Who doesn’t like to be first – especially in a crowded restaurant waiting for a table? You may feel bad for a brief moment for all the other people waiting after your name has been called, but more than likely you will be overcome with the elation that your wait is over. Pretty soon, you will forget all about those people in the waiting area as you begin poring over the menu. As you see in movies, important people don’t wait at restaurants. They simply head over to the maitre d’, slip them some money, and suddenly that perfect table for two has their name written all over it. The part I never thought about was that table should have gone to someone else who had probably been waiting for some time. Rightfully, they should’ve had the opportunity to begin their dining experience, but the scene reminds us that money talks and something else walks. Money isn’t the only thing that elevates one’s status. There is also fame or notoriety. Famous people usually get better treatment, whether they are recognized for something good or something bad.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus seems to be giving etiquette lessons. Don’t seat yourself in a place of honor at a banquet. Don’t throw a dinner party and invite friends, relatives, or rich neighbors. By sitting in a place of honor, you may get bumped by someone more important than you (as if that is possible). And if you invite relatives and friends to dinner, they may feel obligated to bring you a gift or have you over in return. Heaven forbid such a travesty as that from happening. But instead, we are supposed to sit in the lowest place when attending a gathering. I suppose that is located near the restroom or maybe along the wall on the outskirts of the layout. Either way, it’s bound to put a damper on your evening. Oh yeah, and when you through a party, you should invite those less fortunate than you – the poor and the disabled. And that’s all fine and good but how are they supposed to reciprocate. How will they return the favor? They probably won’t be able to and that’s the whole idea.
So, if we sit in a bad spot at a gathering, we might get bumped up, and that would be a good thing. If we invite those less fortunate than us, we might be providing an opportunity that they might not have otherwise had. But those lessons weren’t directly what Jesus was trying to convey to his listeners. Nor was Jesus dictating rules of etiquette. Jesus was not instructing how to act and what kind of people to associate with. Jesus’ teaching had less to do with the interactions with others than it did with what type of views we should hold of ourselves. Ultimately, we shouldn’t elevate our importance above that of anyone else. The word for that is pride. The remedy to pride is humility. Pride will tell us that we deserve to sit amid all the action and surround ourselves with prominent people. Humility tells us that we are no better than anyone else, no more deserving than the person next to us.
So, what can we expect to gain for adopting this behavior and attitude? Jesus tells us the “resurrection of the righteous.” It may be better known as the kingdom of heaven or life everlasting. In this place, there will be balance, there will be equality. The high will be lowered and low will be lifted. The first will be last and the last shall be first. We know this place well. This is the place that our faith tells us that one day we will enter. The problem is most people tend to associate that place with the afterlife, but Jesus came to our world to make that place available to us today. We can choose to dwell there, or we can choose the hell of our own making. These are very real choices we face today not somewhere down the road. We cannot overcome the limitations of our imperfect world alone. Our help is in Jesus. He is ready to lead us to the kingdom, but he will not drag us there kicking and screaming. The choice to follow him must be made every day or every hour or every minute if necessary. It is in these moments that the kingdom is revealed to us. Jesus told us to seek and we shall find, and I believe that he meant it! Amen.
