Where our true value lies. August 28, 2022. The Rev. David M. Stoddart

 Luke 14:1, 7-14

We humans can be pretty goofy at times. There is something so obvious and so cringe-worthy about these guests all seeking to occupy the seats of honor at a wedding banquet. We can picture the scene, as they all jostle each other and try to grab the best spots at the table, the high-status places that will make them look good. But if it’s embarrassing to imagine, that might be because we can all probably relate to it. Human beings tend to be very status conscious. Sometimes it is obvious, as when people want to have the nicest clothes or the biggest house or the most expensive car or the most impressive title or the highest honor But even in less obvious ways we often want to have something that is better than what others have, something that makes us stand out somehow, that makes us feel special or important. Acquiring signs of status, in one form or another, is just built into our culture. And I’m not casting stones: it’s there in the church as well. Clergy wear these distinctive vestments and have these comically inflated titles: the Reverend, the Right Reverend, the Very Reverend, the Most Reverend, not to mention such honorifics as Your Eminence and Your Holiness. And Jesus sees right through all of this. The Gospel tells us that the Pharisees are watching him closely, but actually Jesus is the one who is doing the careful observing here. And what he sees are people scrambling to get outward signs that they matter — or at least that they matter more than others.

And, of course, this is not the only time Jesus deals with this. His own disciples argue among themselves about who is the greatest; James and John try to pull a fast one on everyone else by secretly asking Jesus to let them sit at his right hand and on his left when he comes into his kingdom. Add to that stories of Pharisees praying ostentatiously in their long robes and rich men refusing to surrender their wealth and privilege, and — well, you can see it’s a recurring issue in the Gospels.

Jesus addresses it directly today, but we shouldn’t hear his words in an overly pragmatic way. He is not offering a strategy here or a tactical plan to get ahead. The point is not for us to think: “Let’s see, if I position myself at the back of the line, then I will automatically be pushed to the front of the line, which is where I really want to be.” If that is our thinking, then I’m pretty sure we are missing the point of this passage. If we outwardly humble ourselves precisely so that we can be outwardly exalted, then the essential problem still remains: we crave some kind of validation or proof that we have value, and we believe we will get that by acquiring greater signs of status than others have.

Now, Jesus is not harsh in his observations: he doesn’t condemn these people. Nor does he disparage their desire to feel special or important. We all want to feel that we have value, we all want others to see value in us. Jesus doesn’t criticize that. But he insists that the way we so often try to feel a sense of self-worth will ultimately fail. Our value does not come and will not come from seats of honor, fancy titles, or expensive status symbols. If we are going to experience the fullness of life that God made us for, we will have to let go of our craving for such  superficial signs of value, and find our self-worth where it truly lies – in the One who creates us, the One Jesus teaches us to call Abba, “daddy.”

When my two children were born, I had an epiphany that countless other parents have had down through the ages: I love my kids with my whole being just because they exist. They don’t need to do anything or achieve anything to earn my love: they are precious to me simply because they are. I feel that way as an imperfect man and an imperfect father: it is stunning and life-changing to realize that God, the perfect lover, feels that way about each one of us. We are utterly precious just because we exist. We have infinite value because God loves us with an infinite and unconditional love.

Those are just words, but Jesus spends his entire earthly ministry trying to convey the reality behind those words. God really is our tender mother and our adoring father; every hair on our head is numbered; our value is beyond measure. Jesus teaches this, he demonstrates this, he dies to show us this. And right now his Spirit, praying within us in sighs too deep for words, is trying to tell us this. We devote so much time and energy grasping for frivolous signs of value when we already possess infinite value. The more that truth sinks in, the more that truth will set us free. I don’t know about you, but I want that freedom. I want to live and to love, I want to use my gifts to serve God and others in the way I’m called to do without worrying about whether doing so gives me status or somehow makes me special. Each one of us is already special. We are eternally secure in God’s love: imagine what it would be like if we lived completely filled with that assurance.

At the beginning of this service, we sang the hymn, “Love divine, all loves excelling.” It’s a beautiful hymn and has a great ending: “changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee lost in wonder, love, and praise.” That image of casting our crowns before God comes from the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation. It describes twenty-four elders around the throne of God who are so enraptured by God’s love and beauty that they couldn’t care less about crowns or any signs of status. They toss them aside as meaningless, as meaningless as grandiose titles or seats of honor. That powerful  image, like the entire New Testament, is an invitation for us to see where our true value lies. To recognize that what gives us infinite worth is simply the fact that we are God’s beloved children is an act of true humility, one that lets go of ego and vanity, and sets us free just to be. We are all heading to that place, but each day we can say yes to it. We can practice throwing aside our crowns or our need for crowns, and practice opening our hearts and minds to the love which God is pouring into us every moment. If we are just willing, the Holy Spirit will teach us how precious we already are.

In the Name of Jesus, so be it. Amen.