To Be Or Pretend to Be?
based on Luke 14:1, 7-14
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
 

I thought I'd better open my sermon with a humorous anecdote, because our topic this morning is a pretty serious matter:

  
The bishop had been invited to a dinner at a local church. Having had a busy schedule that day, he was famished.

As he moved down the serving line, he asked the woman behind the counter, "Excuse me, do you mind if I have a second pudding?"

The woman replied, "Sorry, it's only one pudding per person."

"But I'm STARVED!" said the archbishop.

"I'm sorry," said the woman, "only one per person."

The archbishop was normally a modest man, but he decided that if there ever was a time that he should use the weight of his office, it was now.

"Madam!" he said. "Do you know who I AM? I am the BISHOP!"

The woman replied: "And do you know who I am? I am the lady in charge of the puddings!"

This anecdote has something to do with what was going on at the Pharisee's house Jesus was invited to. When people play the reputation card, humility is out the window.

Jesus had this incredible gift of observation. He would go into a new place, or in this case, the house of the chief Pharisee and immediately picked up on some underlying dynamics.

In this case, he was observing the arrogant and pretentious behavior that was going on around him which caused him to speak a word about humility.

Apparently the religious establishment acted like an exclusive club, people were very much concerned with their social standing. There was a spirit in this place that seemed to rub Jesus the wrong way. Social status, the proper place of honor, and who they invited seemed to be more important than having genuine and meaningful social gatherings.

That's the only way I can interpret what Jesus says about inviting the poor, the crippled and lame. I don't think Jesus is saying that we should only invite strangers from the street or that we should only invite the underprivileged.

The point he's trying to make is: when you throw a party, don't do it to impress others, don't do it to establish your place in the upper echelon.

When you throw a party, invite your family and friends regardless of what they're social standing. Do it to foster meaningful relationships. Be a Mensch, be a real down-to-earth person, and be humble.

Perhaps when Jesus was reclining at the Pharisee's table, he was thinking of Proverbs 18:12 which says: “Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.”

There are certainly other Scripture passages that pick up on the same theme. Philippians 2:3 puts it like this: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

Interesting how humility described in all those passage have to do with how a person relates toward others.

1 Peter 5:5 chimes in on that theme as well: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

If you think about it, humility is one of the most attractive traits in any person. And it's not something we were born with, like our physical features, but it's something we can work on and strive for. Why else would Jesus say: “those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 14:11) Or why would Peter say “clothe yourselves with humility?”

So how can we clothe ourselves with humility toward one another? I think it's pretty clear from Jesus teaching that a first important step toward humility is to suspend judgment toward others. Humility starts with a non-judgmental attitude toward others, regardless of who or what they are.

We usually do well, accepting other people's strengths. But what about their weaknesses? Think about this: "At the most fundamental level of our humanity, it is our weaknesses that make us alike, it is our strengths that make us different." We're all sinners, hopefully pardoned sinners and for that reason there is absolutely no basis for judging others.

How does this affect us? How can we stop judging others?

Perhaps tomorrow, at work, one of your co-workers will say something like: “did you see that outfit Betty is wearing?” Or they may say something derogatory about the boss. What is your response going to be? Will you resist the pressure to judge.

I think, most importantly, it's that we stop judging people in our minds, for as we do, we will develop an attitude of respect toward them. And if we start to respect people and regard them as equals, that's a sign of humility.

Just recently, a pastor friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in a while sent me an email telling me this:

“I was working out today at the Y when the gym 'gossip queen' grabbed me to ask if I know what was happening at [your church] and how awful it is. Before she could open her mouth again, I told her she needed to know that you were a friend and unless she had walked your path she nor anyone else is in a position to pass judgment.....reserved solely for God. Well needless to say I didn't make any new friends today! So, are you ok?”

Thank God for friends and thank God for good people who have the guts to be non-judgmental even under peer pressure. She could have easily been sucked into the gossip and she could have judged me.  But instead, she reminded the other person that judgment is solely reserved for God. 

So, there you have it, if you jugde others we put ourselves in the position of God.

For sinful human beings to pretend to be God is the ultimate hubris, arrogance--the opposite of humility.

Conclusion:

According to Aristotle one of the three important things in any speech is the credibility of the speaker. If you're a teacher, you better have some credibility, you better lead by experience. Or else you'll be a hypocrite who is not living what they're preaching.

Jesus showed us by example how to live a very successful and fulfilled life and yet be humble at the very core of his being. The apostle Paul captured this so well in Phil 2:6-8; I cannot say it any better: “[Jesus] who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Given what Jesus did in perfect humility for you and me, don't you think we should listen to his teaching on humility? What is it that he wants us to do to become more humble? We can do that by stopping to judge others in our minds and start regarding and respecting them. Amen.