The comedian Jeff Foxworthy became famous with his routine, “You might be a redneck if….
Here are a few: You might be a redneck if you took a fishing pole to Sea World.
You might be a redneck if your dad walks you to school because you’re both in the same grade.
You might be a redneck if you think the last words to the Star Spangled Banner are: “Gentlemen, Start your engines!”
Likewise, you might be a Pharisee if you spend more time talking about the sins of others than you do in repenting of your own sins. Borrowed from Alan Perkins
The Pharisees were not known for their humility. Our Lord Jesus had an interesting relationship with the Pharisees, to say the least. They were the most religious people of their day, earnestly trying to live the very best life possible. They seemed to be present in every crowd that came to hear Jesus preach and teach, and, at least in the beginning, that must have been because they sensed something special about him. He often preached against them, calling them hypocrites; but as religious people, they may not always have taken offense at this, for a truly religious, moral person knows how far short he or she falls from the mark. St. Paul, at one time a Pharisee himself, said of himself, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Even today we expect a preacher to point out our flaws; Jesus certainly did this with the Pharisees.
But they kept coming back to hear him. They invited him to eat with them in their homes. And at one point some Pharisees actually came to Jesus in order to save his life. They warned him to get away because Herod wanted to kill him.
For all their religiosity, however, the Pharisees never got the point. They thought the purpose of their faith was to earn God’s favor. That understanding was diametrically opposed to everything Jesus taught and, ultimately, to the purpose of his life. They could never understand why Jesus could associate with tax collectors and other notorious sinners, but, as St. Paul said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
He did other things that irritated them as well. Their attitude was, “Here is this religious leader who does not observe all of the rules regarding the Sabbath, and neither do his disciples.” Jesus made it clear that he and his disciples never broke the Sabbath. In fact, he taught that he actually kept the Sabbath in its fullness by the things he chose to do on that day.
We don’t know exactly when Jesus’ relationship with the Pharisees began to sour, but sour it did. It was most likely a gradual process and we see seeds of it in today’s Gospel. Jesus was dining in the home of a prominent Pharisee, and St. Luke tells us “they were watching him.” Our translation doesn’t do justice to the Greek original. The Greek word Luke uses is παρατηρούμενοι, which means to observe scrupulously. They were watching him intently. Since it was the Sabbath, they probably wanted to catch him doing something against one of the many man-made rules of the Sabbath.
But Jesus was watching them as well! He saw them positioning themselves, choosing places of honor, places that would reveal or enhance their status in the community. So he told them the parable of the Marriage Feast which we heard in today’s Gospel. Jesus concluded with an eternal truth: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Talk about making people uncomfortable in a social setting. Jesus wasn’t teaching rocket science here. He was reminding biblical scholars of their own teachings. Ecclesiastes teaches, “The beginning of pride is sin.” Proverbs states, “Before honor is humility.”
What is the humility to which Jesus refers? Our English word comes from the Latin “humus,” of the earth. To be humble is to know one’s place in the order of things, and to live accordingly. What happens when we exalt ourselves is that we get things out of proportion. God is intended to be at the center of our lives and when we exalt ourselves we basically put ourselves in the center, with everyone else, including God, on the periphery. In that scenario, our spouses are there to serve our needs; likewise our parents, our children, our co-workers, our friends, even God, are there to serve our needs. When that happens, nothing turns out right. True humility is understanding that God is in the center and we are on the periphery.
Before Copernicus discovered that the earth revolved around the sun, it was believed that the earth was at the center of the universe and that the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars all revolved around the earth. That wasn’t reality, with the exception of the moon, and so all of the astronomy of that pre-Copernican thought was really convoluted and confusing, because it was all based on a model that was totally wrong. When Copernicus discovered that the sun was at the center of our planetary system and that the earth and all of the other planets revolved around the sun, suddenly everything began to make sense, because it was based on the truth.
In our sinful nature, our tendency is to live with ourselves in the center. The life of faith is one of discovering, little by little, by the grace of God, that things only go right when God is in the center. Salvation amounts to each of us undergoing a kind of personal Copernican Revolution.
Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator, was an outstanding example of humility. Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town when he was stopped by a wealthy white woman. Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her.
Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to do the humble chore she had requested. When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace. A little girl recognized him and later revealed his identity to the lady of the house.
The next morning the embarrassed woman went to see Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and apologized profusely.
‘It’s perfectly all right, Madam,’ he replied. ‘Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it’s always a delight to do something for a friend.’
She shook his hand warmly and assured him that his meek and gracious attitude had endeared him and his work to her heart. Not long afterward she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join her in donating thousands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute.” Anecdote taken from Synthesis, Sept. 1, 2013)
Booker T. Washington had internalized the truth that Jesus taught us about humility. He knew how to humble himself, and in the process he experienced being exalted. Contrast Booker T. Washington with the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, jockeying to get the first places at a dinner party. Washington’s way is the more compelling way to live, for it places God in the center of life, and it follows Jesus own example.
“Have this mind among yourselves , which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11
Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
The 15th Sunday after Pentecost
1 September 2013