Choose Wisely

Luke 14:1, 7-14

September 1, 2019

One of the most difficult things to do when planning a large party, like a wedding reception is what? Where are you going to seat everyone! You know certain people have to sit closer to the head table, you just have to do it. Like it or not. Then there are those people who you know don’t really like each other, but you don’t know how to put them in different sections of the hall. Then there are those who talk to each other and will say ‘hey, I’m going to Michael and Debbie’s wedding, are you?’ Um, NO, they didn’t invite me. Oops! So, you need to decide, if I invite this couple, I kind of have to invite that couple, even though I don’t really want to. And, where do I sit them all. Closer to us, or further back. Then there are those you have to invite, but honestly, don’t care where they sit, or if they come!

Yup, admit it, if you’ve planned a wedding or a banquet like that, you’ve had to deal with those issues. Well, today, we’re going to look at a dinner party setting. It’s kind of a ritzy event, Jesus is the guest of honor. And when Jesus shows up, He’s kind of like those guests, you just never know what they’re going to say. So, let’s look at what happens in todays passage from Luke 14, beginning in verse 1, then we’re going to jump to verse 7 –

1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching Him carefully.

7 Now He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in 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 table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” – Luke 14:1,7-11

Jesus was invited to an important society party. Those attending were the leading citizens, the Pharisees, the wealthy, the teachers, politicians, the high priest, members of the Sanhedrin, the senate of the day.

Everybody was dressed up, on good behavior, smiling, whether they meant it or not, being clever and making sure no food was hiding on a tooth. They looked like they were having a good time.

Jesus was the guest of honor and everybody who thought they were important, wanted to be seated next to Jesus. That’s where all of the important people are seated.

The last person to sit down would be the guest of honor, Jesus. Everyone wanted to be at the head table, but pretended they didn’t.

Then Jesus spoke. That’s not always a good thing . . . I mean you don’t want to turn Jesus loose at a party, because He may say something which will hit our hearts.

“Why are all of you people trying to be so important? Why are you so anxious to be seated at the head table?” People are kind of shuffling in their seats, looking around, wondering where this is going. Jesus goes on and eventually says,

11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

There’s that nervous laughter. Nobody knows how to respond. He’s hitting home, but nobody wants to admit it. They’re thinking Jesus must be talking about someone else, certainly not me.

Let’s stop at this point, because it really gets worse! If that’s all Jesus said, that would be bad enough, but He’s not close to being done.

You see, whether we want to admit it or not, we all want to have a place of honor. We want people to recognize us. We don’t want to be wallflowers. Now, some people don’t want notoriety and prefer to be behind the scenes, but you still want people to notice you. We all need that! That’s really a basic human need. We were created for relationship. We want to be recognized, not even praised, which we need, but we want people to know we have lived!

We see people doing this on their own all the time. Just look at facebook, instagram or twitter and check out all of the posts where people are praising themselves. They’re posting pictures and making comments about themselves because they want recognition. I’m not going to get into the psychology of it all. But what they want is for others to recognize what they’re doing.