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Gospel Lesson for the
Week
September 2, 2007
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14th Sunday After Pentecost
On one occasion
when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal
on the sabbath, they were watching him closely….
When he noticed how
the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.
"When you are
invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of
honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your
host; and the host who invited
both of you may come and say to you, 'Give this person your place,' and then
in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place.
But when you are
invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes,
he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the
presence of all who sit at the table with you.
For all who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be
exalted."
He said also to the
one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not
invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in
case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you
give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And
you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will e repaid at
the resurrection of the righteous."
.
Status
and Role
.
While they watched him
He was watching them.
They wanted to know
if he obeyed the law
and respected their
ancient traditions.
He wanted to know if they
respected people,
especially the humble and
the poor.
And noting the way they
jockeyed for position
and their efforts to be
top dog,
and have the place of
honor at the table,
he did what he always did;
he told them a story.
Well, to tell you the
truth,
it really wasn’t much of a
story
(no prodigal son
or good Samaritan this
time).
It was just a little
vignette
accompanied by some good
advice.
He spoke of a wedding
banquet
(So many of his tales
were about dinner parties;
he had a thing for food
and friends.)
It was about the proper
pecking order
at a Middle Eastern feast,
and at the end, he added
this .
“All who exalt themselves
will be humbled,
and those who humble
themselves
will be exalted.”
And going beyond this
glittering generality,
he turned to his host and
drove the point home
concretely.
“When you give a banquet,
invite the poor, the lame,
the blind.”
The blessings of the
kingdom, he said, come to those
who seek not the place of
honor,
but confer honor to those
of low estate.
Next time I seek the first
place in line,
or find myself
in a sale counter
tug-of-war,
or step on the gas to be
first in line
when the light changes,
or do anything
to step
over or step
on my neighbor
in order to take first
place,
and next time
I pay too much attention
to my status
and too little to
another’s need,
I will try to remember
Jesus’ words.
---
rvc
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“What I'm saying is, ‘If you walk around with your nose in the air,
you're going to end up flat on your face. But if you're content to be simply
yourself, you will become more than yourself.’ "
Luke 14:11
--
The Message paraphrase
*** D I S C L A I M E R ***
The Weekly Lessons are based on the lectionary
texts for the week – usually the Gospel lesson. They are not designed as a
formal commentary. Rather, they are the personal reflections and original
compositions of The Relay Online editor, Rev. Robin Van
Cleef, and offer a jumping off point, using the scriptures as triggers to
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