WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

Whooooooh!! That’s a loaded question – a question that is more like a statement! An angry, confrontational and judgmental statement that says "You think you’re so good, but you’re not!"

Who do YOU think you are? Now that’s less antagonistic. It suggests that the person posing the question has made a judgment but is asking for the other person’s thoughts. Will they agree – or will confrontation and argument ensue?

Who do you think you are? Now there’s an invitation to discussion, to an exchange of ideas, to a mutual exploration.

Who do you think you are? That is the question Jesus poses in today’s gospel reading, and I believe that while, he may have been angry or disappointed in the behavior that prompts his telling of a parable, I believe he is inviting us to explore our sense of self, and our place in God’s world.

Let’s look at what Luke tells us, placing the story in context.

Last week we read that Jesus healed the bent woman on the Sabbath incurring the wrath, anger and indignation of the righteous Pharisees. Today, Jesus is invited to dine in the home of one of these Pharisees. That is interesting in itself. We usually read that Jesus spent his time with the outcast and downtrodden, the poor, the rejected of society. Here we learn that he also spends time with the religious elite. We need to be reminded of that. Jesus is available to all, not just the poor, the needy and the oppressed. We sometimes forget that, thinking that those in power and those of great influence in the world are somehow left out of God’s kingdom.

But, back to our story.

We are told that they are watching Jesus. That may be the reason behind the dinner invitation. Remember again that he has healed a woman on the Sabbath and they may be trying to build a case against him here, carefully watching his moves, to see if he will violate another of their many laws.

However, Jesus is also doing some watching. As the Pharisees carefully observe all that he does, he just as carefully watches them, and what he sees, he doesn’t like.

There are no place cards at this dinner and Jesus watches as the guests scramble for the best seats –the seats of honour nearest the host.

In his gentle way, Jesus teaches them with a story, a parable of a wedding banquet. He tells them that if they are invited to such a celebration, they should not seat themselves in a place on honour. What if someone more important arrives later and they are asked by their host to move to make room for this new guest? How humiliating for them! It would be better to take the lowest seat and wait. Perhaps the host will invite them forward to a more honoured place. That would be far superior to being asked in front of everyone to move down. He tells them quite bluntly that "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Then he turns to his host and tells him that when he holds a dinner, he should invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. These are not the people that a Pharisee would naturally think to invite into his home, but these are exactly the ones he should invite. Jesus says "Don’t invite your peers and friends who will just repay you with an invitation to their home. Invite those who cannot possible repay you." THAT is hospitality. Your repayment will come at "the resurrection of the righteous", not here and now.

Turn away from pride and be humble! That is what Jesus expects of us.

That may be the greatest challenge we face as Christians because we live in a world that emphasizes pride and discounts humility.

From birth, we are encouraged to succeed, to take pride in our accomplishments. We tell our children how proud we are of what they do. We encourage them to do more, to reach higher. We brag to our friends about how well the children or grandchildren do in sports or at school. No one brags about a child that is held back in school or who doesn’t make the all star team. We keep quiet about those things. They speak of failure and our society doesn’t tolerate failure.

Many of us have been glued to our TV sets for two weeks now watching the Olympics. And we have seen thousands of athletes exhibiting great pride in representing their country. They all want to win a gold medal. They seek the honour and recognition that comes with being the best in their field. No one wants to place fourth because that says you’re not quite good enough, that you have not succeeded.

A few athletes will speak of the honour of just being at the Olympics, no matter where they place, but even then there is often an undertone of "excuse making". We hear of injuries not quite healed, of illness, of lack of funding and support or of it just not being their day. As if one has to make excuses! Last week I heard an athlete who hadn’t made it into the finals of her sport, crying inconsolably, stating "It sucks not winning."

I wonder what Jesus would say to that.

So, I ask again: Who do you think you are? How do you define yourself? What things would you name in order to tell a stranger about yourself?

• Do you start with your family situation? - parent, grandparent, only child, twin, sister, etc.
• Your occupation or career? – farmer, teacher, carpenter, salesman, retired, domestic goddess?
• Educational level – high school graduate, honours university degree recipient.
• Would you speak of a special accomplishment? Winner of some award, Citizen of the Year, designer and builder of your own boat?
• Physical appearance? – would you say you are tall and beautiful, or handsome, trim and physically fit?

We choose to describe ourselves more by the positives than the negatives. We are more likely to say, "I’m a parent with three children and six grandchildren" than "My marriage failed and I don’t get along with the spouses of my children."

Who do you think you are?

Do you think too highly of yourself? The singer Marvin Gaye was quoted as saying, "I am good-looking, intelligent, articulate, arrogant and an artist."

There’s a t-shirt with the slogan "I am his because he deserves the best." on it.

Is that how you define yourself? Benjamin Franklin once said, "A man wrapped up in himself is the smallest package in the world."

Who do you think you are?

In his book, Come as You Are: Sermons on the Lord’s Supper, Alex Gondola tells a story of Charlemagne, the greatest Christian ruler of the early Middle Ages.

After the death of Charlemagne, a mighty funeral procession left his castle for the cathedral at Aix. When the royal casket arrived, with a lot of pomp and circumstance, it was met by the local bishop, who barred the cathedral door.

"Who comes?" the bishop asked, as was the custom.

"Charlemagne, Lord and King of the Holy Roman Empire", proclaimed the Emperor’s proud herald.

"Him I know not," the bishop replied. "Who comes?"

The herald, a bit shaken, replied, "Charles the Great, a good and honest man of the earth."

"Him, I know not," the bishop said again. "Who comes?"

The herald answered in desperation, "Charles, a lowly sinner, who begs the gift of Christ."

To which the bishop responded, "Enter!"

Who do you think you are? If we can reflect on that question with honesty, then we will find the humility that Jesus requires of us.

But humility is a strange thing. If we think we have it, we probably don’t, because then we begin to take pride in our humility and it is lost. To be humble and to cast aside pride, we must know who we are – and the answer is simple. We are the children of God, seeking to live as Christ taught us to live, and loved by God as God loves every single person – equally and without reserve.

I have talked this morning about the personal aspect of who we are. But there is another dimension to our existence. We have our corporate or national identity.

As citizens of Canada and members of the international community, how do we define ourselves?

Canadians take pride in our role as international peacekeepers, despite the slight tarnish of our image in recent years. We know also that, compared to most of the rest of the world, we are wealthy and privileged. We have come to assume a place of honour at the world’s table.

But Jesus tells us to take the lowest seat. That’s not easy for us to do. We cannot help that we were born in North America. We cannot help that we live in a country rich in natural resources, that our economy is stable, that there is always food to be had in abundance. The place and circumstances of our birth were not of our choosing, but we must agree that we are among the privileged of the world.

But that does not mean that we should be without hope, that we are excluded because of our privilege. Remember – Jesus is there for all.

We must do what Jesus tells the Pharisees hosting the dinner to do. As we sit in a place of privilege, we must invite to the table those who cannot repay us.

Our obligation is to share our wealth with those who have none, and there are a number of ways we can do this:

• Through educating ourselves about the world and learning about those in need. We can’t and must not ignore them. The more we know about them, the closer to us they will become.
• Through outreach and assistance programs. Many peoples in the world need our help. They need us to:
• Write letters of protest and/or support, whatever is called for in their situation.
• To speak publicly and call attention to their plight
• To support the agencies and organizations that are working with them to alleviate hunger, poverty, disease and homelessness. Our Mission and Service Fund is an easy and highly effective way to do this. Currently, in addition to its many ongoing projects, the United Church of Canada is responding to two international needs – Humanitarian Aid for Iraq and the Crisis in Darfur, Sudan – inviting to the taqble those who cannot repay us.
• One of the things we must do that often is left undone is to treat those in need of our help with respect, affording them the dignity that all people deserve. We must never reach "down" to people as if we are somehow superior to them; but rather extend a hand across or out to them, as one brother or sister to another, in love and in compassion.

Luke’s story of a dinner and the parable of the wedding banquet hold tremendous challenge for each and every one of us. It calls us to:

• Swallow the pride that comes so easily to us
• Be humble – but not to dwell on our humility or it will be a fleeting thing
• And finally, to reach out in love and fellowship to those in need without thought of recompense or reward.

I will leave you with the images found in an old Persian legend:

A man died and went to Paradise. He was shown two banquet rooms and invited to choose which one he wanted to spend eternity in. At first, he could see no difference, until the feast was laid and the guests took their places at the table. In one room, the guests all began to moan and weep because they had their eating utensils fastened to their arms in such a way that they could not bed their elbows to feed themselves. In the other room, the guests had their arms restricted in exactly the same way, but they went quickly to work feeding each other with great joy and warm friendship.

Said the host of the banquet, "This is the difference between Heaven and Hell!"

Amen