Reflection on the Word for the Sunday of August 28, 2022
WE HAVE TO MERIT HEAVEN – Luke 14:8-11
"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."
The story itself looks like a teaching tale, a metaphoric parable, embedded in a social event like a wedding, which is the frame of the story. We may know before hand that the moral message here can not really be about the appropriate behavior regarding the seating arrangement in weddings, because the wording in the Gospel makes us cautious to apply the literal meaning of this parable to real life earthly events.
Just as a sage, Antigonos Sokho, a student of Simeon the Just, the Hight Priest in the Temple of Jerusalem, in the era when Judea was occupied by the Syrian-Greek Empire, around 200 years before Jesus was born, so taught the public that "Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of reward; rather, be like servants who do not serve their master for the sake of reward, and let the awe of Heaven be upon you".
That is why there is no way, that Jesus would have warned anybody, that by principle you should not take the place of honor in an earthly wedding lest you will be ashamed and embarrassed, when they will ask you to give up your seat to someone else, who is more worthy for the place of honor. Quite the opposite. The real godly humility does not show off external humbleness just in order to avoid public shame in front of the peers. That would be a fake humility, it would be still an action of vanity, moreover it would be blatant hypocrisy.
Also in the same way, Jesus would not have warned the disciples that when you attend an earthly wedding you should deliberately seek for the least honorable seat, like at the far away end of the long table somewhere, in order to be noticed, making sure of getting the attention of the host, who will seat you closer to the center, honoring your rank in the society. That behavior would be following empty vanity, which desires social respect as a reward, and moreover it would be an ardent hypocrisy, of course
So, if the Gospel story is not a literal advice, then it is parable. And exactly it is.
The Gospel story compares Heaven to a seating arrangement in a fictional wedding. It is a metaphor about Heaven. The host is God. The bridegroom is the Messiah, the bride is Israel, the guests are the people from all walk. In the seating arrangement in Heaven, one must be really humble, because exactly the level of the personal humbleness decides over our distance from the throne of the eternal God and King. If my ego is big, the distance between me and the presence of God is proportionally but also exactly the size of my ego. If my ego is lowered, as less it is, as closer I am to God. Thus, Jesus was completely right to declare that “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Not only right, but the distance adjustments happen automatically and accurately by the second.
Nonetheless, regarding earthly weddings, in an ideal situation people, when it is obvious that the parties are meant for each other, people feel and say that this match is made in Heaven. And the Bible is clear about that that marriage as an institution should be holy, when the image of God, which perfectly contains equally the spiritual essence of man and woman in the same time according to the Book of Genesis, was given to the first two people as half-half.
Where God is spiritual, God's image is spiritual, so the essence of the wedding is spiritual as well. The aim is that the two parties unite their halves to become one. As much as their united oneness is close to the oneness of God's own image, so holy the earthly marriage is. As much as their united oneness is far away from the oneness of God's own image so unholy might be the earthly marriage is. That is why the matching of the two souls are so important, because they are aiming the perfect matching in God's image, complimenting each other.
When it is initially obvious that the match was made in Heaven, this or that marriage was meant to happen, still the relationship may fall apart, because although God never changes, we change in every second. So the parties must perpetually work till death and beyond on keeping the harmony and the balance between the two in order to keep the two as one.
When it is obvious that the match initially is not that perfect, still the two in the relationship may come closer two each other by concerted effort, and like the diamonds get shape during the polishing process, in their union they may get also closer to the image of the Holy One. So the parties must perpetually work till death and beyond on building the harmony and the balance between the two in order to make and accept their united two as a real one, aiming holiness and bliss through marriage. The two must not compete each other, rather they have to compliment each other. That is why the two are completely equal to each other, as they are, or should be, or should step by step become soul mates.
Surprisingly this applies to any other relationships on Earth, like being a classmate, a co-worker, a fellow-citizen, a comrade in arms, a fellow-creature, by the natural law, given by God, we are all equals to each other. No one has the right to claim birthright or any other privileges over the others. No one has the right to tell an other human one what to do. Only God has the right to tell us what to do, how to behave, and what is the Moral Law for human beings. No one has the right to boss us around, because there is only one King on Earth, and that is God the Master of the Universe.
We are supposed to aim harmony and balance in any of our human correlations, not for the sake of the harmony itself, but for the sake of God’s image in us. Mysteriously, even through a friendship we are able to get closer to God’s oneness, if we do not compete but compliment each other. This applies to groups as well, that is why it is more than recommended to pray together in a congregation, with one heart and one soul.
There is no morally justifiable aristocracy on Earth, class societies are all immoral, inequality among people is inexcusable. Even meritocracy is unjust on Earth, because we are here not for collecting our skillfully earned rewards, but we are here to defend the weak, to feed the hungry, to help the helpless. Real meritocracy exists in Heaven only, where real humbleness earns the seat close to the throne. As our teacher, Jesus said that “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you, that must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” May our godly humbleness merit our call to join the Kingdom of Heaven, AMEN.
