriously their obedience to
God. In many ways, the movement started
as a response to the condition of religious life in Israel. These individuals were disappointed that more
of their fellow Jews weren't following, to the letter, the Law of Moses. Their frustration magnified at the
realization that many of the priests also failed to keep the letter of the law.
We are talking hair splitting here. The Pharisees dedicated themselves to
uncovering the most obscure instructions contained in the writings of
Moses. These instructions were then
obeyed with utmost severity.
It is one of these types who invite Jesus
to his house. The first verse hints at
why this ruler may have done so. The
verse reads: “they were watching him.” They were waiting to see if he would do
anything inappropriate. If you were
following along in your bibles, or looked carefully at the listing of verses,
you will see that five are omitted. In
these verses, Jesus is confronted by a man with dropsy. He turns to these pious Pharisees and asks them.
“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”
When no one answers, he proceeds to provide a cure.
We get the first glimpse at rigid social
customs in this "omitted" exchange.
While the Pharisees would have condemned Jesus for "working"
on the Sabbath, they are all silent in the home of their prominent host. While they would never have agreed that it was
okay to perform work on the Sabbath, they are silent; out of social
considerations.
But it doesn't work. After allowing them the opportunity to be on
the offensive side of a debate, Jesus places them on the defense by commenting
on their actions. If words are not forth
coming, he will allow their actions to speak what is on their hearts. He “marked how they chose the places of
honor.”
At a dinner of this type, there would
typically be three couches, each with enough room for three people. The host would occupy the middle position of
the center couch. The places of honor
were either end of that same couch; at the right or the left of the host. I use the word "couch"
intentionally. During the meal, the
guests actually reclined.
Jesus observes how they scheme and
position themselves so as to receive one of these places of honor. He sees in their actions an indication of
what is inscribed on their hearts. Here are
these pious individuals, inflating their ego with their obedience to the Law of
Moses. While all along, all they really want
is to be elevated to a place of honor.
Jesus isn't handing out advice to the
readers of an etiquette column. He is exposing
their self-serving schemes. He is trying
to help them realize that as wonderful as their talk may sound, they are still
corrupt in their hearts. What they seek
is a step up on the social register.
Jesus reminds them that any such movement is always made at the
continued exploitation of the poor and the oppressed.
The nails are driven into the coffin as he
turns his gaze on the host. He says, “When
you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or
your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and
you would be repaid. But when you give a
banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot
repay you.”
Jesus knows that the accepted social
practice is to position ourselves as close to the center of attention as
possible. He understands that when one
throws a party, social custom dictates who ought to be on the guest list. But he won't abide by "accepted social
practice". Because "accepted
social practice" carries with it the potential to exploit and isolate less
fortunate members of society. Inherited
social patterns can become barriers to responsible encounter.
How quickly we retreat into relationships
that meet our own needs and satisfy our own interests. We quickly find ourselves caught up in 'now-we-owe-them'
arrangements.
Knowing the right people, cultivation of those
who may 'do one some good' -- these are the stepping stones to success. But such are stumbling blocks for those who
would enter the Kingdom. Accepted social
behavior is great for maintaining order in the society.
But it is disastrous to a community of
faith.
I want to avoid the implication that there
is something intrinsically good about being poor. Definitely we want to avoid the temptation to
think that Christian discipleship is synonymous with "charity" toward
the poor. What Jesus is talking about
here is our ability to trust and to depend solely on God.
In this chapter of Luke's Gospel, this is
the single, important aspect of poverty.
Those who cannot depend on social connections are forced to depend on
God. Faith is the way of the
Kingdom. The poor, the crippled, the
lame, and the blind: in our world there
is a social safety net for such persons.
In Jesus' world there was none.
These, outcasts, lived day by day, through faith in God.
Social accepted behavior teaches us that
those folks have nothing to offer. We
can choose to be benevolent toward them, they can become the object of our
charity, but accepted social practice would never allow us to value their
contribution.
I like the society in which I live. I think it is an "okay" one. But we must never allow the practices and customs
of this society to blind us to the call from God. Obeying all the rules of etiquette and
socially appropriate behavior still won’t make us fit for the Kingdom of
God. Attending that party begins with
recognizing that the invitation list includes a whole lot of folks we might not
have expected to see there. It may just
mean seeing them enter first.
AMEN.
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