Luke 14:7-35 (ESV)
Introduction
A. One of the delights of pastoring this church is the fact that few of us are considered to have come from the best part of society. Indeed, most of us at time belonged to the very worst segments of society. Yet, God chose to save us and to pour out His Holy Spirit into us so that those who know us can witness God’s mercy and goodness. God restores the sinner who repents. He gives blessings to undeserving people.
B. At the same time, I worry that we may forget that what we have has come from the Lord. There is a tendency to accept the blessings that might otherwise belong to deserving people, and accept the position of worthiness. People tend to become what they possess.
C. This sin is familiar to me. I don’t come from a family of well educated or well respected people, on either side of the family tree. I worked hard at my education. I involved myself with many causes. I did this in order that I could build up a resume of good deeds that would justify my place of importance in this world, and in God’s kingdom. For a long time my sense of importance came from knowing much, and having experienced much. Unfortunately, in so doing I sapped God’s ability to glorify himself through me. He can’t glorify himself through someone who self-glorifies. So I prayed that God could use me again. I heard the words of John speak, “He must increase, I must decrease.” And God responded by giving me a deep sense of His pre-eminence, and my unworthiness.
D. The tax-collector told us how to come to Christ, Paul showed us that the feeling never really leaves us if we remain spiritually honest. Church people must remain humble people.
Proposition: The humble make up the population of God’s kingdom. The passage of scripture being discussed tonight tells us how we know, why that happened, and how they got in.
I. The evidence of humility in the church
[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."
A. The actions of citizens of heaven contrast those of the world. In the world, there are seats of honor and distinction that people strive to attain.
B. In the church, the citizens have a profound sense of unworthiness for honor. They sit where you would expect the servants to sit, the places of exposure, of presumed need.
Example: In a banquet, the places of honor are toward the front. The presumption is that the closer you are, the more important you are.
Example: In a church, the closer you are to the back, the more worthy you are and the less you are presumed to need what is being said. The people toward the front are the ones presumed to need what is being said.
C. The rule in the kingdom of God is: Be humble and the Lord will glorify you in the presence of everyone. Be exalted, be seen, honor yourself and the Lord will cause you to be humbled in the face of everyone.
II. Why the church is full of humble people
[12] He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. [13] But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, [14] and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
[15] When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" [16] But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. [17] And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ’Come, for everything is now ready.’ [18] But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ’I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ [19] And another said, ’I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ [20] And another said, ’I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ [21] So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ’Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ [22] And the servant said, ’Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ [23] And the master said to the servant, ’Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. [24] For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ "
A. Jesus clearly pointed out that the most undeserving should be invited to the banquet put on by Christians.
a. Anyone else can pay you back. Watch out that you don’t put more worth on people that have something to offer. Don’t ask God to send people with gifts and talents that we lack. We don’t, the Holy Spirit is glorified when untalented people learn.
b. Despite the effort and cost of disabled and poor people, God will exalt the congregation that invites them.
B. The reason the undesirable of the world got in is because they responded to the invitation.
a. The invited guests refused to come. For us, that applies to our children, our friends and family who know the truth, who know why you are blessed, but refuse to come.
b. You are here not because of your value, but because someone more deserving refused to come. The Jews refused to believe on Jesus, so the Gentiles received the invitation. Most of you did not come from God fearing homes. Many in this congregation come from somewhere else, yet there are thousands of home grown people who do not go to church.
C. Something happens when the next generation is called upon to take upon themselves the call of God that sadly leads them outside of God’s presence. The lame, poor, and disabled come to Christ and then God blesses and heals them. Their children often forget that their blessings came from God. They learn to live in comfort, or at least seek it without the obedience of those who had come before. They turn down the invitation to receive the same blessings given to those whom God has blessed.
III. How the Humble got into the Kingdom of Heaven.
[25] Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, [26] "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. [27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. [28] For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? [29] Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, [30] saying, ’This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ [31] Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? [32] And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. [33] So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
[34] "Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? [35] It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
A. Many people were following Jesus around like many people will follow a popular preacher or go to a popular church. Sadly, many of them do not know salvation. There are conditions for becoming a disciple of Jesus:
a. He must love Jesus more than anyone else or even himself. That means nothing can delay, circumvent, or postpone service to the Lord Jesus Christ.
b. Second, he must take up the cross and follow Jesus. The cross means that death is the outcome of service, and that suffering is not only accepted as a fact, but embraced as a fact of life.
B. Since the fact of suffering scares many people off, it is amazing that anyone would become a disciple of Jesus Christ. However, there is good reason why people do become His disciple:
a. First, the humble recognize that they don’t have anything anyway. Actually, nobody does. People are unwilling to sacrifice money, for instance, because of the belief that it is needed for their own use so that they can build the lifestyle they need. Humble people know that they don’t have the money to do it, so they must come to God for everything. They considered the cost, and confessed that they don’t have the money.
b. Second, they know that they can’t face the judge of all souls and win. People with money live with the false comfort that they can pay for attorneys, or buy their way out of jams. But the humble know that the judge of all won’t take a bribe. They settle with him, reconcile with him before they appear before the judge.
C. Simply put, people who have nothing don’t have as hard of a time giving up everything.
Conclusion:
The people in the kingdom of God have a role to fulfill while we are still in the world. We are humble people that God has chosen to pour His glory through. We show the inhabitants of our community that God is real, that he is merciful, and that he accepts the sinner who repents. May the people of God, once again, feel a profound sense of unworthiness. May we be noted for being truly humble. May the Lord be able to glorify himself through us.
