Do you remember the story of Moses at the burning bush? How in an instance the divine voice of God told Moses to take off his shoes for the place where he was standing is Holy Ground? Moses was being called to a special vocation that required him to be absolutely submitted to living in the presence of the Holy One. Our God, being a God of Surprises, unexpectedly calls each of us. To respond is to recognize that we too are standing on holy ground and the central focus of our lives ought to be not worldly norms, but the essential Being of The Holy One and His great kingdom banquet of abundant love, joy, and peace.
To respond to God’s call takes deep inner humility in which we acknowledge that God is God, and we are not. Jesus Christ, Himself provided us with a model of true humility. He who is One with the Father bowed down Himself and accepted the lowly state of humanity for our salvation. In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus teaches us that in God’s kingdom, the humble is exalted and he who exalts himself is humbled. We grow in humility as we look at life through the light of Chris. We see His loving care for all people. We see His compassion and acknowledge that it is by His unmerited grace that we can share in the Kingdom banquet.
In Sunday’s gospel (Luke 14”1, 7-14) Jesus is invited to a feast hosted by a Pharisee. Observing how the invited guests chose places of honor at the table, Jesus spoke parabolically, pointing the way toward true humility. The parable’s context is a wedding feast, a reminder that God’s kingdom is a great banquet of unending love and harmony. He exhorts guests to see others as more distinguished and take the lowest seats at the table. To take the lower place is to renounce our claim of self-made merit. The Pharisees expected the best seats as a reward for keeping the Torah. In today’s world, faithful Church attendance or charitable giving may lead us to presume that we earn spiritual places of honor. But it is only by the free grace of the Host that we are invited to “go up higher” in God’s heavenly banquet.
Humility calls us to undo our masks and accept the truth of who we are, humans with limitations. Humility means abandoning our self-assertion and instead bow down to our Holy and all-wise God in our lives. We strive for humility to overcome pride. In humility, we move away from ourselves and see the inclusivity of God. We grow in valuing others, just as God cherishes each of us.
Jesus, therefore, blends humility and hospitality. He teaches us that true hospitality welcomes not just folks who can give back to us. We welcome the poor, the lame, and the blind, all who have nothing to give us in return. In humility, we discern that hospitality is grounded in love for God and brotherly love for all people. Jesus offers an image in which the host of the banquet and humble guests all sit at a table together breaking bread; accepting each other, recognizing each other as equals in God’s eyes, a spiritual and social fellowshipping as one in the Kingdom.
The first line of one of my favorite hymns says, “Holy God, we praise thy name. Lord of all we bow before thee…” We thank God that in the awesomeness of His glory He loves us and calls us into the abundance of His holy presence. May we seek the Spirit’s strength to humbly bow down so Christ may increase in us and lead us to the great heavenly banquet!
