Appropriate Banquet Etiquette—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 12C/Proper 17 (Luke 14)
Luke 14:1, 7-14 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
14 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.
7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “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, 9 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. 10 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. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 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 and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
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If you go to a party or host a party,
it’s wise to follow proper etiquette. Humility is always a wise policy. In
other words, if you go to a banquet don’t assume you will sit at the head
table. Otherwise, you may be in store for a bit of embarrassment. Proverbs 25
offers a bit of wisdom that might prove helpful in situations like this: “Don’t
exalt yourself in the presence of the king or stand in the place of important
people” (Prov.25:6-7).
That bit of wisdom, of course, emerged out of a hierarchical society where the
king was viewed as being close to divine if not divine. We might not live in
quite the same kind of hierarchical society, but there still is proper decorum.
So, even in a modern democracy such as the United States, a person doesn’t just
go up and start talking to the President. If you talk to the President,
then either the President or a member of the staff will have invited you to
join in the conversation. It’s always wise to know one’s place!
Social hierarchy provides the
context for two parables found in Luke 14. The context in which Jesus spoke
these parables was a dinner party of sorts. He had been invited by a leading
Pharisee to join him for dinner on the Sabbath. Though not included in the
reading for the day, in verse 2 we’re told that a man suffering from dropsy sat
down on the front porch of the home where Jesus was about to enter. The people
watched to see if he would heal the man. Of course, this was a trap. People were
wondering if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath like he had done earlier (Luke
13:10-17). By now Jesus knew what was up, and once again he addressed the
question of whether it was appropriate to do good on the Sabbath. When the
folks watching him failed to answer his question, he healed the man and moved
on with the day. While that story has been omitted from the lectionary reading,
it illustrates Jesus’ ongoing concern for those who are often pushed to the
margins by society while using religious rules to enforce social boundaries.
Now, of course, the man wasn’t in dire need of a cure. He could have come back
to Jesus a day later, but Jesus sees no reason to wait.
With
that interlude, let’s get back to the focus of our reading, the two parables
that deal with hospitality and etiquette. While he was being watched for how he
would respond to the man requesting healing, Jesus was watching the situation
at this dinner party. What he noticed was that many of the guests were jockeying
for the best seat in the house. That’s because one’s social status is
connected to where one sits. As he watched this unfolding scene, Jesus decided
to offer a word of wisdom. Of course, he did this through parables. The first
parable was directed at the guests, and the second at the host.
The
first parable involves proper etiquette at a wedding banquet. Because parables
often illustrate the nature of God’s realm and wedding banquets often serve as symbols
of the realm. Consider, for example, the vision of the marriage supper of the Lamb
in Revelation 19, where the invitation is given to celebrate the reign of God.
Indeed, “‘let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of
the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; to her has been granted
to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure’—for the fine line is the righteous
deeds of the saints.” The good news is that “Blessed are those who are invited
to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:6-9).
In our reading, we hear Jesus tell his
fellow guests that when they go to a wedding, they shouldn’t seat themselves in
the seat of honor or even at the head table. That’s because, even if they think
they are important, there might be someone coming to the wedding who is more
important than they are. It would be quite embarrassing to sit down at the head
table only to have the host or steward reseat them. What humiliation that would
be to experience demotion in front of everybody. It’s possible that if you choose
this path you will end up seated at the back of the room. So, wouldn’t it be
better to begin the evening by choosing a seat at the back of the room because the
host or steward may come and invite you to move to the front of the room and
take a seat at the head table? Then instead of embarrassment, everyone will see
that you are being honored.
Remember this, Jesus told the other
guests, “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble
themselves will be exalted.” In the previous chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has
something similar to say; thus, “some who are last shall be first, and some are
first who will be last” (Lk
13:30). This is a key point that appears throughout Scripture—God
will bring down the proud and lift up those on the margins. It is a message
that Mary sang of in her Magnificat (Lk. 1:46-55). It was a message that
Jesus would embody on the cross. As we read this text, we should do so in
light of the cross on which Jesus humbled himself and died. He would know humiliation,
but that humiliation would turn to glory when God lifted him up in the
resurrection. Now, we needn’t take this to extremes. We needn’t
brutalize our bodies to please God. However, in this story, Jesus makes it
clear that God does stand with those on the margins.
After Jesus addressed the guests who had been jockeying for position, he turned
to the host and spoke of the meaning and purpose of hospitality. Then, as
now, we tend to think of hospitality in terms of reciprocity. I invite
you over for dinner and then you will, of course, invite me over for a meal. There’s
nothing inherently wrong with reciprocation. It’s simply good manners. But in
this next word, Jesus wants to push us beyond our own self-interest. He
wants us to think about why we invite someone to dinner. Is it because we
expect something out of it?
As we
ponder these questions, there is another text for this particular Sunday, that
might have something to say to us in this regard. In the reading for the day
from Hebrews 13, we hear this admonition concerning mutual love and
hospitality. So, “do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing
that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb. 13:1-2). Ultimately,
if we interpret these parables in light of God’s realm, there will be no social
hierarchy in the kingdom of God. So, let us treat each other appropriate to
that reality. In other words, Jesus has come to turn the social realities upside
down.
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