JESUS SEATING CHART AT A RECEPTION

Luke 14: 7-14

Seating can be a tricky business.  Since we just finished three weddings in two years we had to think about seating charts, especially at the reception: who should we put at what table? Of course everyone knows there is a head table; or do they? Without a seating chart would someone actually sit there?  At a public school assembly one time, I was involved in a prayer assembly, (yes a prayer assembly!) A tragedy had occurred on the campus. The school had seats with names on them for the principal, the student government president, family members who had suffered the loss, and for me to lead in prayer.  The mayor of the town arrived; seeing that no seat on the podium said mayor, the major proceeded to remove someone else’s name from one the chairs and sit down! I thought of Jesus story in today’s message when I saw that. But in our day rules of behavior are being broken without batting an eye. I have watched plenty of people (and perhaps you have done this) move from the cheap seats in a ball game to the higher priced seats unless someone shoos them away. It seems that some have no problem moving to the seats that are not their own. The movie popular with college students called “Wedding Crashers” gave people a humorous and raunchy blueprint of how to get food and women at a reception that was not theirs to attend. In the James Camerson movie “Titanic” the fictitious character Jack barely made it on the ship by gambling for a seat in what was called “steerage.” Certainly on the Titanic those conditions were better than on similar ships, but it was still a no frills existence. Ships and their first class passengers were quite strict about keep other lower classes out: they paid a huge premium to get their seats so for steerage Jack to ever meet First Class Rose was pure Hollywood. Likewise as we flew to Germany in July, we looked longingly at the first class cabin of the aircraft as we made our way into the fully loaded and cramped main cabin for our ten hour flight. One person had checked the cost to fly over in first class: it would have been more than three times the price of our seats! No wonder people in first class don’t want others wandering through their cabin or moving to a seat near them!  And in concerts, most often ticket prices vary according to which seat you want to purchase. Civility seems to be at a premium in some venues without seating charts as people push or butt in line and enter a venue saving many seats for people not yet present. It can be maddening.

But there are some places where one’s net income is not an issue. Any American age 62 or older can buy what is now called a “Senior Pass” from the National Park Service. The pass costs just $10.00, whether you are poor or rich, and lets you and anyone in your car drive into one of our many national parks. Can you believe it? One of the few deals in America.  In politics, state funding for candidates can allows a person of moderate income to beat a billionaire, but in another race, the millionaire beat one of just slightly more modest means. In church, the prime front seats often remain empty, while the cheap seats in the back get packed! How humble of all of you to leave the best seats for others!  What would Jesus do? Today’s passage lets us hear his guidance. We note in verse one that he has been invited to the house of a leader of the Pharisees.  Most of us paint the Pharisees as the bad guys in the Gospel drama, but Raymond Bailey has an astute observation when he says: “The Pharisees were the good people of their day. They never missed a religious meeting, they studied the Scriptures, they tithed, and they set the moral standard for their cultures. Jesus did not choose the guests but accepted the invitation to join them.”  So although they were good men—like some who belong to exclusive country clubs, hunt clubs, or communities—certain etiquette would be expected and a breach of etiquette would be noticed. Have you ever gone to a gathering when you felt distinctly under-dressed, or under classed or just plain uncomfortable? Again, weddings bring it out in people. Just think of the scenes of discomfort the parents went through as they visited the parents of their child’s fiancée in “Father of the Bride” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding!” And think of the discomfort the boyfriend played by Ben Stiller had in “Meet the Parents!”  Grace, hospitality, and humility are all part of Jesus’ lesson for today. In this case, cleansing rituals, food selections, and religious affiliation would have guided the Pharisee’s guest list, even as they tried to trip up their invited guest Jesus! But it was he who turned the tables when he noticed everyone taking their seats in places of honor! “When you are invited to a banquet, go and sit at the lowest place so that when the host comes he may say to you: “Friend move up higher.” I thought of that mayor, who had done the opposite, when I read that. Jesus, who at that point knew he was God’s chosen one, chose not to take the highest seat, but just as he once washed his guest’s dirty feet at another banquet, he took a low position at this one. What an example. Jesus was modeling how all who love God should act when they are invited to a banquet, particularly to the heavenly banquet. His message about the heavenly realm only becomes clear in verses 12 through 14.  Who would invite people to a fund raiser if they couldn’t pay? Who would invite people who couldn’t pay to see the show? No one on earth, right? Wrong. There are examples of grace, hospitality, and a desire to give children or adults of little means a leg up. Years ago when I saw Zero Mostel in the Broadway traveling show of “Fiddler on the Roof,” it was at the Muny Opera in St. Louis. We were in the area early when we saw a line at the box office and then another line. Although we had tickets, I asked what the second line was for. My mother told me that when the Muny Opera was built,  the major donor for its construction stipulated that the back two rows must be kept available free of charge for those who otherwise might not be able to be able to see great plays or hear great music. I was proud to learn about that gift.

Today we wish there wasn’t fighting for or saving seats in theatres any more than we want fighting for or saving seats in pews! After the election this past week I felt like I needed a bath to get the mud off that kept being flung in newspaper and television ads. What incivility; what does a servant life look like? We need more people to be like Jesus. We need more people like you or like me to not only be practicing for heaven, but to be living unselfishly on earth.  Christians could cordon themselves off in their giant mega-church campuses so they can move about with only like-minded people, or they can do what Jesus did: every time he prayed, he went back into the city, or a village, or to those who disagreed with him. After he was transfigured on the mountain, he refused to simply stay there with disciples who adored him. That would have been easy; but Jesus took the road less traveled. If the Christ of the gospels is going to change our world, he is going to do it through his beloved bride, the Church. We are his body, who gather to worship and pray who then go forth to tell about him, show others about him, and inviting others to know him. It takes us being in the world to change the world, not avoid it. It takes us all if we want to be invited to the great banquet tomorrow, or even the table of sacrament next Sunday.  How will you demonstrate that Christ has taught you the way, the truth, the life?

Jeffrey Sumner August 29, 2010