Luke 14:1, 7-14

 

QUESTIONS - According to Tom Long and other interpreters of scripture, coming to the text with questions is a great way to discover and recover meaning and understanding. So this week, I want to simply throw some questions as examples of how we can question the text as a way of biblical research.

WHYs and WHAT Qs - Why were "they" watching him closely? Had they gotten wind of Jesus’ odd behavior? Was this a set up - a plan to discredit Jesus by seducing him to violate the strict rules of the Sabbath? What constitutes a "place of honor?" Why did these persons seek favored placement in the first place?

RELATIONSHIP Q - Do we ever claim favored status? With God? How?

CULTURE Q - What books in our culture reflect the attitude that Jesus exposes?

GOSPEL THEME Q - What about this reversal from exaltation to abject humility? Isn’t this the very life story of Jesus? Seems that the Philippians 2 hymn has Jesus at the Table of honor, yet he carefully picks his way to the back of the room to the lowliest table.

IN THEIR SHOES Q - What does life look like from the vantage point of the head table? What does life look like from the pew, from the other side of the tracks, from the back side of the party?

APPLICATION Q - How might this lesson invite us to open our lives to people we don't know so well, to people outside of our smaller reference groups of friends, to people who may not experience life as we do, folks who are in some sense different than we are.

 

connections

Humility and Hospitality - Always remember that there are two types of people in this world. Those who enter a room and say, ‘Well, here I am!’ and those who come in and say, "Ah, there you are!"

Positive Thinker Corrective - Humble people don’t think less of themselves . . . they just think about themselves less (Norman Vincent Peale).

Too humble is half proud (Yiddish Proverb)

 

gambits

Please review the homilies that we already have available on this passage.

You might retell this story in a way that allows the listener to see the ludicrous scene that must have met Jesus’ eyes: everyone crowding the front of the room to gain some prestige via nearness to the host; a sort of Forrest Gump always showing up in pictures with notable people.

Play with the people who name drop (perhaps your own humorous experiences with that), show the tendency we have to gravitate toward influential or admired persons.

Move to the lesson that Jesus teaches the party-gatherers: the way to the top is down, the way to the front begins at the end of the line, etc.

Move to the Christ-story, that Jesus knows what he’s talking about (Philippians 2:5-11) and then move us to the Table for the celebration at God’s table, where we’re all welcomed and equally valued.

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