Luke 14:7-11.
7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Don’t go for the best seat so that if the host comes and asks us to move, we won’t be embarrassed. Rather go for the last seat or the seat with no consequence so that when the host comes and asks to sit at a higher and better seat, it will be an honour for us.Perhaps the musical chair is one of the prominent games children are made to play in public. The game cuts across ages and is therefore popular among all age groups in church.
The concept is that we keep going for the available chairs, with many falling away without chairs and the winner being the person in possession of the final chair. It is not the final chair that Jesus talks about, but the final chair achieved through competition. The game is ingrained in each and every person that we won’t even hesitate to push others and get a chair. The chair and its possession becomes a primary skill one has to acquire at a young age itself.
What this does is to turn on its head the biblical message that we should not expect places of honour. This has been turned around to mean that we should fight for the final chair to win! How then can Jesus’ advise that the first will be last and the last first work in this instance? The musical chair is perhaps the wrong name. It should rather be the ‘final chair’ or the last wo/man sitting (standing)!
But where did this concept of musical chair come from? Competition, calculation and luck are very much a business model that one is told of in a business school. But can this be a model for the church? Actually not. Competition, calculation and luck (CCL) are all not supposed to be church language. Rather they are very anti church because they lead to division and hatred rather than love and community.Can we turn around the competition and start with one chair and go to many chairs rather? The first chair will only be a beginning and will lead to several chairs and people, bringing about the thrill of community, caring and togetherness (CCT). Everyone, big and small, tall and short, gets a seat or chair. But every opportunity of not getting a chair is only going to be an excitement that the next could be mine instead of thinking that we are out and all is lost.
Perhaps this is the way of looking at the parable of Jesus today. There are chairs for everyone. The last will be first and the first last. Everyone gets a chair and everyone gets to be someone on the chair because every chair is unique. An opportunity for one today is an opportunity for someone else tomorrow.The church should definitely be the place where people feel there is a chair for them. This is not a chair of competition, calculation and luck but a chair of rights, opportunities and goodwill and a chair of community, caring and togetherness. This way everyone who walks into church will be assured of getting a chair. The last being the first and the first last. If this can be brought to fruition the musical chair will change in essence and style to what it should be! Amen.
(Picture courtesy www.rev-elution.blogspot.in)
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