15 Pentecost, Cp17,
September 1, 2013
Jeremiah 2:4-13 Ps. 112
Heb.13:1-8
Luke 14:1, 7-14
In the appointed Gospel for today, we have
read an account of Rabbi Jesus making some comments about human behavior at a
party. He finds that the behavior at a party exposes some underlying motives
and values that often determine human behavior.
Motives and values are a manifestation of desire. Desire is the deep projecting energy of life
that brings us to be attached to the things of our lives. Projected Desire creates hierarchies of
values, stated very simply as I like, I prefer this more than that. I prefer to eat rather than to starve; this
is one of the most basic hierarchy of values.
But it gets more complicated and elaborate than that: some prefer to get
merely a piece of bread and a cup of soup or some prefer to have Beluga Caviar
on Melba toast with Champagne. Desire
can get differentiated in many layers of values.
A major value in life is found in the
hierarchy of desire expressing where we want to be. Making the scene, having the best seat to be
able to hob nob with the people of money, power and influence; this is the
value of place that Jesus was addressing.
Jesus noted that the party goers wanted the best seats in the house so
they could be seen to be in places of honor and be associated with important
people. They wanted to be in the best
place to schmooze; to connect and promote their cause or personage with the
people who matter the most in society.
Life in society and our lives in particular
involve very intricate interactions in systems of topographical value. Real Estate agents can tell you about the
value of places; beach homes on Malibu; why do people want to be there? Such high demand drives up the prices so that only a few can afford to be there.
People want to be in front row seats,
corporate boxes at sports and entertainment events. Herein is an expression of the value of
place, the value of topography. Desire
is projected upon preferred places because the kind of activities and events
which occur in a place. We value places for
the activities and for the people who inhabit a place.
Look at how we have words of value for
places. A place of value is often called
a Mecca, after the Islamic holy place.
We have words that imply a pejorative judgment upon places, “the wrong side of the tracks,” slums, Skid Row and Ghetto. We have terms of value that place negative judgments
upon places that are avoided or segregated by certain people. We may say that such places has undesirable people
or people who frighten us; such places become for us places to avoid. We cannot promote our influence and power in
life by going to such places.
You may say that I am reading too much into
this party seating debate by Jesus of Nazareth but the wisdom of Jesus is that
in the ordinary daily interaction he found that we live out the basic values of
our lives and so when we zoom out from mere favored party seats to all of the
topography of our lives, we can begin to see the values that are assigned,
unwittingly to the places of our lives.
Why are we here, not just in general but why
are we in any particular place? Why we
here in this place now? Obviously the
preferred seats in an Episcopal Church are middle to back; front pews are
avoided as if the preacher were going to do some major slobbering or ask for
money. Are we here because it helps our
political resumes as the “in place” to be seen? Probably not.
The words of Jesus ask us to do a values
review in uncovering the attachment to the places of our lives. In doing so, we should also uncover the
values we have placed upon the places which we avoid. Do we avoid them because they have no value
to our lives? Do we avoid them because
we want to avoid the people who inhabit such places? In our survey of the values we put on places
we can also note our patterns of segregation.
Jesus invited people to challenge their
patterns of segregation by switching places and sharing spaces. If we have a party we should invite people on
the “D” list or those who would truly benefit from the hospitality that we have to
offer them. Jesus invites us integrate
through an open hospitality. Trading
places begins with the imagination of faith as we try to put ourselves in someone
else’s shoes and “feel with them.” Can
we come to value the places of other people so that we value their lives in a
different way to act with love, empathy and compassion? The practice of the faith of the Risen Christ
means that we build bridges to connect segregated spaces of people caused by
pride, class-ism racism, and any form of prejudice that divides people and
causes them to devalue each other to the point of “extreme avoidance” or
suppression or persecution.
How can we address the problems that we might
find in the way in which we value space?
The founding philosophy of our country states that we endowed with
certain dignity because of the way in which we have been created. St.Paul said
that each person has a body and each body is a location; each body is a place
and it is a favored place because it is a temple of the Holy Spirit of God. God desires and favor each of us as a favored
place of the divine presence. If we
accept this incredible favor for ourselves and for other people then we
acknowledge the starting point of the dignity of life of all people in all
places. This starting place of the
omnipresence of God means there is a profound equality of persons and places in
the eyes of God. This starting place is
where we go to evaluate all of our values concerning the values of people and
places. The Psalmist ask, “Where can I
can I go from your presence, O God?” The
answer, “No where.” Jesus was the
presence of God in the worst place of life; death upon the Cross. The divine presence even in death became known
to us as the promise of eternal life.
What Jesus was trying to say is that we all
belong together. The way in which we
practice belonging together is by continually building bridges of
connection. To those who are neglected
we give recognition; we say, “come up higher, don’t let anything hinder you
from human fellowship and human well-being.”
Today, we are here to remind ourselves that
God’s hospitality to us has called us to higher dignity. We come here to realize our bodies as a
location of the presence of Christ as we partake of the bread and wine of
Eucharist. We accept this invitation to “come
up higher come to the place of highest power and influence in accepting our
bodies as the dwelling place of God’s presence.” But in accepting this marvelous hospitality
of God for ourselves, we also are to be evangelists of the hospitality of God
to all. We are to go forth and invite
everyone to the wonderful hospitality of God who is willing to be known to be
the God of all and in all.
Let us do a review today of our values that
we have for places; let us examine any unhealthy segregation that we wittingly
or unwittingly practice. Let us be
thankful that Christ does not segregate Himself from our bodies as a temple of divine
dwelling. And let us go forth to offer
the profound invitation of Christ as we say to all who need to hear it said to
them in a personal way, “My friend, come up higher. Come close to the Good News of God’s
Love. Amen.
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