[1] Leviticus 21:17-23
August 29, 2004; Proper 17, Year C
The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector
There once was a young boy named Peter whose rich parents had sent him to a Christian boarding school. Peter had somewhat of an attitude problem, believing that he was better that all of the rest of the boys. He cut in line at the cafeteria, demanded a certain desk in class, and wanted other boys to clean up his room for him. The Headmaster became concerned about Peter’s attitude called him into his office one day and talked with him about why he thought he was better than all of the other boys. It seems that Peter thought it was the only way that the other boys would have any respect for him. They both agree that it was not working, as he had gained no friends and everyone was avoiding him. So the Headmaster urged Peter to try something different. He suggested Peter adopt a little humility in his attitude toward his classmates, like being polite and treating everyone with respect. Peter tried this for a while, but then fell back into his old ways. Calling him back into the office, the Headmaster asked, “Where is the humility that you agreed to live by?” “I was humble for a week,” replied Peter, “but nobody noticed.”
Perhaps Peter was thinking of our passage from Luke this morning about the humble being exalted, and expected instant results.
We struggle with the words humble and humility because they are often associated with being weak, submissive, and inferior. These are feelings and attitudes that are considered psychologically unhealthy. Yet the Bible promotes humbleness and humility as spiritually healthy attributes. Who is right? I believe that it all depends upon our understanding of humble and humility.
Jesus uses the word humble in contrast to exalted. To exalt oneself is to think of yourself as better than other people, maybe everybody. This type of person is always looking for ways to brag about themselves, showing that they are number one. They tend to be arrogant people. A humble person on the other hand can think of themselves as worthless. They generally have difficulty in accepting any complement about themselves. They tend to be quiet people.
A Biblical example of someone who exalts himself would be someone like the Pharisee in our reading, who had a very self-righteousness attitude and let everyone know about it. They would be the type who stood on a street corner praying so everyone could see, and when they put their offering in the plate they would make a big scene about it. A Biblical example of a humble person is a little more difficult. Our Gospel reading seems to imply that the poor, the crippled, the lame, and blind are humble people. They are to some extent, but only because society has put them at the low end of the totem pole. Their humility has been imposed upon them by others. I believe what Jesus was getting at in the story this morning is that humbleness should be a voluntary attitude that one assumes in their relationship to God and other people.
Take the dinner party that Jesus was invited to by the Pharisee. Jesus is the first guest there and had the opportunity to observe the other guest as they arrived. He noticed some rather odd behavior going on among these friends of the host. They are playing a kind of musical chairs around the dinner table, each vying for a seat close to the head of the table. These are the seats of honor, and each one of them feels that they deserve to sit on either side of the host.
I believe that Jesus must have been a little bit amused as he watched them wrestling the seats out from under each other. But he also realized that this was a symptom of a bigger problem that they had. They thought so highly of themselves that they looked down their righteous noses at everyone else. In typical Jesus fashion, he gets their attention by telling them a story. When you are invited to a formal wedding reception where dinner is served – you know the kind, with white linen table cloths and waiters who serve the meal - do not presume that your seat is at the head table, lest the father of the bride come an ask you to move to another table. Rather sit at a regular table down on the floor, or better yet wait to be told where your seat is so that you will not be embarrassed.
There is a hidden meaning in the story that Jesus told which makes a big difference in the understanding of the type of humility Jesus is talking about. The wedding reception dinner symbolizes the great feast in the kingdom of God, where all who have been saved will have a seat. Jesus was warning the guest at the dinner party that they had better not take their arrogance to heaven with them. As a matter in fact, they had better shed their arrogance right here and now if they even expect to get into the kingdom. Just because they have followed the law and believe they are more righteous and deserving than other people, does not guarantee them a place of honor in heaven.
They must never presume that they even have a place, let alone a place of honor in God’s kingdom. That is for God and God alone to decide.
For Jesus humbleness is tied to respect – respect for God and respect for other human beings.
One of the most shocking aspects of Jesus’ advice to his host was his admonition that he should invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and blind. This cast of characters hardly even rated the designation of “humble” people in Jewish society because they were considered outcast. According to the Law, such people were not even legally permitted to go into God’s holy presence.[1] Inviting these lowest of the low would not only destroy the status of the host among his precious friends, but according to the Levitical Law, it would actually threaten his own chances of being well-received by God. Jesus challenges his host with an opposite group of people from those he invited to dinner. Was he trying to impress Jesus with all the bigwigs he was brushing shoulders with? Jesus was not impressed.
Befriending all the right people may get us someplace in this world, but it means nothing to God. And, if we expect something in return from those we do a favor for, we may also have the same expectation from God. That is not how God operates. It’s not our rich and famous, or even religious, friends that will get us into heaven.
Jesus denies that God is looking for human perfection – for only those who are healthy or whole, clean or beautiful. Jesus stuns his listeners by asserting that the coming kingdom of God will reveal that the outcast, humbled by society and religion; are among God’s favorites – among those who will be exalted by him.
Our Gospel this morning is challenging. It challenges our attitude about ourselves and about other people. Humbleness is tied to respect – respect for God and respect for other human beings. It is a lesson that the Headmaster tried to teach Peter, who became impatient because he did not see any results. We may not see the results either, at least in this life. So then I guess it depends which is more important to us, the here and now or the hereafter.
[1] Leviticus 21:17-23