Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, September 22, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."  (St. Luke 14:1 ff)

If you look at both the Epistle and the Gospel today, the emphasis seems to be focused on "humility" and "meekness."  In St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 4:1-6) we hear St. Paul encourage the Ephesians to walk "with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love."  In today's Gospel we hear this passage broken down into two parts, if you will.   The first half of the Gospel passage deals with Our Blessed Saviour being invited to the home of one of the Chief Pharisee's.  While there, Our Lord encountered a man with the Dropsy.  Now, Our Lord must have seen their faces and knew their hearts because He immediately asked the question who would leave an ox or an ass fallen into a pit and just leave them there.  He asks if it would be lawful for them to do this on a Sabbath or would it would better just to leave the beasts there to suffer.  St. Luke reminds us that nobody answered a word to this question.  Now, Our Lord was learned in Scripture and the reason He asked this question was because this very question was posed in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.  And the answer was that it would be permissible to rescue the ox or ass on the Sabbath.  Thus, Our Lord asked if it permissible to rescue animals in trouble on the Sabbath, then why is it not permissible to bring healing to a man who is suffering even if this healing is performed on the Sabbath.  And Our Lord promptly cured the man with the Dropsy.

Now the second half of this Gospel passage deals with priority and placement of importance.  Now, keep in mind we are certainly not different from other cultures in this regard.  If you go to a dinner at the White House, you will see the President has a certain place where he sits, the First Lady has a certain seat, the Vice-President, Guests of honour and so on.  Everybody has a certain place where they are seated and this place shows the importance of the guest.  Same way two thousand years ago.  People of importance had certain places where they would be seated.  Now Our Lord witnessed this and perhaps He saw people arguing over who was to sit where but for whatever reason He tells a story about a man who goes to a wedding feast and takes it upon himself to sit in the very highest seat of honour only to place himself in a very embarrassing situation when the host told him to move to a much lower seat.  Thus, Our Lord states:  " . . . sit not down in the highest place, lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden." (St. Luke 14:1 ff)  In other words, sit in the lowest place and then if it is meant that you are to go up higher to a more honourable seat, then you will not embarrass yourself.

Now, we know that Our Lord was a wonderful teacher and preacher.  We know this because of the various Gospel passages which showed that vast multitudes were drawn to hear Him speak.  One of the other reasons why Our Blessed Saviour was such a good speaker was that He would use parables and examples that would be easy for everyone to understand.  In other words, He would use parables that everyone would understand.  The other thing that made Our Lord such a wonderful preacher was the fact that He "talked the talk and walked the walk."  In other words, He did not stand up and preach one thing and then go out and do the opposite.  What you see is what you get.  So, when Our Lord spoke about humility and being humble, you know that He was first and foremost humble.

Look at when Our Lord wanted to teach the example of being humble to the Apostles.  He told them to gather around and He proceeded to wash their feet.  Now, keep in mind that washing the feet was the lowest, most menial job in that society.  In other words, the very lowest-ranked servant would have to do that job.  Thus, when Our Lord washed the feet of the Apostles, He was doing the lowest job imaginable in that society.  And when He was finished, we hear the following:  "When He had washed their feet and taken His garments, and resumed His place, He said to them: 'Do you know what I have done to you?  You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you."  (St. John 13:1 ff)

Our Lord, Who is the Teacher, the Lord, the Rabbi, the Master, the Saviour . . . . is also the Servant through His actions.  He came not to be served but rather to serve.  He backed up His words with actions, in other words.  He talked the talk and walked the walk.

Elsewhere, we hear Our Lord state that "whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.  Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His Life as a ransom for many."  (St. Matthew 20:27-28)   Our Lord had no need to do any of the things that He did here on earth.  He could have just stayed up in Heaven and leave it at that but He chose to become a human in order to know what it was like to walk in your shoes.  The other reason He wanted to become a human was so that He could redeem our humanity.  In other words, as a human being, Our Lord suffered death but in so doing, He was able to rise again to new life on the third day and allow fallen humanity to share in that Redemption!  Our Lord humbled Himself to take the place of a criminal up on that Blessed Cross.  In other words, He humbled Himself by taken our place on that Cross.

In response to hearing the Apostles arguing about who was the greatest, Our Blessed Saviour responded:  " . . . . but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.  For which is greater, he that sitteth at meat or him that serveth?  But I am among you that serveth."  (St. Luke 22:26-27)  Our Lord taught by not only the words He spoke but also the way in which He lived His life.  And as Christians we are called to do likewise: to serve and to love in humility.