The Place Of Being Beyond Place

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.’

This is a gospel that, sadly, has often been reduced to ‘doormat theology’. In other words, God is only pleased when you put yourself last, never assert yourself, always think of other people’s needs and never your own. “Blessed are those who let other people walk all over them.” And don’t you ever think too highly of your own gifts. Many people struggle often with the challenge of how to be a servant without being a slave. There are those who choose the lowest place because they don’t feel they deserve anything else or they are fearful that God will judge them to be lacking in humility and holiness if they even come close to appreciating themselves. Once having placed themselves in a lowly position and becoming accustomed to being last and not first, serving but not being served, giving but not demanding or receiving, they find themselves unable to accept any other position. Even if honor were offered it would likely be refused. It’s too risky.  God might be displeased.

Consciously placing oneself in the lowest place is often perceived as the ultimate way of kingdom spirituality. If that were so, Jesus would have come to earth as a lowly carpenter, died on the cross, gone to the grave  - and he would have refused to be resurrected.

“No, thanks. I’ll just stay here in the dark loneliness of death. Don’t worry about me. I’m O.K.” 

In the gospel, Jesus is not saying the lowest place is the best place. He’s not saying the place of honor is a place bereft of holiness and goodness. He’s simply saying, “The kingdom of God is not defined by position. It is defined by Love. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that being honored means you’re of greater value than others to the community and the Kingdom.” Being honored by others does not define our relationship to God or indicate spiritual worth but neither does being in the lowest place give anyone a free pass into God’s affections and approval. Humility is not a state of believing yourself to be less deserving than anyone else. Humility is knowing and accepting the whole truth about who you are and by doing so, finding the freedom to serve in love without worrying about where you are or what you are. 

Certainly, you are a person with faults, failings, weaknesses and little ugly spots but if that is all you see then you have not accepted the whole truth about yourself. Conversely, you may be an extremely gifted person in a multitude of areas with a talent for doing an incredible job no matter what task you undertake but if that is all you see then you have not accepted the whole truth about yourself. The truth about each one of us is that we are broken vessels and the truth about each one of us is that we are outrageously beautiful works of art created by an awesome God. Each one of us is worthy only of the lowest place and each of us is worthy of the highest honor that comes from being a baptized child of the Father, a sister or brother of the Holy One of God and a vessel of his mighty Spirit. 

So, what do we do? What are we called to believe about ourselves? How do we walk humbly? Well, think of Christ, the purest example of humility there is. He became a poor carpenter’s son in a backwater town but he allowed a woman to anoint him with the finest of oils. He dined with sinners, pub owners, prostitutes and tax collectors but he also attended banquets in the homes of the rich and well to do.  He died as a criminal but was resurrected into awesome glory.  Did he define himself as worthy or unworthy? Did he act as a nothing slave or was he full of his own importance, lording his position over people? Did he allow people to walk all over him or did he demand full respect and become miffed when he didn't get it? 

None of the above. 

The fact is, Jesus simply knew exactly who he was to the Father and he loved and served out of the fullness of that knowledge. He didn’t serve out of a need for others to see him in a certain light and appreciate him. There was no inner pressure on him to choose the lowest place or the highest place. He didn’t need to be perceived as lowly nor did he need the respect of others. If he was given the lowest place, fine. If he was taken to the place of honor, that was fine too. It didn’t matter. He could minister to his people no matter where he was. Jesus was beyond place and position. Those weren’t the things that defined him and they weren’t the things that facilitated his ministry. What defined him was that he was the Beloved of God and what gave him the power to minister was Love. He knew the Father loved him and that’s all he needed to be who he was and to do what he was called to do.

You, too, are loved by the Father. If you can fully accept that and enter into the joy of that then you won’t be particularly concerned one way or the other whether you are high, low or in between. When you walk in true humility, in the truth of yourself or within True Self, there will be times when you will find yourself serving in places that are lower than low and there will be times when you will be the guest of honor at the banquet table and your gifts and abilities will shine for all to see. Whatever. As long as you know in your heart how much the Father loves you, it will not matter in the least where you find yourself. 

Be humble…be loved. And go from there.