The Cheap Seats

1 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.

7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9 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. 10 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 honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 12 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 neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:1, 7-14

You took your place in the cheap seats,
far from the host, near the neglected.
You saw past the witty games,
the insecurities and vanity,
our anxious attempts to outshine our sisters and brothers.
You, instead, saw that which shines eternal in value,
and it humbled you
to follow such a lonely vision,
to recline among the lost, the poor, to rest your head on the shoulders of the forgotten,
and with those who could never pay back the treasures of your compassion.

After the meal you rose from the table
and traveled down the road to Golgotha
and humbled yourself further,
this time taking your seat of suffering
between two sinners on a cross.
And you embraced the shame of every person,
this dirty business we speak to ourselves
in the privacy of our hearts.
You embraced it all in a sacrifice of liberation.
And because of this sacrifice,
you were exulted way up
to be seated at the right hand of God.
You call us now not from the present,
but from the future,
arms stretched in magnanimous invitation,
bidding us to take our seat
next to you at the heavenly banquet
and beside those blessed patrons you welcomed long ago.