Very few things are as embarrassing as going to an event, struggling to find a seat, only to end up sitting in the wrong seat. I would like to say that I have never done that, but I can’t. For someone who is already shy and socially awkward, things got a whole lot more awkward when that happened. Fortunately, the person was very gracious, and since I was supposed to sit in the seat next to them, it wasn’t too big of a deal. As strange as this may sound, Jesus has something to say about sitting in the correct place. It was a teaching moment given by Jesus to some people who had invited Him to a meal. The Pharisees, as usual, were trying to trick and trap Jesus. I can see the scene in my head. Jesus is sitting at the table talking with the guests, and the Pharisees are on the other side of the table at the opposite end. They are whispering to each other as they give looks of disapproval towards Jesus. Then, Jesus begins to speak. He doesn’t start off by talking to the people in general, instead Jesus zeroes in on the Pharisees. He asks them a couple of questions, to which they don’t want to apply. Having successfully stopped their whisperings, Jesus begins to teach those at the table. Now, I won’t say that it happened 100% the way I have it in my head, but many of these things are facts as given in the beginning of Luke 14. As Jesus is teaching those there He says, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). He may not have been talking directly to the Pharisees, but they knew Jesus was referring to them. Jesus then begins to talk about when you are invited somewhere, make sure you don’t assume the guest of honor place, because you might be asked to slide down when the real guest of honor shows up.
Jesus wasn’t specifically talking about choosing the right seat at the table, as much as He was talking about an attitude of our heart. The Pharisees were all about appearances. They expected the best seats, the proper greetings and respect from the people, and to be treated as someone important wherever they went. They wanted people to be impressed by their education and ability to pray these long prayers and quote a great deal of Scripture. While we should be able to commune with God in prayer for long periods of time, and we should be diligent about studying, meditating, and memorizing Scripture; it shouldn’t be for show. Jesus was consistently teaching about the need for humility in our lives, and guarding against wanting people to know what we could do or have done. The Bible is clear on it’s teaching of pride when there are verses in it such as, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” in James 4:6. In fact, you could argue that the original sin in Lucifer and then in Adam and Eve was pride. We could take it a step further and say at the heart of every sin is an issue of pride. A belief that what we wants is all that matters or that we know what is best for us. Earlier in Luke 14, Jesus taught that people with that attitude were going to miss out on the kingdom of God. They would miss out on the kingdom of God, because they were already the king of their own temporary kingdom. Again, Jesus was clearly talking to the Pharisees at that meal.
Humility is often something that is difficult for us to explain, because when we start to think that we are humble, that is actually revealing some level of pride in us. Humility is an attitude of our heart. It is a recognition that life isn’t about me, that I was created by a sovereign God, and I was created for the purpose of glorifying Him. Humility is choosing to not demand the rights that you have, but instead deferring to someone else. Humility is choosing to serve, when it would be acceptable for someone else to serve you. In a word, humility is Jesus. The apostle Paul describes humility in action when he describes Jesus in Philippians 2:6-8, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” What is interesting is how Paul picks up on what Jesus had said in Luke 14 in Philippians 2:9, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” I would say that two words from Philippians 2:6-8 that sum up what it means to live a humble life are the words, servant and obedient. Again, this is about our attitude. We are not expecting someone to serve us, even though maybe we are in a position where it would be normal for someone to do that for us. Instead, we look for ways to serve others. We willingly relinquish all of our rights in a sincere desire to obey Jesus. Is that where you heart is? Is that your desire? How can you use your position or authority or things to serve others, and to obey God? That is what it means to be a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what we should all be aspiring to achieve.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin