When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not recline at table in the place of honor.
Jesus told them they ought not to think more highly of themselves than they deserved. The reason was that if they chose their own seating based on this self-assessment they were likely to be wrong. Eventually such a wrong judgment would be revealed, and learning of it would be all the more painful for having previously cherished and celebrated it, even then it turned out to be fiction.
Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
'My friend, move up to a higher position.'
It was safer to err in the other direction, to be willing to occupy the lowest place. Then, if it turned out one was meant for a higher position, it would be a pleasant revelation, and honor among one's companions rather than shame. Taking the lowest place did not, however, necessarily correlate with having the lowest self-worth. Rather, it came from a lack of preoccupation with how one appeared in the eyes of others. Those who sought to appear among their friends in the highest places did so to cover hidden insecurities. Those content with the lowest place were so because they had nothing to prove. The ultimate reward at the end, given by the host, and regarded with esteem by one's companions, was on the basis of authenticity, integrity, and goodness of character, unlike the one some others sought at the beginning, which was about appearance. By choosing not to seek the appearance of position one was free to act in a way deserving of true honor. It was an honor that could not be sought for its own sake, nor found by seeking honor itself. It was rather the reward of true virtue, possible only for those not preoccupied with self-image.
When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Jesus was not saying that we must never enjoy a nice meal with our friends and family. But he was suggesting that we not limit ourselves only to fellowshipping with those whose company we enjoy, much less those who can benefit us in some way. In addition to such harmless festivities he called us also to reach out to those who could not directly benefit us, the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. To this we think, 'I'll help them with money, sure. But I won't invite them to dinner'. But part of the point might be that money can only help so much if we maintain such rigid barriers between us and them. We may do much for the poor with our resources, and this may in fact be the most important thing to help them. But if we are unwilling to accept them as potential friends and part of the human family money can only go so far. It could in fact backfire if what they come to possess is only wealth together with alienation. The only way such barriers can come down is if we learn to reach out without insisting on a reward. We should consider that at the banquet that will follow the resurrection of the righteous we will count ourselves blessed to sit near these presently unfortunate people. We need to open our hearts to that now, not later.
No, you have approached Mount Zion
and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering,
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven
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