Whom Do We Invite?
Sermon by The Rev. Wallace Adams-Riley
Rector, St. Paul's Episcopal Church
August 29, 2010 - The 14th Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Text
Dear God, take my lips and speak through them;
Take our minds, and think through them;
Take our hearts, and set them on fire. Amen.
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There are a lot of questions; there's a lot to think about.
Who's invited? Who sits in the places of honor? Who takes the lowest places?
And, once everyone's seated, who might be asked to move? Who might be asked to move to a lower place? And who might be asked to move to a higher place, "Friend, move up higher."
Who will be humbled? Who will be exalted?
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Needless to say, this is not Jesus' take on early Emily Post.
He is, yes, present for a meal in this morning's Gospel reading, but the meal is only the jumping-off point. As is his wont, Jesus takes something from everyday life, something banal, does his parabolic magic, and offers us, not mere etiquette, but food for the soul. He offers us wisdom; wisdom for life. Wisdom that speaks, yes, to something as quotidian as how we would seat guests in our home, but wisdom that speaks, in truth, and more importantly, to the whole of life; wisdom that speaks to a way of living, a way of being.
Whom would we whom do we invite? Whom do we honor?
And whom do not invite? Whom do we not honor? Whom do we put in the lowest place?
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A document I came across several years ago has been lodged in my imagination ever since. Some of the details are lost to me now; but some things remain as clear as though I saw the document just yesterday. It was a petition from a large number of parishioners to the vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church (now Trinity Episcopal Cathedral), in Columbia, South Carolina, the church where I grew up, and the church that sent me to seminary.
Again, some of the details are lost to me now. (Even in the last few months, I have tried to get a copy of the petition but haven't as yet been able to do so.) I can't remember exactly what year it was. Perhaps it was 1954. Or maybe it was later in the ‘50s, or maybe the early ‘60s. Nevertheless, it was somewhere in that time frame. And, while I can't remember precisely what the presenting issue was, what the specific complaint was, the point of the petition was perfectly clear: the signatories did not want African-Americans to be full and fully-empowered members of the Church.
The memory of seeing the petition would have stayed with me, regardless; however, what ensured that I could never forget this glimpse into my church's past was when I realized that it was also a glimpse into my family's past.
As I read down the list of signatories, I recognized the family name if not the individual name of virtually every person. And then I saw there the names of, not just two of my grandparents, but all four of my grandparents.
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In that day, in America, it was the African American who was given the lowest place.
Who is it now?
And who gets the place of honor?
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Columnist Frank Rich recently wrote of "the latest minority groups to enter the pantheon of American scapegoats, Hispanic immigrants and Muslims."
Hispanic immigrants and Muslims.
The latest minority groups to enter the pantheon of American scapegoats.
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Of course many different groups have taken their turn as members of that pantheon. We can all name examples, from this or that era, from this or that region of the country: this or that group who have been given the lowest seats; those who have been, to their generation: the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. Those who have not been honored; those who have been dishonored, humbled. Those who have been overlooked; literally, looked over, looked past, as though they didn't exist.
Those who have been excluded and put down. Given the lowest seats.
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And, for us, as members of this American nation, yes, but, more to the point, for us, in our very own lives: who will we honor? As our Baptismal Covenant asks, whose dignity do we respect? And, in the words of Jesus' parable, to whom will we say, "Friend, move up higher"?
Friend, move up higher.
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We are all well aware of current tensions in our country around what place people of the Islamic faith have in the United States of America. And we are likely aware how those tensions have heightened in recent days, as debate about plans for an Islamic Center in New York City has, at turns, become unsettling, and disturbing.
Whatever we think of the plans for the Cordoba Islamic Center in New York City, as followers of Jesus, there is something happening in America now that we cannot ignore.
As Imad Damaj, of the Virginia Muslim Coalition, wrote this week,
While we may not all agree on the issue [of what should be done with the Islamic Center in New York City], I am confident that none of us accept the current level of negativity, bigotry and division in our nation. Anti-Islamic rhetoric appears to be increasing tremendously. [It is even worse] now than it was after September 11, 2001.
And, so, we must ask ourselves, as followers of Jesus: What place will we give our Muslim brothers and sisters in the United States of America? What place will we give them at the table? Will we respect their dignity, their worth, as children of the one God?
Will we say to them, "Friend, move up higher"?
For, truth is, what we say to them, how, or whether, we welcome them, how we welcome the Muslim, the Latino, the "other" in our midst, the most vulnerable of God's children among us, whether we show them the lowest places, or the places of honor is as true a test as any of what kind of people we are, as true a measure as any of just how much our lives are like the life of Jesus.
Will we say, with our Lord, "Friends, move up higher"?
