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The Readings.

Ecclesiasticus 10.12-18

The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord;
the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.
For the beginning of pride is sin,
and the one who clings to it pours out abominations.
Therefore the Lord brings upon them unheard-of calamities,
and destroys them completely.
The Lord overthrows the thrones of rulers,
and enthrones the lowly in their place.
The Lord plucks up the roots of the nations,
and plants the humble in their place.
The Lord lays waste the lands of the nations,
and destroys them to the foundations of the earth.
He removes some of them and destroys them,
and erases the memory of them from the earth.
Pride was not created for human beings,
or violent anger for those born of women.

Luke 14.1, 7-14

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.
When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

The Sermon
Prepared by David, Reader at St Mary's.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of Holy Spirit, Amen.

Many years ago, as a young person, then a teenager, I used to go to the theatre on a semi regular basis. I would normally be taken by my mother and we would go with a friend of mine from orchestra and her mother. It’s long enough ago that I’m not sure I can recall any of the plays we saw, though I expect they included some Shakespeare, mum having had a passion for English Literature. What has stuck in my mind was the inevitable discussion around who was going to pay for the interval drinks. There would be a bit of back and forth with phrases uttered such as “No, no, I’ll get these” Or “You got them last time”. Eventually the dance would conclude, and I could finally drink the lemonade I’d been waiting for. This dance would be repeated again on the next trip, I assume the other person ended up paying, though I confess to not keeping a record. Reciprocal hospitality was maintained.

This memory surfaced as I finished reading the passage. We might like to thing our society has changed vastly from the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day. In some ways it has, but perhaps not as much, or as permanently as we might like to think. Slavery is no longer legal or an accepted part of life, though it’s still present, often unnoticed, in places like nail bars, car washes or the garment industry.

We don’t normally deify the political leader in the way Roman Emperors were. Though this has happened occasionally in the last 2000 years, normally with terrible results. May Russia, North Korea and the United States of America take note.
Back to hospitality. The guests at the meal in our Gospel reading would have been invited with the expectation that they would reciprocate in turn and invite the hosts to a similar event. If you couldn’t do so you would be judged and loose perceived status and definitely not be invited to such a meal again.

Jesus turns this on its head. “Do not invite your friends, or brothers, or your relatives, or rich neighbours.” All people who will invite you back in return. But instead he says “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.” People who in Jesus’ day would have never been in the position to host a dinner party.

This should make us question our own motives for offering hospitality, as individuals, families and a community. Are we offering an open table to others, without thought to receiving in kind? Are we as church welcoming to all and not unconsciously excluding others? But also our motives for accepting hospitality. Do we seek to be upwardly socially mobile?

Questions to ponder.

Meals like the one described would often be held around a U shaped table, with the most important guests at the centre of the U, and the least important at either end. Jesus makes it clear that we should be humble, expressed in the parable as taking the lowest seats at the end of the table. Sometimes easier said than done, when modern society tells us to believe in ourselves. We can do anything. Not that there is anything wrong in believing in oneself. But it’s very easy to stray from confident self-belief where we are comfortable in the knowledge that God loves us and cares for us. When we do we can end up self-centred and egotistical.

The Church of England has a complicated relationship with this parable.

On the one hand in the last few years it has released a vision document for the church in the 2020s called “Simpler, Humbler, Bolder”. So one might expect it to be humbler in this decade than it perhaps has been. It has certainly been rightly humbled by repeated safeguarding failures.

Part of my last role at the Cathedral was preparing invites, guest lists and seating plans for various civic services. I did this with a copy of Debrett’s Correct Form close to hand. A fascinating book which includes, alongside correct forms of address, the order of precedence.
This is essentially a hierarchical list of all the most important people in the country which informs how people are seated at services, dinner parties and in what order they would enter and leave a function. The King is at the top, followed by certain members of the Royal family, next comes the Archbishop of Canterbury (vacant), the Lord Chancellor (currently Shabana Mahmood), the Archbishop of York, then the Prime Minister. When you’re so high up the list, its unsurprising that archbishops have sometimes forgotten the humbler part of simpler, humbler, bolder.

As you may know we’re looking for a new Archbishop of Canterbury at the moment. The process is probably nearing it’s conclusion. I would suggest that the next incumbent could do worse than choose todays reading for their installation.

The Prayers
Prepared by Kath.

God our Father, hear us when we pray to you in faith.

We give you thanks for the many wonderful gifts you have given us; our lives and the incredible world we live in. Help us to truly appreciate all that we have to look after our world for this generation and the generations to come.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Father, we pray for your church throughout the world and for those of other faiths who worship you. Now, more than ever, help us to seek ways to live together peaceably and respectfully in your name rather than clinging to what divides us. Help us to remember that we are all your children.
We pray for our Bishops, Pete and Leah, for the diocese of Sheffield and for our mission partnership churches of St Mark’s, St John’s and St Mary’s. We give thanks for all who give so generously of their time, talents and resources to make them the special, welcoming and nurturing places that they are.
We pray for those who are to be confirmed here Monday evening and for Alison as she is licensed to St Mary’s. We give thanks for her ministry among us and look forward to working and worshipping with her in the future.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We continue to pray for our very troubled and turbulent world in which already terrible situations get ever worse. We pray for all peoples who are caught up in and suffering because of wars, oppression and need. As so many of us feel helpless and powerless to end these situations, Father, guide us and especially our leaders to know what is right and strengthen the nations to work together for it, so that everyone can live in peace. Please be with all who are courageous in standing against tyranny and corruption and help us to value and defend the freedom and liberty we have rather than taking it for granted because it really is precious and we are in danger of losing it. Help us not to give in to the temptation of supposedly easy but deeply flawed courses of action.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for all who are ill and those who are nearing the end of their lives. May they receive the care, comfort and compassion they need. We pray for those who accompany them on their journey who also need our loving care and support.
In a moment of quiet let us call to mind anyone known to us who is in special need of our prayers at this time and let us also pray for ourselves and our own needs and concerns.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We remember all who have died, some recently and some long ago. We pray that they are at peace and that those who love and miss them will be comforted in their loss. We pray for the victims of the latest school shooting in the United States and for all those affected by it and we remember the journalists killed in Gaza while trying to rescue injured colleagues.
Again in a short time of quiet let us remember those special to us who are no longer with us.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Merciful Father,
accept these prayers,
for the sake of your Son,
our saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Common Worship: Times and Seasons, material from which is used here is copyright (c) 2010 The Archbishops' Council