A friend of ours was ordained in the diocese of Canterbury. At his ordination retreat he arrived late for a meal and only one seat remained: next to the archbishop! Some of us, and I include myself, would be pleased for this to happen to us. He, not so much. Whether we admit or not, most of us spend part of our lives being concerned about our status and how others view us. Often in job applications we are encouraged to give the best versions of ourselves, and only the brave outline their shortcomings. Not self-promoting ourselves can be viewed as a weakness and lead us to be sidelined.
In a culture where people were placed in rank at a formal meal, such as described in the gospel account, Jesus warns through a parable, not to place themselves where they might be asked to move to a lower place, rather to start lower in order to be moved up higher.
Jesus also encourages people to invite others to eat who may not be useful to them. Again, it was common to invite people to eat with you who might raise your profile in the community.
Again, a church can be a good opportunity to examine this notion. As I mentioned last time, aside from the presider and the preacher, and these vary week by week, no one has a set spot in church. Sure, we tend to sit in the same or similar places each Sunday, but sometimes we move somewhere else. At coffee hour or at a meal, there are no saved seats, people gather and sit down in groups in no particular order. It wasn’t always so in the church, (even here in Canada), where people paid ‘pew rents’ to reserve their place and no one else could sit there. Although it was a way to generate income, it favoured the wealthy who could ‘buy’ the best seats. The passage from the letter to the Hebrews also makes the point that as followers of Christ we are to welcome and practice hospitality to strangers.
A church is a free association of people; there are no membership fees and we attend as often as we want. As in the gospel passage, the encouragement is to invite everyone to come, not just our family and friends. The church therefore is unlike other aspects of our lives that often focus around those closest to us, or those with whom we work or gather socially. We don’t get to choose who comes to church; none of us is in charge of the guest list. In fact, a different group of people attend on a weekly basis, added to those who attend the 9 am Liturgy at Home, as well as the midweek services on-line and in-person. We often see the same people but we never know exactly who will be present.
The readings are good reminders to be more humble, less self-absorbed, and to share ourselves with others, including those with whom we gather at St. James’. Don’t be shy… speak to someone you don’t know today!
Fr Stephen Rowe