The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
\nAugust 28, 2016
\nLuke 14:1, 7-14<\/p>\n
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.\u00a0 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:\u00a0 \u201cWhen someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.\u00a0 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, \u2018Give this man your seat.\u2019\u00a0 Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.\u00a0 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, \u2018Friend, move up to a better place.\u2019\u00a0 Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.\u00a0 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Then Jesus said to his host, \u201cWhen 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.\u00a0 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.\u00a0 Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n It usually doesn\u2019t take very long.\u00a0 You listen to the way a person talks.\u00a0 You listen to what they talk about.\u00a0 You watch how a person conducts themself.\u00a0 You watch how they interact with others.\u00a0 After a relatively short period of time you can usually tell if that person is a humble person\u2014 or not.<\/p>\n I have met thousands of people in my lifetime.\u00a0 I have known hundreds of people on a somewhat personal level.\u00a0 I could instantly tell you the name of the most humble person I have ever had the privilege of knowing.\u00a0 I could instantly tell you the name of the least humble person I have ever known.\u00a0 You could probably do the same.<\/p>\n Humility.\u00a0 That is the subject that we are going to focus our attention on this morning.\u00a0 Turning once again to the Gospel of St. Luke let\u2019s see how a simple dinner invitation gives Jesus the opportunity to remind us of this truth:\u00a0 As Disciples of Jesus\u2014 We Strive to Live in True Humility.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 To help us see where we are when it comes to living in true humility we need to ask two questions this morning.\u00a0 First we need to ask, What did Jesus see in the lives of the people here in our text?\u00a0 Then we need to ask, What does Jesus see in our lives today.<\/p>\n What did Jesus see in the lives of the people here in our text?\u00a0 Luke tell us, \u201cOne Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.\u00a0 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable\u2026.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 There are three things I want to point out here before we look at the parable that Jesus gives to us.<\/p>\n First, the Greek word which is translated here is \u201cprominent\u201d<\/em> could easily be translated as \u201cruling.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 This was not just any Pharisee who had invited Jesus over for dinner.\u00a0 This was a \u201cruling\u201d<\/em> Pharisee.\u00a0 This was a man who exercised \u201cauthority\u201d<\/em> even among the other Pharisees.\u00a0 Second, the fact that this dinner was taking place in the home of a \u201cruling\u201d<\/em> Pharisee helps us to understand why people were vying for \u201cplaces of honor\u201d<\/em> at the table.\u00a0 People were hoping that sitting in a \u201cplace of honor\u201d<\/em> while they were in this man\u2019s house would bring them \u201chonor\u201d<\/em> even after they had left his home.\u00a0 And finally, Jesus did not just \u201chappen\u201d to notice that the other dinner guests were vying for \u201cplaces of honor\u201d<\/em> at the table.\u00a0 The Greek here brings out that Jesus was \u201cgiving close attention to,\u201d<\/em> or \u201ckeeping a close watch on\u201d<\/em> the people as they tried to claim a \u201cplace of honor\u201d<\/em> for themselves!<\/p>\n Those three facts make it very easy for us to understand the parable recorded here in our text.\u00a0 Look at verses eight to eleven.\u00a0 Jesus says to His fellow dinner guests, \u201cWhen someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.\u00a0 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, \u2018Give this man your seat.\u2019\u00a0 Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.\u00a0 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, \u2018Friend,\u2019 move up to a better place.\u2019\u00a0 Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.\u00a0 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n When someone is convinced in their own mind that they are a very important person, when someone looks around at others and concludes that they deserve more honor than Joe or Sally, they could easily discover that their high opinion of themself is not shared by others.\u00a0 But when someone consciously strives to have a humble opinion of themself, when someone puts aside all pretenses and strives to live in true humility, then no one will be surprised when that truly humble person is indeed honored by others.<\/p>\n Now look at verses twelve to fourteen of our text.\u00a0 Once Jesus had reminded His fellow dinner guests of how important it is to strive to live in true humility, He then turns to His host and He says, \u201cWhen 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.\u00a0 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.\u00a0 Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n As a \u201cprominent\u201d<\/em> Pharisee, as a \u201cruling\u201d<\/em> Pharisee, Jesus\u2019 host at this dinner party had undoubtedly invited an impressive group of people over to his house.\u00a0 In fact, that may have been why he invited Jesus to dinner.\u00a0 He may have wanted people to look around at the guests who had gathered in his home and say, \u201cHey, look!\u00a0 There\u2019s so and so.\u00a0 And look over there!\u00a0 Do you see who that is!\u00a0 And isn\u2019t that guy over there Jesus of Nazareth\u2014 the One everyone has been talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n Since the simple act of who we invite over for dinner can be a source of pride and feed our ego, Jesus has some very simple advice for His host:\u00a0 Strive to live in true humility!\u00a0 Next time you have a dinner party invite the people no one would expect you to invite!\u00a0 Invite the people who never dreamed that you would invite them over to your house for dinner.\u00a0 Invite the people who would never be able to \u201crepay\u201d<\/em> you for the kindness and the generosity you have shown to them.\u00a0 No matter how \u201cprominent\u201d<\/em> you might be, no matter how much \u201cauthority\u201d<\/em> you might have, remember how important it is to live in true humility!<\/p>\n Now comes the hard part, my friends.\u00a0 Looking at our text and asking ourselves the question, What did Jesus see in the lives of the people here at this dinner?\u2014 that\u2019s easy!\u00a0 That\u2019s easy because we are looking at others!\u00a0 We are looking at their lives, at their actions and at their attitudes.\u00a0 What is far more difficult and yet what is far more necessary, is to look at ourselves and ask our second question for today, What does Jesus see as He \u201cgives close attention to,\u201d<\/em> or as He \u201ckeeps a close watch on\u201d<\/em> our lives today?<\/p>\n There are any number of things that could fill our hearts and our minds with the corrosive sin of pride.\u00a0 There are any number of things that could lead us to look around at the people we know, to look around at the people right here in our own church and think that we deserve a higher \u201cplace of honor\u201d<\/em> at the table.\u00a0 Perhaps we have more money and nicer things.\u00a0 Perhaps we are more successful in our careers and have less heartaches with our children.\u00a0 Perhaps we are smarter or prettier or healthier than most people our age.\u00a0 Perhaps we are in church and Bible class more often and outwardly live a more sanctified Christian life.\u00a0 Perhaps we volunteer more and complain less (at least in public!).\u00a0 No, my friends, it is not difficult at all for our old sinful nature to convince us that we deserve a higher \u201cplace of honor\u201d<\/em> at the table\u2014 especially compared to Joe, or especially compared to Sally.<\/p>\n So how do we strive to live a life of true humility?\u00a0 How do we strive to take to heart Jesus\u2019 words, \u201cFor everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 How do we strive to put into practice the advice that Jesus gave to His host, \u201cBut when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.\u00a0 Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous\u201d<\/em>?<\/p>\n How do we strive for a life of true humility?\u00a0 First, as disciples of Jesus we lift up our eyes to the cross and remember that we are who we are and we have what we have purely by the grace of God!\u00a0 (See Romans 12:3; Philippians 2:3, 4)\u00a0 Every <\/strong>gift, every <\/strong>talent, every <\/strong>ability, every <\/strong>blessing that we have has been given <\/strong>to us by the \u201cthe Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows\u201d<\/em> (James 1:17).\u00a0 It has been given to us not just <\/strong>for our own use and not just <\/strong>for our own enjoyment.\u00a0 No, rather, it has been given<\/strong> to us so that we can:\u00a0 1) glorify our God; and, 2) serve others.\u00a0 (See 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 4:10)\u00a0 That realization will help keep us from becoming puffed up with pride or thinking that we deserve a higher \u201cplace of honor\u201d<\/em> at the table because of who we are or because of what we have.<\/p>\n Once we recognize that who we are and what we have\u2014 both now and especially in eternity!\u2014 is all due to the amazing grace of our God, then we will both understand and put into practice in our lives today the advice that Jesus gave to His host so many years ago.\u00a0 We will humbly use our God-given gifts, talents and abilities to gladly serve others\u2014 especially those who belong to the family of believers.\u00a0 We will humbly use our God-given blessings to help those who \u201ccannot repay you\u201d<\/em> as Jesus says here in our text.\u00a0 As I was studying our text for today I remembered that a very good Scriptural parallel to the advice that Jesus gave to His host is found in the very familiar words of Matthew 25.\u00a0 At the resurrection on the Last Day Jesus will say to the righteous, \u201cI tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 25:40).\u00a0 That\u2019s what it means to live in true humility as a disciple of Jesus.<\/p>\n It usually doesn\u2019t take very long.\u00a0 Someone listens to the way we talk.\u00a0 Someone listens to what we talk about.\u00a0 Someone watches how we conduct ourselves.\u00a0 Someone watches as we interact with others.\u00a0 After a relatively short period of time they can usually tell.\u00a0 They can usually tell if we are a humble person\u2014 or not.<\/p>\n My prayer this morning is that as disciples of Jesus we will always strive to stay focused on the truth that Jesus proclaims to us here in our text so that as disciples of Jesus we will always strive to live in true humility.<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost August 28, 2016 Luke 14:1, 7-14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.\u00a0 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:\u00a0 \u201cWhen someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":720,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions\/720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}