At first glance, today’s first reading and the Gospel from Luke appear to be lessons on humility, and we would not be wrong in believing that. But if we stopped there and only focused on how we should act with humility, we might miss an important insight into the mind of God.
Let’s start with our first reading, which sets the stage for today’s Gospel. It is from the Wisdom Of Ben Sira, better known to most Catholics as the Book of Sirach. Sirach contains numerous maxims, or sayings, that deal with a variety of subjects pertaining to individuals, the family, and the community in their relations with one another and with God. It addresses areas of friendship, education, poverty and wealth, laws, religious worship, and many other important matters which are still applicable to life today. Written around 175 BC, you won’t find it in most Protestant bibles and it, along with the book of Tobit, Maccabees and the other Deuterocanonical books, are important reasons to make sure you own a proper and complete Catholic bible. By the way, a good Catholic Study Bible is reasonably priced and makes for a great Christmas gift for any of your non-Catholic friends – or even your own children. (And since it is August, I know you are already shopping for Christmas.)
Getting back to Sirach, today’s first reading talks of the importance of humility, and the rewards for those who are truly humble – the love of others and the favor of God. It also offers good advice on how to practice humility, which leads us to Luke’s Gospel for today.
It begins with Jesus at dinner party hosted by a leading Pharisee. This is probably not just an intimate gathering of a few friends for drinks, since it alludes to the number of people seeking places of honor. And since Jesus wasn’t known to be buddy-buddy with any of the leading Pharisees (with the possible exception of Nicodemus), if he was invited then the odds were good that there would have been a lot of people there, if only see Jesus.
Now, this is the third time in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus dines with the Pharisees. The first time was with the Pharisee named Simon and it concluded with the pardoning of the sinful woman and Jesus directing a parable about mercy at Simon. The second time an unnamed Pharisee commented on how Jesus’ disciples did not wash before dining and he was subsequently chastised for emphasizing legalistic rituals without understanding them.
And now, Jesus cautions the Pharisee’s guests about the dangers of feeling self-important, and then he turns to the host and comments on his choice of dinner guests. You’d think people would learn about what would happen to them if they invited Jesus to dinner, wouldn’t you?
In any case, Jesus is there and it appears that a lot of people are there. He begins by observing how they are interacting with each other. On the surface, his comments appear to be just about humbling oneself by not seeking seats of honor. But there’s more to it than that, I believe.
Think about it. If we are invited to a party and there is no assigned seating, wouldn’t we look for a place to sit near our friends or at least someone we knew? Would that be wrong? After all, God created us to be social creatures with a sense of community – a desire to be part of something larger than ourselves. So, if it isn’t just an issue of taking the lowest place at the table (which would cause its own problem if EVERYONE tried to sit there), then what should determine where we choose to sit? After all, think about Mary and Martha – wouldn’t sitting at the feet of Jesus be considered a position of honor, and shouldn’t we want to be as close to Him as possible?
I think it is motivation, the “why” of what we choose. In his encounter with people, Jesus always looked for a person’s motivation. While his miracles had to do with a person’s faith or those around them, even that reflected the motivations of those involved. Ultimately, our motivations are more important to God than just action, although our actions often reflect our motivations. It’s our motivations that separate us from other creatures.
And that which motivates us should be tied directly to our faith in God.
What motivates us to act, to choose, as we do? I confess, I wonder if I’m like Jesus as I watch people come in for Mass. We laugh and joke about how at one time Jewish people would pay to have the seats of honor at the front of the synagogue but that Catholics would pay to sit in the back. And make no mistake about it, everyone here is invited to sit near the front. After all, wouldn’t it be better to sit at the feet of Jesus like Mary?
In any case, after commenting on the guests’ choice of seats, Jesus turns to the host and suggests that he should have invited those who could not return the favor. And that becomes particularly challenging to us. Are we willing to do that? For the braver ones among us, we might go and serve food at a soup kitchen or help with a holiday meal for the poor, but are we afraid to invite strangers into our home to share a meal with us? I confess I would find it particularly difficult.
Once again, it is our motivation which is important to God. Even if the Pharisee had invited the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind – that in and of itself might not have been a noble act in the eyes of God if his motivation was that others might see and compliment him of being a good person.
And that is the problem with society today – our motivation or mindset, the “why” we do something. We often do things because we like thank-you’s or other acknowledgments whenever we do something nice for someone. But if, as Jesus said, when giving alms we should not let the right hand know what the left hand is doing, then how many buildings or other monuments should be named “Anonymous”? I wonder – are the saints horrified when we name something after them? In fact there are not many examples of humility today – just look at the egos of many of those we publicly honor: those with wealth or power, sports figures, media celebrities, or even politicians. (Well, maybe not many of them.)
Merely being a humanist, one who is motivated to do good for others but doesn’t love God, often ends up like the person whom Jesus refers to in his Sermon on the Mount concerning prayer, fasting and almsgiving: “Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward” – (Mt 6:1-18).
In summary, the gospel offers us two points to ponder concerning humility today:
* Are we motivated by what we think of others? Or,
* Are we motivated by what others think of us?
Both have to do with our opinion of ourselves. If humility lies in knowing our proper relationship to others and to God, then we can only be humble if we place God first in our lives and follow His Will. It’s like when we say that St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) accomplished great things (which she did); in true humility she’d say God did great things and allowed her to be part of it.
True humility IS hard. But God is here to help us if we let Him. Mac Davis used to sing, “Lord, it’s hard to be humble / When you’re perfect in every way. / I can’t wait to look in the mirror / for I get better looking each day.”
Thank God I’m not perfect.
