Sermon preached by the Reverend John E. Kitagawa at the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Sunday, 29 August 2010 (The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost) at St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, Arizona

TRUE MEASURES OF WEALTH

Jeremiah 2: 4-13; Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16; Luke 14: 4-13

A little historical and cultural context helps us to appreciate today’s Gospel story. As can be seen in works of art, in Jesus’ time,

Palestinian feasts were arranged so guests reclined in groups of three. The position in the middle was the most favored place and was reserved for those with the most power, wealth, or social status. If a more eminent person arrived later, then the one who occupied the highest place would commonly be asked to step down[1].

So, we could read Jesus’ advice in the first part of the story as practical social counsel. The idea is that there is greater approval for those who seek less than their due than there is for those who expect more—an idea well supported in Jewish wisdom (Proverbs 25: 6-7).

You probably share my suspicion that Jesus is trying to do something more profound than giving advice about seating charts and social graces. Digging below the surface, we find a parable about humility and generosity, about God’s sense of justice, and about the overflowing bounty of God’s love for each and every one of us. This business about seating arrangements is a vehicle for Jesus to tell us we do not set the criteria for who are the most worthy among God’s children, and thus most certain to live in God’s favor. Instead, part of the teaching is that we are to learn humility.

Unfortunately, these days, humility and humiliation are often confused. There is an important and consequential distinction. Humiliation happens when someone’s actions demean us or make us feel less valued, for example due to race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, age, physical ability, or economic clout. Humiliation destroys the possibility of a meaningful relationship. Humiliation can and does harm to our self-esteem. Humiliation is debilitating.

In a real sense, humility is the opposite. Humility grows from self-esteem, and confidence born in the security of knowing God’s eternal and life-giving love. Humility opens us to new possibilities, and makes it possible to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us onward. Humility helps us to know ourselves in relationship to God, and to enter into a deepening mutual relationship with God. I believe our ability to live Kingdom values and priorities is directly related to our ability to approach God in humility. To be crystal clear, Jesus is not calling us to humiliation, but to humility. The call to humility is not a call to cultivate low self-esteem. The call to humility is the call to live according to the values and priorities of God’s Kingdom. This understanding is essential to practicing what Jesus suggests in the second part of the story.

For the past several days, I have watched television reports offered on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Some have highlighted progress made since the devastation five years ago, and/or the many barriers and setbacks hampering development. My attention was particularly riveted by an NBC report featuring Brian Williams’ recollections recorded immediately after leaving New Orleans.

For those who have not been watching Katrina specials, let me reset the stage. For days, meteorologists tracked Hurricane Katrina. Informed that it was heading for New Orleans, Brian Williams decided to go there, arriving just before the Mayor of New Orleans ordered the evacuation of the city. The NBC report showed the clogged highways leading out of New Orleans, even the lanes normally bringing traffic into the city. Lacking access to any means of transportation, many poor people did not escape the storm. As you recall, they were instructed to go to the Super Dome and the Convention Center, where they were told they would be cared for. In his retrospective, Williams detailed, hour by hour, day by day, worsening conditions and the increasing desperation of people left without food, water, proper sanitary facilities, or the most basic human necessities. This continued for five full days without relief.

Yesterday, I was talking about this with our young people at choir camp. I asked them to try to put themselves in the shoes of those poor Katrina people. I asked them to imagine what it would be like to survive in sweltering heat and humidity without food or water, without changes of clothes, without functioning toilets, and almost no medical care. Their faces registered shadows of the horror, the desperation, and the confusion those New Orleanians must have felt. Now, I ask you to take a moment to imagine what it would be like to try to survive in sweltering heat and humidity without food or water, without changes of clothes, without functioning toilets, and almost no medical care. [Pause] To be truthful, I have tried to place myself in that scenario, but I cannot. It is completely foreign to anything I have ever experienced. In this retrospective, Williams simply said, “I could not believe this was happening in my country, my United States.”

I resurface Katrina in your consciousness because there is a direct connection to this morning’s Gospel story. As we know, Jesus is a dinner guest of a prominent and powerful religious leader. Towards the end of the story, Jesus admonishes his host. He says in no uncertain terms, “when you invite people to a meal, don’t invite those who can reciprocate, invite the poor and those who cannot fully take care of themselves” (Luke 14: 12). Or, if you can bridge two centuries, invite poor people like those you saw suffering on television for five days, seemingly forgotten and abandoned by virtually everyone. It was as if these, the least of our brothers and sisters, were not our brothers and sisters, but complete and unwelcome strangers.

I asked the choir camp kids who they invited to their parties. The answer was obvious—friends and classmates. I told them that was fine because building relationships is very important. But I also reminded them that Jesus expected people to take care of each other, and he especially expects those who are blessed with a little more to respond to the needs of people like the ones in New Orleans five years ago. I noted that we have been spared from a natural disaster like Katrina, or the earthquake in Haiti, or the floods in Pakistan. However, there was an article in The Star about schools setting up clothing banks because so many students were not able to shop for new outfits before schools opened. There are people with significant needs right here in Tucson, right now; and, as followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot ignore or abandon them. In fact, Jesus expects us to include them within our priorities and concerns.

The fundamental theological and spiritual truth undergirding today’s Gospel story is,

That God’s love is a great leveling force; that we are all equal in the bounteous love of our creator[2].

An unsourced quotation presses the same point:

The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money[3].

We would be no less valued in God’s eyes if we lost all our money. Jesus wants us to know God’s love is not predicated on worldly measures of financial clout, political power, or social honor. God’s love is generous and overflowing. God’s love is unfailing, constant and consistent.

To paraphrase a portion of today’s Epistle, we are called to acts of love. Perhaps the best known verse from this text is the admonition to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so we may minister to angels unawares. Then Jesus raises the stakes. Not only does he call us to acts of love, he asks to identify with prisoners and those being tortured. I think this is the ultimate admonition to walk in someone else’s shoes in order to understand their needs; that God values them and us equally; and, that God wants us to see their needs as no less important than ours, and to respond accordingly.

In the face of a continuing economic recession, none of us feels particularly secure. In fact, every indication suggests that, as a nation, we are anxious and fearful. In these circumstances, it is difficult for us to see and appreciate how blessed we are—until, perhaps, we are confronted with images and stories of suffering that put our perceived plights into perspective. When we are anxious and fearful about our lot in life, it is difficult to muster and act on the kind of love Jesus asks of and empowers in us—a love that helps us acknowledge and respond to the needs of others as no less important than our own.

Friends, St. Philip’s is in the business of transforming lives in Christ, so that each of us can forsake places of honor in order to minister to the poor and those who cannot fully care for their own needs. Unlike a social service agency, we do more than try to meet needs. We work towards a transformation of the heart that makes it possible for us to hear, understand and affirm from experience these words from the Epistle to the Hebrews:

Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” (Hebrews 13: 5-6).

And, it is from this place of inner spiritual strength and confidence that we can grow in our capacity to minister to those in need.

AMEN.