Readings: Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21, 30-31; Psalm 67 (68):4-7, 10-11; Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a; Luke 14:1, 7-14
Picture: By Gurth Bramall on Unsplash
What’s the difference between a garden and a wilderness? Of course, each is beautiful in its own way. But doesn’t a garden have a certain order to it that a wilderness does not? An order born of restraint? In a garden, things are taught to grow in a measured way, so that other things have enough space to grow too. Isn’t this why it’s much safer in a garden than in a wilderness? We’re much less likely to encounter things that could harm or kill us. Order and safety arising from restraint.
I’m reminded of a short video clip that was first posted on YouTube 5 years ago, and has since garnered almost 2.5 million views. Entitled Alpha Gorilla is Dad of the Year, it shows how gently the leader of a troop of wild gorillas treats his own babies. Although strong enough to snap a human in two, this daddy gorilla allows his little kids to treat him very disrespectfully. They climb all over him, slap his face, beat his back like a drum, and even bounce on him like a trampoline. Yet, despite suffering such indignities, daddy restrains his own immense strength, and plays with them. And if any member of his troop were to endanger the others by failing to show restraint, he will surely intervene to restore order. But in a measured way. Through the wise exercise of restraint, the lead gorilla provides a safe space for each member of his troop to grow and thrive. While living in the middle of a wilderness, he is, in a sense, actively cultivating a garden.
Don’t we find something similar in our scriptures today? By inviting us to compare two very different experiences, the second reading highlights the gentle restraint shown by God toward us. On the one hand, when God descended mightily upon Mount Sinai, in the book of Exodus, the people were so terrified, they begged never to hear God speak to them again. In contrast, in Christ, God has come among us as a helpless baby, becoming humble even to the point of accepting death on a cross. It is through this divine restraint, that a place has been prepared for us in the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, where everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. And it’s helpful to recall that, in the final chapter of the last book of the Bible, this same heavenly city is described like a garden. For through it flows the river of the water of life. Along the banks of which grows the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (Rv 22:1-2).
A garden city founded on the loving restraint of God. This is the destination to which we are all called to journey. This is the safe home that the psalmist says God has prepared for the poor. But to gain access to it, we ourselves need to learn restraint. In the first reading, it is those who are gentle, those who behave humbly in their dealings with others, who are more likely to find favour with the Lord. In contrast, the proud person is described as someone in whom an evil growth has taken root. Just as a cancerous tumour, growing unrestrainedly, ravages the body, and deprives other cells the space they need to survive. So too does pride crowd the human heart, leaving no space for the love of God to flower and bear fruit. At once endangering others, and preventing us from reaching our heavenly home.
All of which helps us better understand the meaning of what Jesus is saying in the gospel. By encouraging us to take the lowest place at a wedding banquet, the Lord isn’t offering strategic advice on how to secure the best seats at a concert, or the corner office at work. Nor is he telling us to sit at the back of the church at Mass, so as to be invited to move up to the front. No, the banquet to which Jesus is teaching us to gain access is the kingdom of God, the heavenly garden city. By telling us to take the lowest place, the Lord is inviting us to follow him on the path of gentleness and humility. To learn how to exercise restraint, particularly in our dealings with those around us who are most vulnerable. Those whom society treats as the last and the least. Taking care to ensure that they too have the space they need to grow and thrive.
And isn’t this a timely reminder for us? Living as we do in a world that’s looking more and more like a wilderness with each passing day? Where even in this relatively safe and shiny country of ours, we may be seeing possible signs of a crisis of restraint. Bullying in our schools… Bad behaviour on our roads and sidewalks… Clutter lining our common corridors and other shared spaces… Could it be that we need to be reminded of a basic truth? That living in a garden city isn’t just about planting and preserving more and more greenery, important as this may be. It’s also about learning to restrain ourselves, so as to make space for others.
Sisters and brothers, like that strong yet gentle gorilla daddy in the video, how might we keep doing our part to help cultivate the garden of God’s kingdom today?
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