Based on verses 1 and 7-14 of the 14th Chapter of the Gospel of Luke, this was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on August 29, 2004.
Some years ago my wife and I spent a long weekend up in the Cedar Rapids, IA area, and as part of that trip, spent two-or-three hours in Amana. This, though, was enough to pique our interest so that when we had a chance to spend a few days up there again that next summer, we spent most of them touring and learning about the Amana Colonies and their history.
The ‘Community of True Inspiration’, or, as it was called then, the ‘Amana Society’, was, in effect, a protestant offshoot of the German Lutheran church dating from the seventeenth century which came to this country in 1842 to escape poor conditions and persecution in Germany. They first settled in Ebenezer, New York, but were again being threatened by the expansion and influence of the city of Buffalo as it began to grow towards and around them. Seeking room to grow while maintaining what they perceived as the purity of their beliefs, they purchased 3,300 acres in Iowa and moved there in 1855. By 1861 their property had grown to 26,000 acres and included seven villages: Amana, West Amana, East Amana, Middle Amana, and Homestead. Homestead was the only existing town when they first moved there, but they soon purchased all of it so as to have access to the railroad that ran through it.
The inhabitants created their own unique culture which emerged from their common beliefs, their common language, and their common ethnic background. Even today, though English has begun to make inroads, their Bibles, Hymnals, and most of their service are still in German! And even though the technologies and economics of the 20th century had reduced their numbers and forced them, in the early thirties, to reform their communal existence into a capitalist society, there still existed a small but powerful Christian community holding strong to their old ways.
Each of the original meeting buildings still stood and were owned by the Society, though by then only two were still used regularly for services. One of the unused buildings had been opened up as a museum, and we spent about 45 minutes sitting in their sanctuary listening and talking with the curator… who was a very strong Society member… about the history and beliefs of their church and traditions. For example, when someone of their community passed away, they are placed in a very plain pine casket and buried in the order of death, row by row, in that community’s cemetery. Each received an identical cement headstone bearing the same exact information about each person… their name, date of death, and their age at death… no more, no less… everyone was treated exactly equal.
The meeting house, itself, was a study in theology… the ceilings were very high and the windows very tall, with only clear glass in them, so as to give the impression of being open and close to God in His heavens. To further that effect, the walls were bare of all pictures or adornments and were painted a very specific shade of light blue, which has come to be known as ‘Amana Blue’. There were two doors into the hall, and the seats were divided down the middle… that’s right, the men-folk came in one door and sat on that side while the women came in and sat on the other. The plain wooden table and chairs at the front were where the leaders sat… there was no podium nor lectern of any kind, and the pews, themselves, were plain wooden planks and whittled legs… indeed, our speaker told us that when they moved from New York, their frugality caused them to disassemble and bring the ones already made with them, and the years of use had worn and polished them to a beautiful finish. And here I come to a matter of some confusion…
I’m sure I remembered our speaker telling us how the youngest sat in the first pews, accompanied by their respective parent until they were old enough to control themselves, and each set of pews back represented some stage of physical and spiritual maturity… and so, it became a matter of great pride to sit on what was dubbed ‘the wisdom bench’ at the rear of the room. However, in a research article I had found online, it was stated that the spiritually mature moved forward over time, and any kind of spiritual setback during your life could cause you to be moved back one or two rows. Perhaps further research will reveal just which, if either, scenario is correct, but either way, they play into some of what Jesus is telling us in our verses this morning…
As He watches the people at a dinner party trying to outdo one another by sitting at the ‘better’ spot, Jesus advises, reading from the New Living Translation…“If you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t always head for the best seat. What if someone more respected than you has also been invited? The host will say, ‘Let this person sit here instead.’ Then you will be embarrassed and will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!
“Do this instead — sit at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place than this for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored.”
The Life Application Commentary says that, “Jesus wasn’t one to mince words; he didn’t wait for a discreet time to teach and preach. In the midst of his enemies (the Pharisees were carefully watching him to see if they could trap him in any way), Jesus admonished them for their arrogance. The Pharisees possessed great social power in first-century Israel, and they were jockeying with each other for the greater position (similar to the disciples, whom Jesus also rebuked in chapter 9). Jesus’ rebuke is clear: Don’t exalt yourself. Instead humble yourself — even to the extent of being willing to serve the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Jesus was encouraging the people to refocus their sights, from exalting themselves to exalting and serving others. Jesus calls Christians today to do the same. Humble yourself before the Lord and seek to serve others. Whom can you help this week?”
William Temple tells us that, “Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all. . . . The humility which consists in being a great deal occupied about yourself, and saying you are of little worth, is not Christian humility. It is one form of self-occupation and a very poor and futile one at that.”
All of this is meant to be teaching us about humility… the problem is that humility is a subject that most Americans have great difficulty with anymore! I mean, just look at us… aren’t we a great country? Aren’t we a great people? Why, even our poor and hungry are far better off than most of the entire population in many countries around the world! It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as we are! Right? Beware!!!
The verses in Jeremiah 2: 4-13 were aimed at the nation of Israel but could just as easily apply to us today! Let me read some of them, gently paraphrasing them as I go…
“This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD… I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets… followed and worshiped worthless idols.
“Therefore I bring charges against you again,” declares the LORD. “And I will bring charges against your children’s children. Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols! Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the LORD.”
The people in the Amana Colonies tried very, very hard to keep their faith and their beliefs pure by turning inward to themselves and trying to keep the world outside. Indeed, I always felt that that was one of the main problems with the church that I grew up in… we were far too focused on ourselves to pay much attention to what was going on outside… after all, we were saved, and those outside were sinners!!! It was that attitude that eventually caused the deterioration of the Amana Society, because in their failure to look outside of themselves, they failed to ‘love their neighbors as themselves’ and in ‘going out to make new disciples’. And I believe that it is that same attitude that is allowing this great nation of ours to deteriorate to the point where God will no longer consider us as worthy of His favor!
Consider these selected verses from the Book of Hebrews, chapter 13…
“Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it…
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings…
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
It is time that we as a congregation stop worrying about ourselves and start getting out there and doing God’s work! It is time that we as a church start acting like the body of Christ and get His arms and legs moving! And it is time that we as Christians start letting the world know that we believe in God… that we accept His Son as Lord… and that we believe in and follow His teachings!
In the last verse of this morning’s reading, Jesus says, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
It is time to reach outside… it is time to think beyond these walls… it is time to make this country back into what it once was… a nation under God… and it is time to become proud once again… not of ourselves and our accomplishments… but of what God is doing through us!
I’d like to close this morning by reading the very next verse to those that I read earlier… verse 15…“When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
Blessed indeed are those who will eat at that feast… and I pray that each of you here share a place at that table with all of those that you have helped get there as well.
scluebbert 