September 1, 2013
The Banquet
A drunken man who smelled like beer, sat down on a subway seat next to a priest. The man’s tie was stained, his face was smeared with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began to read. After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked, “Say father, what causes arthritis?”
The priest replied, “My son, it’s caused by loose living, being with cheap-wicked women, too much alcohol and contempt for your fellow man.”
“Well, I’ll be darned,” the drunk muttered, looking back to his newspaper.
Several more minutes go by, giving the priest time to think about what he had just said, so he nudged the drunk and apologized. “I’m sorry to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?”
“Oh, I don’t have it, Father,” the man said quietly, “I was just reading here that the Pope does.”
A woman is stopped by a police officer to warn her about a broken tail light. As he looks at her license he said, “Lady, it indicates here that you should be wearing glasses.”
“I have contacts, officer,” she replied.
“Well, I don’t care who you know,” he said sternly, “You’re getting a ticket anyway.”
Very few passages of scripture hit so hard at the center of human behavior than Luke the 14th chapter, which is why this scripture is so difficult to explain. The reason these words are so tricky is that religious leaders are the ones to preach the message contained here, but the same people have great difficulty submitting to the words in this chapter. Few are better at hiding flaws than religious leaders, since living to the standards of God’s Words is not easy, regardless of profession. Going against what Messiah taught is just in our DNA and a part of how we relate to each other, but there is a better way. Knowing this better way to live is the reason we have His Word. Luke 14 is a major teaching for success.
In essence, the Teacher is saying in the focus scripture that we should avoid human rank and submit to each other in humility, not promoting our own status but allow others to do that for us. To make the point, Yeshua was attending a banquet that was certainly not in His honor, but for the purpose of observing Him. It was intended to be a trap set by a Pharisee and his friends. The scripture reads that He was there, “to eat bread on a Sabbath day.”
Every time the word “bread” is used, throughout scripture, it is meant to represent truth, with exceptions found in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 plus Deuteronomy 8:3. In these three cases, the enemy is attempting to convince that food for the stomach is more important than the truth of God. In this passage of Luke 14, the meaning is dual, since the meeting was a banquet for eating literal food and sharing of information. So the reason for the gathering was to get at the truth of who Jesus was, although in their hearts, they already knew but did not want to acknowledge. One line in this passage is very telling about the purpose, and it is, “they watched Him.” The “star” of this event was Messiah himself. If He was anything close to being only human, He would have just marched to the head table and taken the place of honor. Such human behavior can be seen when the President or other dignitary attends a function. There is no question about where he sits, which only reinforces his place in society. Since “they” the Pharisees, were watching Him, an example was made for all in Christianity to follow, even our religious leaders today. But, have you ever seen a real-life situation where the moral of this parable was carried out?
The story begins with instructions in these words, “When you are invited [by] a man to a banquet house, do not go and sit in the front seat; it might be that a more honorable man than you is invited there.” Instructions continue, “But when you are invited, go and sit at the lower end, so that when he who has invited you comes, he will say to you, My friend, go up and sit higher; and you will have glory before all who sit with you.”
A comparable lesson comes from Matthew 23:10 through 12. “Do not be called leaders,” the passage reads, “for One is your leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you let him be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” This is a place where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, gives a more precise instruction. Many translations use “shall” and “will” in the passage, “whoever is greatest among you “shall” be your servant, but the Aramaic uses “let” to imply that the other or subordinate party in this relationship has a duty as well. It doesn’t occur to leaders among humans to be servants but bosses, nor does is fit our customs to “let” a person who has some sort of superiority over us, serve us.
Something happened recently that caused great stir within members of United Methodist Churches in Oklahoma. Bishop Hayes, Bishop of the Oklahoma Conference, washed the feet of several people in a service. The leader of more than 500 churches got on his knees and ceremoniously washed feet. His actions were such a shock, but why? This leader was only doing what Christ instructed in John 13, verse 14, where He said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, how much more should you wash one another’s feet.”
For several weeks we have been discussing the kingdom of God, and how the Word of God instructs us to be servants, or people who are willing to help those lesser than we, and by that very action, those in need will know that the kingdom has come upon them. How can we then, display the kingdom of God if we are not allowed to assist in situations of great need or calamity? How can we as Christians experience the kingdom if we never let another help us? Should the people whose feet Bishop Hayes washed objected to his act of servant hood? Remember what Messiah said to Peter when the words were spouted, “You will never wash my feet!” Yeshua’s response was, “If I do not wash you, you do not have any part with me.” Read John 13:8. Can it be that the kingdom of God includes giving and receiving?
If you give these words about humility and servant-hood serious consideration, you soon realize how far from this attitude and action professed followers of Christ have strayed. Peter’s response would be much like ours if Jesus sat us down to wash our feet. In reality, the very church’s hierarchy has abandoned the issue of humility for one of authority and all its trappings. And, such action didn’t take very long after Messiah’s physical departure from this earth. One line of thinking was that a highly-structured organization be established with a seat of power that we now call The Vatican, while another group got together to teach truth and love, sharing and changing leadership with every meeting. The result of that action was deadly when it became popular.
While there is general demonization of the early Christian group known as Gnostics, their leader, Valentinus was beaten with clubs then beheaded to snuff out the movement in favor of the highly-organized church. People of the time rose up to decry the murder, reminding leaders that Valentinus taught love. To this day we celebrate this leader every February 14th, St. Valentine’s Day. Whether you agree with Gnosticism or not, you are still called to remember this leader as an example of love. He did humble himself by sacrificing his life, and I’m sure you don’t remember the Pope’s name, and that of his ruler friend, who wanted St. Valentine dead. What an example of self-exaltation versus humility. While the story of Valentinus varies from source-to-source, I have his book, “The Gospel of Truth” in my library.
There are countless stories of how the kingdom of God elevates humans in the order of God, but they all must submit to the statement by Immanuel, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled; and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
There is something in our spirits that agree with those words, while we still seek authority and position. Every society has exhibited a skill of knocking a person in a high position off his perch, yet we still climb that ladder to be above others and be held in higher esteem. By following this desire for esteem and control, we violate the very formula for leadership success, as so precisely spoken by Jesus.
Yet, Luke 14 does not end with only humility, but with specific instructions, which are, “when you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors; lest they invite you and you will be repaid for this. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind; and you will be blessed; for they have nothing to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” While managing a business with a staff of 25, I did this. For our Christmas party I asked each employee to bring someone with them who needed the food we would be serving, or who would have no celebration to attend at Christmas other than ours. Some interesting things were learned about the employees. Ones who invited the true needy were obviously pleased with the event, while the ones who came without guests complained about “those” people who ruined their night and the event. Admittedly, my attitudes toward some employees changed that evening. More was learned about their characters than my deepest interview questions.
Reading Luke 14 may impress some as a nice Biblical story, but call such behavior impractical in a dog-eat-dog society. Or this story could be reduced to banquet etiquette. We all know that this instruction from the Master has a much deeper meaning, in that it is instruction that pertains to our self-assessing attitude and even philosophy of life.
Self esteem is a subject introduced by pop psychology that permeates nearly every area of life today, and is widely taught and practiced in education. The idea that we must think more highly of ourselves than we truly are causes us to live up to these lofty expectations; or does it? Proverbs 23:7 is most often used to support the concept of self esteem. The King James translation is the source of this popular quote; “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Looking at this same Proverbs 23:7 in a different translation by Dr. George Lamsa, it reads, “For he is like him that swallows pitch; in like manner you will eat and drink with him, but his heart is not with you.” Perhaps this well-known King James quote is not so accurate about our relationship with ourselves and our own thinking, when the Hebrew is actually warning about skewed relationships with others. Yet, we know that every action by humanity begins with thought and that higher thinking produces higher results. Are we then being advised in Luke 14 to think highly of ourselves? Not at all! Our introduction to others must be done with humility, in the spirit of servant-hood, which is the door to honor and position. What we must expect of ourselves is greatness, but through humility.
Humanity has developed a ranking system to make us feel good about ourselves and achievement. The military has rank to maintain control and order. In the free-market system, we rank by the power of money. In politics we assign rank by what level of government a person is elected, and even at home, we assume roles such as “head of the family”. But what about our relationships in life, religious orders or churches? Remember that Yeshua is attending an event at a Pharisee’s home, a person who held significant rank in the Temple. In fact, a Pharisee claimed authority from Moses for prophetic interpretation of Jewish law. In this setting of a banquet, who was Jesus? He was no Pharisee or Sadducee, who held priestly privileges. He was Messiah, born in a humble setting, a student of the Law yet Son of Love. How would or could we, then or now, place rank on Him? Where should He sit at the table? But, those questions were on the minds of the banquet hosts. They were wondering where Yeshua would place himself.
Now, do you see how the Master was very wise with His comments? By stating the obvious relating to rank, He let them decide where He should sit, in prominence or with the servants. We must do likewise.
Like the host of the event, we too have the choice of where we place Jesus in the banquet of our lives. He comes to us in humility, something contrary to our way of thinking in a world of rank and authority. The Master does not approach us with the ranking question, “So, what do you do for a living?” but asks, “Where do you want me in your life? Shall I sit in the back or come to the head table? Will you elevate me to a position of authority or stay out of your way? When Messiah arrived at the banquet house, the scripture relates, “he saw them choosing places among the front seats,” however, He wasn’t. With His lesson, he was causing them to think about their self-perceived prominence among their group, just as we would watch posturing at a political event.
When some people find themselves in a lower position than they deem comfortable, or lower than their evaluation of themselves, many resort to name dropping, as if to say, “I know people of authority, wealth or prestige. Put me at the head table.” Yet the question at the heart of it all is; Who are we without God? What does rank, authority, wealth or prestige mean without the honest ability to drop the name that means everything? Like the men who were posturing for the places of recognition at the banquet, we often believe the lie that we are self-made, and others should move over to give us recognition for what we have done or who we are. Remember, though, the formula for being the greatest is being the servant, not boss. These words from Immanuel are crucial to success, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled; and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Do we then never give credit for amazing effort and success? God forbid. It is an important job as Christians to honor those who live the life set before us by the Teacher. The other side of this lesson is that we must honor those who are worthy. It’s the self honor that is opposite of humility. Within instructions in Luke 14, we read that you may be asked to “sit higher; and you will have glory before all who sit with you.” The guys who were seeking honorable positions were reprimanded for their self aggrandizement.
We have learned that being like Christ is contrary to humanity’s tendency of beating our chests for attention, power and position. Perhaps this is one reason why God rewards us in Heaven rather than give us Divine rank on earth, for if He did, we might claim to be God of our own life. How arrogant that would be.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
©2013, J. tilton
