In speaking with several of my friends, I have determined that there is something of a new epidemic affecting this country. The victims are both male and female, though the onset of symptoms is more dramatic in males. Symptoms include costly bathroom renovations, a preoccupation with slipcovers, and the belief that islands and peninsulas belong in the kitchen and not on the map. Males also frequently report with power tool-related injuries. The potential risk factors of this epidemic include being married, having cable TV, and having just enough free time to get yourself into trouble. This epidemic is watching the cable channel Home & Garden TV, otherwise known as HGTV. Somehow, within a short while of getting married, Andrea and I, as well as several of our friends, have fallen victim.

            In particular, Andrea and I tend to watch one show on the network, a show called “House Hunters.” Each episode features a person or family deciding what house to buy. Three options are presented during the show, and the end of the show reveals which house they chose. Nearly every episode, we are amazed by the amount of money people are willing to spend on their houses and by their laundry list of demands. I don’t know how all this changed since 1984, but apparently bathrooms now must have two sinks instead of one and there are no kitchen countertops besides granite countertops. Andrea and I aren’t sure why we watch the show, but it does remind us how important social status is to people. We live in a culture that is fixated on how each of us looks compared to the next guy, on social rank and appearances.

            Now, while they didn’t have stainless steel kitchen appliances in biblical times, they did have a similar obsession with social status. Actually, the audience Jesus is addressing in today’s gospel reading from Luke is even more obsessed with it than we are. Much of Palestine was under the control of the Roman Empire, a society which revolved around social position to the extent that an entire system of interactions was developed to make use of it for individual gain. In this system, the socially elite would grant favors, positions of honor, and money to people of lower social status in exchange for their help, which generally consisted of publicly praising the elite person, spreading rumors about his enemies, doing odd jobs, and publicly supporting the elite person in debates. The lower status people could gain status and prestige from their boss, but the system ultimately favored the bosses, who often accumulated great honor and reputation in the community thanks to their underlings.

            This is the backdrop for Jesus’ words here in the 14th chapter of Luke, so what sounds at first like small potatoes to us in the 21st century is actually a daring rejection of the prevailing culture in the 1st century. Jesus is addressing the subject of banquet behavior because he is attending and teaching at one, but his message resonates far beyond the dining hall. Clearly, no one (then or now) craves public humiliation, and such humiliation could be very destructive to one’s lifestyle in that culture. But, at the same time, people don’t want to risk going against the system by turning a blind eye to the social structure as Jesus suggests and always taking the lowest position. That would be like the people on “House Hunters” enduring foreclosure on their dream house and downsizing to a place with small bedrooms, dingy, old appliances, and--gasp--linoleum floors. Either way, it’s not a very palatable proposition for people concerned about their social status.

            Now, just as Jesus’ words had broad-ranging implications for his original audience, they are also important for the church today. For centuries, the church has enjoyed a high level of social status. Through the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church was an incredibly powerful political force all across Europe, exercising control over even the strongest monarchs. In the mid-1800s, the church exercised great influence on popular culture in this country through efforts like the temperance movement and Christian-founded organizations like the YMCA and YWCA. As little as 50 years ago, the church was in the midst of a sort of “golden age” in the United States. Even this congregation has enjoyed a special status through more than 275 years in the center of York City.

            But now it appears that the church’s social esteem is diminishing. A generation or two removed from the people who considered the church as the holder of answers to life’s biggest questions, people are increasingly skeptical and seem to continually find the church less and less important and relevant. And here at Christ Church, dramatic shifts in demographics over the last several decades have pushed our center city location toward the margins of society. What was once a bustling downtown area has become the epitome of urban America’s struggle to stay afloat, and it’s challenging for us to get used to our new seat at the social banquet. We aren’t angry like Jesus’ audience or that couple on “House Hunters” who found out their new place has one bathroom sink instead of two, but we are a little wary about what it means to move from the middle to the margins.

            While Jesus’ audience was caught up in what they were losing by shifting out to the edges of the social system, though, Jesus makes sure to emphasize in both of the illustrations from this morning’s gospel text that there is much to gain from the change. They may not gain social status or wealth by following his advice, but Jesus suggests that they will be enriched by new and different relationships. In his teaching about being a good guest, the host of the event notices the person taking the lower place and invites him to sit at the host’s own table. Once there, the people at the table appreciate him and honor his presence.

            Similarly, in his teaching about being a good host, the end result is the host coming into contact with people he wouldn’t have expected. By eschewing all concern for the social status of the people he invites, the hypothetical host is free to be present to them, to really interact with them. He will not choose who to make friends with based on who can pay him back or who can help him make more influential friends that will propel him up the social totem pole. No, he will form relationships with the people who are there, regardless of who’s got a fantastic master suite at home or who’s living on a park bench. The host will indeed be blessed in all these encounters because he sees people simply as people and takes time to appreciate the company with which God has blessed him.

            And so, Jesus’ illustrations in the 14th chapter of Luke also speak to the church today. In the midst of declining membership numbers, strained budgets, and the fading of residual social status, and perhaps in spite of all this, God continues to bless the church by surrounding us with new people--new people to meet, to interact with, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. As the church slides from the center of society to the margins, we are blessed to encounter people we wouldn’t expect, people who aren’t often noticed--the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. Things are simpler when people are just people.

            Jesus’ message is encouraging for us here at Christ Church, where our center city location finds us on the margins of society. It is truly a blessing to be part of a community with so many people around us in need of God’s love. At my internship site, it was hard to share God’s love with anything on a regular basis besides a hay bale! But here, we look in any direction, and there are people we can serve through social ministry programs, invite to worship, and welcome to this fellowship of believers, whoever they are. Social status is a moot point in Christ--he calls everyone, from those like shacks with dirt floors to those more like mansions with granite countertops, and has work for us all in the kingdom. With Jesus’ teaching in our minds and on our hearts, then, let us go out fearlessly to the people in this neighborhood and work for the renewal of the place where we gather each week in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.