“The Honor Games”  

Proverbs 25:6-7; Luke 14:1, 7-14

At my first ordained call in Sacramento, one of our church friends worked for a large company that occasionally provided him with sports perks, such as great seats at sporting events. He was a big SF Giants fan and turned my own son against me. Sam loved this person, Pat, and quickly became a Giants fan. One day, he called and asked if I wanted to take Sam to see a Giants game. I wasn't a fan of the team, but I absolutely love the stadium. Since Sam also loved the Giants, I said, “Sure!”  We took two ferries to get to the stadium, which was a wonderful trip. Once we arrived at the stadium, Pat told me to go to the will-call window, and our names would be on a list. So, Sam, who was maybe four at the time, and I checked in at will-call, and I showed my ID. The person at will-call then told us where we were sitting. We were about three rows back from the field on the 1^st baseline! It felt great to be sitting there. I knew the seats were expensive, but they were given to us. As Sam and I took our seats, I looked around and noticed that many people were wearing nice clothing. Some were talking about the seats they were in being their season ticket seats. Suddenly, I felt like I was part of the group of wealthy, high-status fans and didn’t belong there. Plus, I was wearing my green and gold Oakland A’s regalia.

Then, as the first inning began, two people showed up. Another father and son claimed we were in their seats. I mentioned the seats were given to us by a season ticket holder, and that our names were on the will-call list. The father said that they, too, had been given the seats by a season ticket holder and had tickets in hand. An usher got involved, and I expected to hear the usher say, “Give these people your place, and move somewhere else.”  I figured that since we didn't have tickets in hand, and that I had the audacity to wear A’s gear to a Giants game, we would have to sit elsewhere, humbly moving back to where we belonged, the lowest of the low, the third deck. I explained how we obtained the tickets, and the usher said there must have been a mix-up and that we could sit in other nearby seats as long as they didn’t fill up. We moved over a few spaces to some empty seats nearby, still with an incredible view right by the field at first base. I kept looking around for a few innings, believing at any moment, the actual owners of those seats would show up, and we would end up where we belonged, out in the bleachers or up in the nosebleed seats. Fortunately, however, we were able to stay in the great seats for the entire game and had a wonderful time. (I found out later that someone from my friend’s company ALSO gave the same seats to some friends and physically handed them the tickets, but didn’t let anyone else in the company know the seats were taken. Hence, the mix-up. Where one sits in a baseball stadium can make a big difference.

Where one sat for a Sabbath meal back in Jesus’ day also made a big difference.

An anthropologist is a person who studies human development throughout history. A cultural anthropologist examines culture to understand how it influences human development. Cultural anthropologist Bruce J. Malina has studied the culture of first-century society, and his research provides valuable insights for us today as we consider Jesus’ words regarding where to sit, honor, and humility.

In his book, The New Testament World, According to Malina, honor and status were among the most essential possessions in the ancient world. It was important for a person to have honor or status in their own eyes, but also equally, if not more important, that the people around the person believed them to have status and honor. He writes, “It is something like our credit rating today. A good credit card makes money available, allows a person to incur debt and acquire goods for immediate use, and reflects upon a person’s social standing in our society. What the first-century person was interested in was his or her honor rating. That honor rating situates the person on the status ladder of the community.” Honor - there was only so much to go around in first-century society; it was a scarce commodity. As a result, nearly every interaction with non-family members could affect one’s honor rating. Your status, your honor, could go up and down with each social interaction, with each conversation.

This seems a bit silly to us, as our society places a high value on the accumulation of wealth and material possessions and honors individuals through their accomplishments or fame. But this was a very important part of life in the first century. Where you sat truly mattered. In the collection of ancient rabbinic writings, the Talmud states that, “ on a couch holding three, the middle place is for the worthiest, the left for the second, and the right for the third..” It appears that the issue of honor and status was even going on in the midst of the last supper. Luke 22:24 tells us- “a dispute arose among them as to which of them was the greatest”- that is, which one of them had the highest place of honor. And if today’s passage is any indication, perhaps that famous painting of the Last Supper should’ve shown the disciples jockeying for position at the table to see who got to sit next to Jesus.

This issue was even affecting early gatherings for communion. Social status and a place of honor led to theological and fellowship divisions in the Corinthian churches, particularly at the Lord’s Supper (see 1 Cor 11:20-22). The well-to-do were seated in the places of honor nearest the center of the house and the place of communion, as was the accepted custom. The poor working folks who arrived at the fellowship meal late found themselves on the outer edge, with little or nothing to eat. Paul was so frustrated over this that he could not even call what the Corinthians did the “Lord’s Supper.”

Jesus was part of this culture that constantly sought honor and status. In today’s passage, as soon as he was seated in the house of a well-known prominent (that is, an honorable, high status) pharisee  the guests were settled around the tables, maneuvering for the best place in which to sit- one which would bring more honor, and a higher standing, almost like a game of musical chairs which we could call, “The Honor Games.” Now, Sabbath banqueting in the first century was common, but it became an expression of luxury; the better your Sabbath brunch, the more honor one attained. I guess restaurants of the time hadn’t caught on to the idea of Sunday brunch yet.

As Jesus so often did throughout his ministry, he took a societal norm and challenged it. Jesus didn’t want to play by the rules, and he said, “When someone invites you to a wedding feast- (that is a place where you can really increase your honor rating, since some feasts last up to 7 days), he continued,” DO NOT TAKE THE PLACE OF HONOR.” I can imagine that at this moment, all the polite chatter around the table stopped. “What did he say?!?!” Jesus knew the game and changed the rules and rewards. He told them, “If you try to get the place of high honor, and the host tells you to go to a lower place, you will be humiliated. Start at a low place, one which might affect your honor rating, but if the host tells you to move up, you will be honored in the presence of all the others gathered.” Honor doesn’t come by maneuvering for the best seat to attain social standing, Jesus said, but rather through being humble.  He echoed the words from Proverbs 15:33- “Humility comes before honor.”

Of course, this conversation over dinner had nothing whatsoever to do with table manners or social customs. Instead, as he so often did, Jesus seized the opportunity to use an everyday event as an illustration of the truth about God’s kindom. Humility, he tells them, is the passport to promotion in the kindom of God.

Humility - what does it mean to be humble? The dictionary defines humble as being aware of one’s shortcomings. In high school, when I used to play pick-up basketball games with my friends in our church gym, I knew I wasn’t very good. Yet there were those moments when everything actually came together, and I made a good move, or made a nice lay-up, or had a good long jump shot that swished through the basket. When I’d make a good shot or move, most of the time I would say “Man, can’t believe I made that one, or “Gosh I was lucky.” I’d also give praise for good moves around me or good shots by others. Now, as I look back upon those moments, I think that when I was saying these humble things, in reality, I was trying to get under my opponent's skin a bit. I was trying to gain an advantage through my humility. Perhaps you could call it “reverse trash talking?” I also think that it is true that I was patting myself on the back for being so humble. Theologian Warren W. Wiersbe has said, "Humility is a fundamental grace in the Christian life, and yet it is elusive; if you know you have it, you have lost it!”

That’s the problem with humility - we can use it to gain an advantage, status, or to think highly of ourselves, and that is when it becomes false. I can imagine the guests seated around Jesus, when they heard that by taking the lowliest place at the table may not only avoid embarrassment, but actually lead to social elevation, they moved en masse towards that low seat far away from the host, ears cocked and waiting for this powerful Pharisee to say, “friend, move up! Come sit by first base!” Theologian Fred Craddock says, “The human ego is quite clever and, upon hearing that taking the low seat may lead to elevation at the head table, may convert the instruction about humility to a new strategy for social promotion.” I would drive my opponents on the basketball court nuts by being humble and kind, and win a few games in the process. That was not true humility; it was not the humility Jesus is trying to teach us about here today.

False humility has no place in God’s order. Jesus’ operating principle is this- “for whoever exalts himself will be made humble, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” This statement echoes the familiar words, "the last shall be first, the first shall be last." True humility stems from the recognition that none of us is worthy of the seat of honor before God. True humility is an act of meekness, of placing others before ourselves, and being deeply respectful of those around us, without seeking any advantage in the act itself.

In today’s passage, Jesus calls us to true humility, yet that was only part of the picture. He had a second lesson to teach. Jesus looked around the table to see who was invited to this social gathering and saw a group of social climbers, movers, and shakers. In Hollywood, this party would’ve had an “A-list” of stars gathered. Here, Jesus said that social gamesmanship to win bigger and better invitations from people who could easily repay the favor was of no value in God’s kingdom.

True hospitality is characterized by extending the invitation for food and fellowship to those who can least afford to repay you, those who wouldn’t even make the “D list.” We are to be gracious, giving, and hospitable to everyone without any expectation of an earthly reward.

At another call at another church, our staff used to have a silly gift exchange at Christmas. This was one way of making sure that we didn’t have to spend money on gifts for a very large church staff. So, we would wrap up strange objects and give them away as gifts, which provided a lot of laughter. However, there was one person on the staff who always bought gifts for the entire staff, which was fine, except that she then waited expectantly for gifts from the rest of us and was hurt if she did not receive them. Her gifts to us were given in expectation that she would receive something back. Here, Jesus says, we are to give without expectation, to provide hospitality with no strings attached.

Yet there is a third focus in this section from verses 12-14. God’s list of guests and who is important is different from society’s. We gain honor and status in God’s eyes when we invite God’s A-list: the poor, the crippled,  the lame, and the blind in for a meal. By doing so, we will be blessed and given honor in the eternal life to come.

So... Is Jesus really saying what I think he’s saying here? Are we supposed to open our homes and let the poor and lame in, give them something to eat? Perhaps. I had a colleague in ministry who tried to live that way. At times things went well, and at times they did not. If nothing else, we are called to be truly hospitable to those who have less, to offer food without judgment, to give without expectation, and to offer help for those who are dealing with physical ailments. By inviting God’s “A list” into our midst, we will show the world a glimpse of God’s kindom and the way the world is supposed to be. I see this happening regularly during our chapel worship, as we often welcome someone unhoused into our service, which we also do at the 10 am service. Also, after the second service is done, everyone is welcome to join the fellowship at Calvin Hall and can sit anywhere. There are moments when this passage is so well illustrated, as people from our congregation have conversations with those who are unhoused. I see those spoken exchanges begin, and walls and barriers coming down. Those interactions with God’s A-list are glimpses of the heavenly banquet, and we are called to bring those meals about. 

Mother Teresa said, “The poor come to us in many forms. Let us be sure that we never turn our backs on them, wherever we may find them. For when we turn our backs on the poor, we turn them on Jesus Christ.”