Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21,30-31; Hebrews 12:18-19,22-24a; Luke 14:1,7-14
Ecclesiasticus, which was often called in Latin ‘Liber Ecclesiasticus’ (Church Book) or the Book of Sirach, is a book of guidelines and advice on how to live a good life that pleases God.
What does it mean to live a good life? We might be thinking of having a comfortable life, having a successful business and making money. If we then had more money than we actually needed, it would be easier for us to donate generously to those who are less fortunate.
We imaging a wealthy person proudly donating for a good cause. The person would receive the recognition we are all craving for. Is wealth really a sign of being loved by God? Will the beneficiaries of the donations love the wealthy person or rather the urgently needed donations?
The Book of Sirach reminds us that it is not about making money in a self-centred way and then donate to those who are left behind. It is important to focus on the journey while making money – ‘be gentle in carrying out your business’.
We are not in charge of life and death. We had no say in where and when we were born, nor did we decide on our race or ethnicity and many other circumstances in life.
If we are fortunate enough to feel privileged in life, we need to remember to stay down to earth. The more assets we have, the more powerful we are, the bigger our responsibility to use these privileges well, and never to forget that God will be judging us. We have received God’s Commandments – and seven of them address the way we behave in society, with one another.
Humility, the word that derives from ‘humus’, the earth, is what we are made of and to where we are going to return. When we remember this, we will be reminded of being humble.
The perfect example of a humble person is Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, who is even more special than the angels who brought the Torah to Moses, lived a truly human life. He was human in all things, but he was always humble – even to His death on the Cross. It is often said that He was ‘humilitated’ by this death, which would be a forced humility, but as Jesus was humble, we might rather extend the humiliation to His followers who had expected Jesus to be the strong saviour and victorious king coming on a powerful horse.
As it is said in the Letter to the Hebrews, God is the ultimate judge. Jesus is the living example of how God wants us to live. Even though Jesus is superior to all human beings, He gave up His position at God’s side and came to be sacrificed for all. The ultimate sacrifice. Jesus is more than a messenger of God. He is the mediator.
If we don’t give up and follow in Jesus’ footsteps, we might be placed with the spirits of the saints who were ‘made perfect’. This will be in God’s hands.
Jesus is the humble host who shows us how we should celebrate: the whole Church is invited and ‘everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven’. No discrimination, no hierarchies. This is the heavenly Jerusalem to which God invites us.
The theme of humility and celebrations carries on to the Gospel according to Luke. In the story, Jesus watches the leading Pharisees and realises that they had not understood the message of Ecclesiasticus and the call to humility. Rather than rebuking the hosts directly, Jesus tells a parable in which He warns the listeners that a lack of humility might lead to humiliation. Jesus confronts them with their own desire to be recognised and their fear of losing face.
This parable is one of the best-known parables of all as similar situations happen all the time.
Many cultures have head tables. No matter how important you are, it is not recommended that you sit down at the head table without being asked to come up.
It is a beautiful thought that this fear of being humiliated when being asked to move to a different seat could be one of the reasons why the first church pews are often empty. Somebody more important might come.
However, the humility is not only on the side of the guest, but also on the side of the host. If the host invites the powerful guests of honour to sit at their table, the host also gets attention and recognition and therefore shows no sign of humility.
It is through people whose presence don’t give status that the host shows humility. The marginalised are not able to pay back, neither with money nor with status.
The ‘repayment’ is not up to us. God will judge us by our lives and how we have been treating our neighbours. What we conceive as honour and prospect of repayment on earth is misleading, because if your good deeds are not paid back on earth, ‘you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again’.
BM
