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Spirituality
on the Bunny Slopes
Our Gospel lesson today talks again of Jesus being invited into the home of a Pharisee. In one version the Pharisee is Simon, but in this particular text the Pharisee is unnamed, but the situation is the same. Jesus is invited to partake of a meal, and while in their company he is being watched, and he is being judged -- perhaps on what he is saying, the way he looks, the way he smells, and/or the people whom he chooses to associate with. The people who Simon invites to the home are there to get a better understanding of what this person, Jesus of Nazareth, is all about. Why are there so many people interested in his message? While they are watching Jesus and judging Jesus, he is also judging them. Jesus begins to seize that opportunity to tell them a parable. He says, "Don’t invite people who can repay you for your good gifts and your goodness and the generous things you’ve done for them, but invite those who cannot repay you, so that your heavenly Father will reward you on the day of the Resurrection. When you go into a home, don’t sit at the place of honor. Sit in a place that’s obscure, away from all of the attention, so that the guest of honor may see you and invite you to come forward. As you are moving forward, those who are watching you will then begin to speak good things of you." On one level I think Jesus is attacking the social realities of life at that time. But, I think there is a second level that Jesus is attacking that perhaps the Pharisees will miss. As a matter of fact, I am convinced that they miss the second level of the teaching, which is an attack against their spiritual life. And I think the best way to explain this is to sort of share with you my own experience of skiing. About two years ago, Allison, my wife, and I went skiing at Breckenridge for the first time. We went with a youth group. We really were excited about it, but we didn’t know anything about skiing. We didn’t know a ski lift from a ski range. But we were excited about the fact that we were going to do this thing together. So, we decided to go to a nearby sporting goods store to get the feel of what it’s like to be in some skis and holding the ski pole and so forth. We decided we were going to do this thing together. You know, you fall -- I’m going to fall whether I was going to fall or not. We are going to do this together so that when we fall, we get up together. Finally we arrived in Breckenridge. I remember standing there in my ski outfit looking at the slopes. I’ve got to tell you, looking at the ski lifts going up was frightening; then I imagined what it was going to be like coming down. I finally looked over at Allison, swallowed my pride and asked her to accompany me on the bunny slope. They were real patient with us, thank goodness. But my passion for skiing, the appreciation for the art, began that day. I later realized that this is how your spiritual life begins also, on the bunny slopes. Jesus is saying, get to that place that’s obscure, that place where no one really wants to claim, that place where no one wants to sit. Start there so that when God brings you further, you’ll better appreciate where you end up. So, I had an appreciation for skiing on the bunny slopes, and then I got a little bit more confident, and I decided, "Well, I want to move up a little bit closer on the table. I want to go to the greens." I skied the greens the next day and had a great time, but realized that it required a little bit more of me. It required a little bit more of my attention, a little bit more focus, a little bit more clarity. There were many more folks skiing the greens, so I had to be more mindful of the environment. But I felt confident, and I felt like this is God’s way. This is how God brings us through our spiritual journey. If we are willing to, as Jesus said in the Gospel lesson, sit in that place where no one wants to sit, then when God brings us forward, you’ll better understand the spiritual journey. I felt that way skiing the greens. I was having my share of falls, but getting up and realizing that, this is wonderful! The fact that I’m really trying to do this thing empowers me. I had such a great time on the greens that I didn’t want to stop there. I wanted to come a little bit closer on the table. I wanted to move just a little bit closer, and so I was willing to try it. I did it once, and I realized I needed to be back on the greens, but it was an experience. It was trying. It was getting to that place where I felt that I could experience the presence of God and knowing, fully confident, that God would carry me and see me through. It was the greatest experience ever. I believe that’s the message in today’s Gospel lesson. Our spiritual journey is always a constant, uphill journey, just like the ski slopes and just like going up on the ski lifts. Our spiritual relationship with God is always on an incline, and if we are willing to travel the incline with convicted faith, then we will be granted a seat at the table of honor. I had to release myself and truly trust in the power and the guiding force of God. I felt like I had arrived at the table. I know the feeling at least. It felt good to be able to conquer fear. I think on that level in the Gospel lesson, Jesus is not only condemning the social reality of life, but the spiritual reality. I think what Jesus is trying to say in the Gospel lesson applies to each of us every day. In our prayer life we should be on the bunny slopes. Because if we are not on the bunny slopes in our prayer life and on our spiritual journey, and if we always go to the head table, then what room do we leave for God to make changes in our lives? You notice, it’s being seated in the lowest place of all that allows God to say, "Now I can bring you along. There’s room for me to work in you to bring you where I need you to be." But if we approach our prayer life as if we already understand God fully, then we leave God very little, if any, room at all to make changes in our lives. If I had thought that I could ski the blacks or the intermediate slopes, I would have left very little room for God to teach me what I needed to know to master the skill. It’s being able to say, to acknowledge, "God I’m frail and I’m afraid. I’m broken and I need your help and guidance in my life to do this." God will take us and carry us from the bunny slopes of life to the intermediate. I believe
that this is what Jesus attempted to get across to the people in today’s
Gospel lesson. If you truly want to know what it’s like to be brought
forward, don’t only help those and repay those who can repay you,
but help those who need to know and learn and understand what it’s
like to meet God at the bunny slopes. Help them on their spiritual journey,
so that they too will better appreciate what it was like to start at the
beginning.
Copyright 2001 Calvary Episcopal Church Gospel:
Luke 14:1, 7-14
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