At the end of Flannery O’Connor’s story “Revelation,” Mrs. Turpin, a stately, self-righteous Christian woman, has a vision that turns her world, and her prejudiced assumptions, upside down. A fiery streak in the dusk sky transforms into a bridge from earth to heaven. Climbing the bridge, a “vast horde of souls were rumbling to heaven” — souls Mrs. Turpin had earlier judged beneath her. Poor White folks climb to heaven, clean for the first time in their lives. Black laborers dressed in white robes proceed to salvation and behind them a bunch of “freaks” and “lunatics.” At the end of the heavenly procession Mrs. Turpin recognizes herself and her people, marching with dignity behind the others, “accountable as they had always been for good order and common sense and respectable behavior.” Confused, Mrs. Turpin sees the “shocked and altered faces” of her people as, last in line to heaven, their esteemed virtues burn away in the light of the setting sun. The kingdom of God has its own social and spiritual order. To presume our place in that order is not only unwise but unfaithful. At the beginning of Luke 14, Jesus gives a lesson on guest etiquette with broader theological and ethical meaning. In the New Testament, the “banquet” is a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven and the coming reign of God. When we are invited to this banquet, we should not presume a seat of honor. As Paul reminds us in Philippians 2, we are to emulate Jesus, who “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave … he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). You can find the rest of the commentary on our website. | 
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