Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (23 Sept. 2018)

No Honor Among Humans

Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?  Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another's secret, lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.  Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.  Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.  Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.  Proverbs 25:6-14

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us."  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury, saying, "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill."  I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you.  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.  You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."  Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.  Psalm 2

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  Ephesians 4:1-6

One Sabbath, when He went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching Him carefully.  And behold, there was a man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?"  But they remained silent. Then He took him and healed him and sent him away.  And He said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?"  And they could not reply to these things.  Now He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  Luke 14:1-11

It seems, in spite of Western Societies infatuation with Eastern culture and philosophy-religions, the idea of "honor" is still belittled.

"Honor" in the West is something to be gained.  We work to be honored.  We revel in it.  Simply watch any of the award shows.  Or visit any "hall of fame," or even a museum dedicated to a specific person.  There is an extremely fine line between holding up someone's live and accomplishments are worthy of note and with self-gratifying worship.  Actors, musicians, and athletes make stupidly long and wordy speeches to all the people they want to "thank," when all they are doing is say "look at all these people who made me great, and I am great, aren't I?"  Politicians, journalists, professors, they all do it too.

In the East, "honor" is something deserved.  It is a showing of subservience.  Someone has earned honor by their actions or sayings, and that honor is untouchable.  And if that honor is belittled, it must be regained by a show of force.  This is seen most harshly in eras of Japanese and Chinese culture, where a perceived "dishonoring" leads to feuds that would rival the Hatfields and McCoys in violence, death, and stupidity.  And the smallest, most insignificant thing, is considered "dishonorable."

In the West, honor is sought for the culture's ultimate idol: ourself.  In the East, honor is to be given to that culture's ultimate idol: honor.

Either way, it is a worship of self.

St. Paul, the Psalmist, the Teacher, and the Word Himself all teach contrary to that foolish notion.  The "slant" each has is a little different, though three of them have parallel.

St. Paul is the one who focuses on himself.  Not because he's seeking to be honored, but to point out that the whole body of Christ is not to seek after honor, which can only be gained at the expense of others.  Rather, we are to be humble, since honor is only for God.

Through the Psalmist and the Teacher, we learn that those who are of the world seek to gain honor at the expense of God, if that were even possible.  But in human arrogance, we seek to put aside those "silly superstitions" that hold us back from our ability to be the best we can be.  And if we can become the "best we can be," then we will be honored for achieving what no one else could.  The wisdom found in the Old Testament shows this to be folly.

Christ puts this lesson to practical use, leveling the charges of "false honor" against the "rockstars" of the day: the religious leaders.  They no longer think about what will honor God, but what will gain them recognition and temporary honor.  People seek to rank themselves based on what they can see, not realizing that the criteria for true honor cannot be seen.

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  The ultimate example of this is the cross.  The Only Begotten Son of the Almighty God chose to be born of a virgin, live under one of the most strict applications of the Law and morality, worked as a mere servant to all He encountered, was wrongfully accused of any infraction, was beaten and tortured, executed in the most embarrassing and painful way possible, and buried as a nameless criminal far from His family.

Christ willingly humiliated Himself.  And that does not mean "humiliate" as in embarrassed, but in being brought to a status far beneath Himself.  This is God.  Yet He was born in the same fashion as any other human in all of history.  Every trouble, struggle, frustration, temptation, misfortune, and annoyance that humans can experience He experienced.  He even died due to orchestrated injustice.

There was no honor in that.  At least, no honor according to those who craved honor.  Boy, were they wrong.

Christ's exaltation began with His death.  He was honored by the Father, which is first spoken during His ministry at the Baptism, but it spoken of clearly throughout all of history.  Christians continue to show honor, sometimes called reverence, to Him in our worship and lives.  We seek to live an "honorable" life to show that we believe that Christ did not die in vain, but that He is God and worthy of being followed and trusted.

For us, temporally, that means when we humble ourselves and seek to follow the teaching St. Paul clearly states, we will be honored by our Father in heaven.  But it will not be honor we had earned, but the honor of Christ granted to us, covering us and our shameful lives.

Without this honor, won by Christ on the cross and not earned by us, we are not worthy to take a place at the wedding banquet when the Lamb returns.