"Season’s Tickets for Everyone" - Luke 14:7-14 - August 30, 1998

My daughter is a recent graduate from Ohio State University and she is excited about the up coming football season. They are rated number one in the polls and she has tickets to the OSU-Penn State game. Chances are her seats won’t be on the fifty yard line. Most likely they will be in the south bleachers behind the score board. She doesn’t care, just being there will mean everything to her. At least she has a seat for one of the "big" games.

There are over 90,000 seats in the OSU stadium. Of course only a select few are fortunate to have season tickets. And even fewer are lucky enough to have the best seats on the fifty yard line. Many fans have to o settle for standing room only. The majority of fans however, have no choice but to watch the games on television. They have no seat at all.

Today’s story is about seating arrangements. The Pharisees believed they deserved the best seats in the house. They were in the upper echelon of society. Their prominence had earned them the right to sit in "places of honor." Jesus confronts their need for the best seats by suggesting they give those seats to the less fortunate and sit in the lowest seats available.

He says this because in the kingdom of God things are reversed. Those who really think they are something are nothing. And those who we think to be unimportant in life end up in a position of high regard. In other words, you may not be fortunate to have season tickets on earth but in heaven those who are used to standing room only are the season ticket holders.

On earth we are constantly vying for position and privilege. Not only do we want the best seats, we enjoy popularity, status and the best possible benefits we can obtain. About three years ago, a friend and I went to a Cincinnati Reds game. We had tickets in the red seats which are high in the stadium. The Reds weren’t having a great season and many of the seats in the blue section were empty. After a few innings we moved closer to the field and occupied the empty seats. What a great feeling! We had managed to sit in better seats at a cheaper price. I felt as though I should thank someone who chose not to come to the ballpark that day. I wondered why they were absent. Was it because of some family emergency or because the Reds were having a bad season? I looked back over my shoulder and saw many people still sitting in the red seats behind us. "Why don’t they move down too," I said to my friend. My friend replied, "they probably think they will be arrested or don’t know they can."

Isn’t it sad to think that we live in a society where people believe they are stuck in certain seats or positions? Some are intimidated by people who think they are special because they can afford better seats. Some are oppressed, kept in their place because of traditions and beliefs. Women have made some strides in equality but there is still much to be done.

It has been my experience that many pecking orders are not what they seem. I had an experience in Israel l2 years ago that helped me see who is really in charge. I observed a bar mitzvah one day that was taking place at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. The Rabbi was there, all decked out in his finest wardrobe. Another religious man was holding the torah. All the men were dressed in black, wearing their skull caps. At the wailing wall there is a fence which divides the men from the woman. The bar mitzvah was located right next to the fence. On the other side of the fence was a woman giving directions, making motions with her hands, obviously in charge of the event. She appeared to be the boys mother or grandmother. It was obvious to me that she was definitely in charge. The Rabbi may have appeared to be the one officiating the ceremony but there was no doubt who was really making it happen.

How do we see the other people in our lives? Is our family like the season ticket holders where certain individuals always have guaranteed seats? Do we think of others inferior to ourselves? Are we willing to give up our place so others can have the same privileges we do?

A colleague of mine in England says this story is about pride. The proud are those who believe that the only way to save their egos is to have the best seats that are possible. The proud are those who wouldn’t think of giving up their seat to some lowly person for fear it might hurt their reputation. The problem with pride presents us from seeing what is real.

I was asked to come to the high school last Wednesday to assist students who were grieving over the death of a student that was killed in a car accident on his way to school. He was a very popular young man, a member of the golf team. I was listening to the students as they talked about their friend who had died. One of them asked a member of the golf team what position he had. Was he first, second, third or what? The youth responded, "he was just one of us."

We are conditioned to think about our place in life. We have a need to know who is number one, where we live, what family we are from or what groups we belong to. This feeds our egos and makes us proud. Now that these youth must deal with the death of their friend, whether a person is number one or two means nothing. They are all equal. Pride prevents us from seeing people we consider of less importance as important to God. Pride keeps the kingdom of God at a distance.

You don’t have to be "somebody" to be in the kingdom of God. Knowing the "right" people or having the need to be seen with them is not important. What is important is to live by the phrase, "For every one who exalts himself (herself) will be humbled, and he (she) who humbles himself (herself) will be exalted."

Like many of you I have been following the home run leaders since the record of Roger Marris will likely be broken this year. There is a lot of hype about Mark McGuire who is on pace to set a new record. Of course he has tried hard to reject the attention but our culture won’t let that happen. We want heroes, we want to know who is the best, who is number one. It is no different from the people of Jesus’ day who were opting for the best seats at the dinner table.

There is another baseball player who has been overshadowed by McGuire’s prominence. That is Sammy Sosa, who plays for the Chicago Cubs. He is also close to breaking the record but doesn’t seem to get the same attention as "Big Mac." Sammy just smiles when people ask about his chances to beat the record. He just wants to play baseball. Sammy is from the Dominican Republic. His dad died when he was 7. He lived with his mother, four brothers and two sisters in a two room apartment in San Pedro de Macoris. His first baseball glove was a flattened milk carton. When he reached the pros his first contract was a mire $3,500. He gave most of the money to his mom, keeping just enough to buy a bicycle.

Sammy Sosa is doing much better, l3 years later. But, he doesn’t forget those who have helped him in the past. His agent was a Dominican businessman that Sammy used to shine shoes for. In his hometown he has provided for the digging of wells, given 250 computers and built a shopping mall. He gives at least one million dollars a year to charity. When outfielder, Dimitri Young, picked up Sammy’s most recent home run ball to give it to Sammy, he replied, "I don’t save things like that. I never have. Just like when I was growing up. I didn’t know this star ballplayer or that one. I was always working and never really watched."

"For every one who exalts himself (herself) will be humbled, and he (she) who humbles himself (herself) will be exalted."

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio