Sunday Sermon - 31 August
It’s hard to believe that a year has passed. As of today, I have officially been the Priest in Charge here for one year and I don’t know about you, but I feel as though I’m still in the early ‘honeymoon’ days of a new ministry! It’s been great. I’ve learned a lot, am still learning, and you’ve all been so kind and accepting of me and my family. Thank you for the welcome, hospitality, and kindness you’ve all shown over the year. I’m excited about the many years ahead for us as we, together, bring St. Johns into the 2030’s. The 2030’s! Sounds like a science fiction year, doesn’t it?!
One thing that’s kind of funny, well, I guess the better word is ironic, is that the theme of today’s Gospel is humility. It’s a good reminder for me because, over the course of this past year, I’ve been honoured by the North American boarding school association (TABS) in Washington DC, I’ve been celebrated repeatedly in my retirement from my leadership role at Lakefield College School, and I’ve been so graciously complimented in so many ways by this ministry and my new parish family. If I’m not careful, like the great comedian Steve Martin jokes, I could say; “Hey, I’m kind of a big deal!”
Just when you may be inclined to believe in your own hype, God has this wonderfully loving way of putting us right back into our place and reminding us that “All who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” - Luke 14:11. We just read it and I heard it loud and clear.
When I read today’s Gospel the story of Rosa Parks immediately came to mind because both the Rosa Parks story and the Gospel speak of hierarchical seating. The lowly black folks, ‘the lessers’, sit at the back of the bus and the white, more important folk sit at the front. Rosa, by refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, to a white man, not only got herself arrested, but sparked a year-long protest that ended with a Supreme Court ruling declaring bus segregation unconstitutional. She earned a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement and became a symbol of non-violent resistance in America. That was in 1955.
Who knows whose face is on the Canadian $10.00 bill?
The face on the $10 bill is that of Viola Desmond. She is, in my opinion, Canada’s Rosa Parks. In fact, her story begins in 1946, almost 10 years before that of Rosa Parks. We know less about her. We are taught and teach less about her in our Ontario curriculum than we do Rosa Parks, despite the fact that Viola is Canadian who preceded Rosa and challenged segregated seating just as Rosa did.
Quote from the Canadian Encyclopedia:
“In 1946, Viola Desmond challenged racial discrimination when she refused to leave the segregated Whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Viola Desmond was arrested, jailed overnight and convicted without legal representation for an obscure tax offence as a result. Despite the efforts of the Nova Scotian Black community to assist her appeal, Viola Desmond was unable to remove the charges against her and went unpardoned in her lifetime. Desmond’s courageous refusal to accept an act of racial discrimination provided inspiration to later generations of Black persons in Nova Scotia and in the rest of Canada. In 2010, Lieutenant-Governor Mayann Francis issued Desmond a free pardon. In December 2016, the Bank of Canada announced that Viola Desmond would be the first Canadian woman to be featured by herself on the face of a banknote — the $10 note released on 19 November 2018. Viola Desmond was named a National Historic Person by the Canadian government in 2018.”
Canada may not have had laws mandating segregation, but we sure had expected practices that were just as racist. The ‘obscure tax offence’ was that Viola didn’t pay the 1 cent difference for the seat she chose to sit in when she bought her ticket. Viola may have been arrested and had to spend the night in jail for not paying the 1 cent difference for her seat but now everyone accepts that her arrest and conviction was really for defying the segregationist practices and expectations of her day. What surprises me most is that she was not officially pardoned until 2010 - 64 years later and 45 years after her death. She is a constant reminder, with her beautiful face staring at us from the $10 bill, of the importance of humble equality.
Jesus’ message in Luke is not just about being humble, recognizing that we all share an equally rightful place at God’s table, and stepping aside for those in greater need. That’s just the first part of the message. The second part is just as - if not more - important.
The last paragraph of the passage reads: “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 neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
When you give a luncheon or dinner. When you give a banquet. This is action, this is a call to do. We aren’t just to be humble, we are called to do humble. To act with humility, to make real and alive the depth of our true humble being.
It reminds me of a funny Mac Davis country song. You may know it - “Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way!” Being humble, acting humble in a real genuine way, is actually quite hard because it depends on a certain vulnerability, a certain acceptance, not just of others, but of ourselves and our own weaknesses and foibles and trusting that others won’t hurt you when they’re exposed.
Let’s look a little more closely at what Jesus is asking of us, and how he modeled what he is asking of us in his own life. He challenged the authorities of his day, he “ate and drank with outcasts and sinners.” Not in an arrogant way, but in a powerfully sensitive and self-sacrificing way saying, “Look at me, let me touch you, I love you and that is why I save you.”
Jesus calls us to display and to make alive our humility in genuine acts of kindness to those who are unable to return the favour, or return the gift in kind. We give of ourselves, not to get in return but only because that is the good, the right, the Christian human way to be.
Our call is not just, “Be humble” but also, “Do good freely, without expecting something in return.” That is what God Himself has done for us in Christ: He gave, He served, He loved, He sacrificed — not because we could repay, but because it is His nature to do good.
Viola didn’t set out to be a hero when she refused to leave the ‘whites-only’ section of a movie theatre. Her humility is seen not in seeking recognition (she lived much of her life quietly, even facing hardship after her act of resistance) but in her willingness to stand for what was right without demanding honor for herself. Today she’s on the $10 bill, but she never sought that spotlight. Her life reminds us that humility often looks like quiet courage in the face of injustice.
Humility does not rest in our words, but comes alive through our actions. Let’s take our food bank for example, the volunteers are largely retirees or working folks who give of their time quietly behind the scenes. I don’t think they’ll ever be famous, but they embody Luke 14. They invite those who cannot repay. There are many other volunteers in our parish family that we know and some we don’t know who act in accordance with the humble love that Jesus demands of us. At this time I’d like to announce that we will be having a volunteer appreciation service on Sunday, September 28 for all who humbly serve in, and for, our parish and community.
Humble acts are not just necessarily even between humans. A humble act, are also those acts that we don’t like or don’t want to do, like picking up garbage on the street. Or the one I dislike the most, cleaning up after other peoples’ pets (when I do that, I definitely sing that Mac Davis song because it is hard to be humble when you are scooping after someone’s dog). These hard, unpleasant responsibilities are good reminders of our place as Christ’s servants to others and the world we love.
Today we are called to be humble, to be mindful of where our seat is as Christians at the table of our Lord, and to ensure that we step aside and let those who society says are ‘less than’ take their rightful seat of honour at God’s table.
This message especially resonates with me today as I think of my one year anniversary and all of the potentially ego building compliments and celebrations that have occurred since September 1, 2024. Jesus checks my ego at the door, reminds me that I am and will forever be a servant of Christ, doing my best to strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak, help the afflicted, honour everyone…and even clean up after other peoples’ pets if need be.
Today, we think of those like Viola Desmond who was told she was unworthy. She challenged that arrogance and hubris and, finally, was able to earn her rightful place looking at us all from our $10 bills and reminding us of Jesus’ message for us today and everyday:
“... when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you…”
Amen.