August 28, 2022 – Pentecost +12C, Luke 14:1, 7-14

“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.
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 be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Did you ever find yourself in a rut? Lately, I have felt like I am in a rut. I don’t like feeling like I am in a rut, but when it happens it usually affects everything I do. Now, it is no surprise or coincidence that my ruts often come in the colder, darker seasons of the year. Once summer is upon us, I usually think I will get rejuvenated. So usually summers help me break out of a rut. But this summer has blown past us so quickly, well, perhaps the Labor Day holiday will help me recover. School has started again, which always puts me in a better mood….or maybe our text can help.

When I look at Jesus observing the guests coming to the meal, I notice that perhaps he noticed that these people were also stuck in a rut. But as it turns out, their behavior had deep societal and religious roots. Let me explain….

When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, a parchment was also uncovered which included a document scholars have come to call “The Messianic Rule”. They dated the parchment to about 75 BCE which means it is a Pre-Christian document. The document describes how their community was to deal with the “end days”. In particular the document describes a banquet with their King that was to mimic the coming Messianic Banquet. It goes on to list those who were invited to the banquet:

“All the wise men of the congregation, the learned and the intelligent, men whose way is perfect – the men of renown”.  But that is not all, for it continues with who is not invited: “no man smitten in his flesh, or paralyzed in his feet or hands, or lame, or blind, or deaf, or dumb, or smitten in his flesh with a visible blemish; no old and tottery man unable to stay still in the midst of the congregation, none of these shall come…”

Even from the earliest days, there has been an emphasis placed on lifting up those in our communities who are the strongest, the wisest, the most learned – and there has been exclusion of the last, the lost, the least, the lame, and the little. Perhaps this is why Jesus felt it necessary to teach something about the behavior he observed from the people gathering for the meal – but then again, Jesus was always seeking to get to the root of our ruts. Just like you and I can get into a rut, the church can also become “rutted” – stuck in patterns that may not always meet the mandate of the church of Jesus Christ. That is why we need to always be seeking to be rooted in the “Word”, not rutted in past successes or failures or patterns of behavior.

Always putting yourself first or living just for the sake of being noticed or getting affirmation is a “rut race” we should not buy into in this world. So, to get out of the “rut race”, we first need to remember where our true identity comes from. Our true identity begins in our baptism, where G-d claims us as one of G-d’s children – loved beyond all measure – loved and valued enormously.

Pastor Dave