June 20, 2010: “Somebodies and Nobodies”
Posted on : Jun 17th, 2010 | By office | Category: This Sunday's Service
But if you’re content to simply be yourself, you will become more than yourself.
~ Luke 14:11
It used to be if you asked kids what they wanted to be, they invariably said doctors, teachers, or lawyers. But these days the typical answer is: “I want to be famous.” A Pew Research Centre poll in 2007 found that 81 percent of 18 to 25 year-olds surveyed said getting rich was their generation’s most important or second-most important life goal; 51 percent said the same about being famous. This in itself is not news; we all know that we are living in a celebrity-obsessed society.
But why do we want fame and fortune? It may seem like a “stupid” question. You may even roll your eyes at me: Duh, Kobie, why do you think?
Why do I think? Well… I think we want fame, status, and fortune because we live in a world of somebodies and nobodies. Somebodies are valued, have power and enjoy relative security, while nobodies are deemed to have lesser value, often powerless, vulnerable to abuse and humiliation, and often find themselves to be invisible. And so we feel this intense need to try and prove ourselves to others or look outside ourselves for a sense accomplishment and personal worth. And so we yearn for fame and fortune so that we can blend in with the somebodies. This is of course nothing new – it’s how the world turns.
It’s how the world turned at a dinner Jesus attended. As Jesus sat back, he saw how everyone jostled for the best seat in the house – to be recognized as a somebody, to be valued. Pushing themselves forward in the effort to leave others behind. And so Jesus decides to tell a parable:
When someone invites you to a dinner (wedding) party, don’t go sit in the place of honor at the table. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the hosts. Then the hosts might come and call you out in front of everyone saying: ‘‘You’re sitting in the wrong spot. The place of honor belongs to this person.” Embarrassed, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.
What you should do is go and sit at the last place, way in the back. Then when you’re approached by the hosts, they may very well say, ‘My friend, come sit up closer.’ This will win you the esteem of the other quests. That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
These few sentences are not simply a piece of social advice of how to avoid social embarrassment at a party. Jesus was not a self-help guru dispensing good advice on how to get ahead in life: just act humbly. You see, the problem with a parable is that it is never what it seems to be on the surface. It’s not about accruing social acclaim and prestige, assimilating with the somebodies.
Rather, Jesus was in the business of identifying himself with the nobodies of this world. So he turns to the host and says:
The next time you throw a dinner party, don’t just invite your friends, family, colleagues, or wealthy neighbors. You know, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited; the poor, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, and the nobodies. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned at the resurrection of the just.
What is this all about, you may wonder by now?
We’ll discover it together on Sunday,
Kobie
Luke 14:1-14
One Sabbath, Jesus was invited for dinner at the house of one of the leading Experts on the Law. All eyes were on Jesus, watching his every move. Right in front of him there was a person with edema. So Jesus asked the religious scholars and experts in the Law present, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
But they kept silent. So Jesus laid his hands on the individual and healed the swelling, and sent the person away. Then he said to the guests, “Is one of you has a child – or even an animal – and it falls down a well, wouldn’t you rush to pull it out immediately, not thinking twice whether or not it was the Sabbath?” They were stumped. There was nothing they could say to that.
Noticing how each guest had tried to elbow into the place of honor around the table, Jesus went on to tell them a parable:
“When someone invites you to a dinner (wedding) party, don’t go sit in the place of honor at the table. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the hosts. Then the hosts might come and call you out in front of everyone saying: ‘You’re sitting in the wrong spot. The place of honor belongs to this person.’ Embarrassed, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.
What you should do is go and sit at the last place, way in the back. Then when you’re approached by the hosts, they may very well say, ‘My friend, come sit up closer.’ This will win you the esteem of the other quests. That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
Then Jesus turned to the host and said, “The next time you throw a dinner party, don’t just invite your friends, family, colleagues, or wealthy neighbors. You know, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited; the poor, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, and the nobodies. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned at the resurrection of the just.”