When Jesus Comes to Dinner
Series: Encountering Jesus (through the Gospel of Luke)
Brad Bailey - October 13, 2019
Series #42 / Luke 14:1-14
Intro
As we continue in our extended focus on Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of Luke…we have come to this point in which Jesus is speaking into what the coming kingdom is really about … the change that it brings to life.
He sees a world of lives…that are desperately seeking to find their worth…their value. Part of this seeking importance...is through our association with those who we attach importance to. We seek association with those who we deem important… because it makes us feel better.
It’s part of what sociologists refer to as transactional relationships…which is simply a way to describe how nearly all our ways of relating to one another can be reduced to what each gain from the transaction.
And apart from God…our lives are bound in this transactional cage…
We tend to honor and value those who serve our own sense of value. And by nature….we will find ourselves in a world in the vanity of little demi-gods trying to barter our value. [1]
Today Jesus speaks of a different way. In life reconciled with God… there is freedom.
(Pray)
Let’s engage our text… which we will do in three parts…
Luke 14:1-6 (NLT2) ?1 One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. 2 There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?” 4 When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” 6 Again they could not answer.
Here we have a scene in which Jesus is invited to dinner.
I can’t help but think of the plaques that are made to hang in homes…that say something like: “Jesus is welcome here”…or “Jesus is the head of this home, the silent listener to every conversation, the unseen guest at every meal?”
How we rightly welcome his presence… but here we are reminded…that it is a transforming presence…that his presence brings a God-centered reality… the way things should be and ultimately are.
His presence always bears love…but the love bears change.
And the table is the very nature of what he transforms.
The table is not only the place we say grace…but the place we define grace… by the way we see and include others. [2]
It was the Sabbath day and perhaps Jesus had been the special guest preacher in the local synagogue. One of the prominent members…. a Pharisee… invited Jesus home to Sabbath dinner.
Most of the guests were probably Pharisees, we would today classify as “good, church going folks,” they undoubtedly thought of themselves as “spiritual and moral folks” ….but they represented the type of religious nature that Jesus confronted…and called out.
What we know is that there was a man with a difficult physical condition. “…a man there whose arms and legs were swollen.” This was called “dropsy” as seen in many other translations…(also called edema) was a painful condition in which because of kidney trouble, a heart ailment, or liver disease, the tissues fill with water.
Once again, it appears that the motive of inviting Jesus may have been to watch him. (Old saying: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”) Many even believe that what is described was clearly alluding to a plan to trap Jesus.
Would he dare minister to someone in need on the Sabbath…a day God declared that people were to rest.
Here is the irony here that lives on…they have put Jesus at the center so they could scrutinize him…. trap him…dismiss him…but it is they who must face the light he brings to bear. (Could build on this…there is a point in which our critical nature must also give way to that which shines on us.)
The nature of God confronts the nature of man.
Two questions… each pierce through vanity of the way things were being shaped.
The first… pierces through their presumption about their tradition representing God.
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?”
What is Jesus asking… drawing out? There is what God had actually set forth for the people…and then there are traditions that had been laid upon that. Jesus was making it clear…that the law given to and through Moses did NOT forbid healing someone or helping someone in this way.
So not surprisingly… Luke tells you — “They remained silent.” [3]
Jesus heals the man…and lets him go… perhaps to family …or perhaps to escape any hostility.
Perhaps the man had been used by others long enough. It was time for him to be free of what was a physical hardship…but also free from the social oppression.
He asks a second question… verse 5…
Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” 6 Again they could not answer.
And with that question…and the silence… their values are exposed.
There were provisions for an animal in need… how could they not see the greater value of a man in need? How in the world could you think that God would make allowance for the kind treatment of a domestic animal that had come into distress on the Sabbath Day and that He wouldn't care about a human being created in the image of God?
For all their religious pride… they don't care about a human being made in the image of God in need.
And that is the nature of pride… of presuming superiority… of being focused on finding ourselves in others… we will be blind to seeing the real value of others. [3b]
In fact …religiously justified pride is the most blind of all.
In Jesus’ day it was all too easy for the well-off and the legally trained to imagine that they were superior in God’s sight to the poor, to those without the opportunity to study, let alone practice, the law.
Religious pride will never see this man. And what we see in this moment has played out ever since.
No one else sees the poor… the least and the left out…like Jesus.
And those of us with the most social stature… will often have the hardest time with seeing what Jesus sees. And it’s not because we are loved any less by God…or morally any worse. It’s because we are clothed in qualities we attach merit to…and we become more comfortable and attached to our merits…than the humility of our humanity.
One may think…I’m not dirty…or dumb…or down and out.
So when Jesus says that the tax frauds and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of us… it’s offensive.
Of course what Jesus is saying…is not saying there is anything good about their lifestyles… nor that they can simply stay in them. What he is saying is that they are naked and shamed…and when you are naked and someone offers you their clothing… it is received as the God-send it is. But if you feel you are proud of some clothing that is covering you… and someone offers you their clothing… you may not welcome such an offer. You may even find it a bit offensive.
This is why among the more educated and socially powerful… Christianity is often the most difficult truth to accept. [3c]
Jesus saw the man.
And he wants us to see that man.
Jesus calls us into the freedom to…
1. See the value of those who may be deemed “less” or “least” in social status.
We see lives according to how they are clothed… the social quality they bear.
Jesus sees through such clothing… sees that which reflects divine desire… sacred value. And he sees it equally in every life….for every life bears the image of God… all quite out of alignment… but sacred.
We have never locked eyes with someone that did not matter to God.
C.S. Lewis …
“It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor.
The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.
It is a serious thing …to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.
All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.
It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.
Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.
But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. [4]
What a profound description of the sacred nature of every life.
It is this value which Jesus saw…and calls us to see.
And as Lewis described… it is a weight we should carry.
When you see the value of …you will want to honor it…focus on it.
This opened up an opportunity for Jesus to expand in his point…
Luke 14:7-11 (NLT2) ? 7 When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: 8 “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? 9 The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table! 10 “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. 11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Jesus is telling them how they tend to relate…and how WE tend to relate.
We tend to enter our social gatherings… with a desire for finding security and importance through others.
We tend to seek to gain our own value by who we are near and how we are seen.
Everything is an opportunity to find our place… by forging our place.
And I think it’s helpful to note that he is not referring to appropriate leadership and influence. There may be a time that you should speak up… step forward to lead…because you believe it will serve the common good. But that is different than the self-promotion that simply seeks attention.
The problem with our pursuit of seeking a position of honor… is that true honor isn’t something we can gain by seeking it’s position.
True honor only comes from that which is honorable… from humility.
If you rush to some false perspective regarding your honor…you may find God will humble you.
So begin with humility…and honor will come.
(Verse 10) “Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.”
When Jesus advises the guest to take the lowest places, He was not giving them a “gimmick” that guaranteed promotion.
Jesus says we should take the lower places… and in doing so… we will find that God can exalt us when fitting…rather than break our pride. [5]
Humility is not feeling lower about ourselves. …. self-deprecating.
We often think that humility is thinking less of ourselves…. Meaning valuing ourselves less.
It’s been said that you shouldn’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. If you want a true measure of your worth, get a cat!
But as C.S. Lewis once said,
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
It’s actually about focusing on others more….
He is telling us to focus on the value of others.
Jesus calls us into the freedom to…
2. Focus on the value of those who may be deemed “less” or “least” in social status.
Don’t be the person focused on how you can gain the seat of honor… allow that space for others.
Not a word about thinking less of yourself…but rather thinking about yourself less…by focusing on others.
This is no more an accepted idea today than it was in the days of Jesus earthly ministry. Today’s wisdom says that getting ahead depends on “self promotion.”
It’s a rare person… and a humble one… who will first go speak to the people in the room that are perceived to be least important rather than seeking to go speak to the people who are perceived as the most important in that particular room.
How many of us can identify that moment when we got to be near someone of celebrity status… someone of great social status …and how our life felt more fulfilled?
My guess… not many. Whatever excitement we may have felt… is usually short lived.
Yet I know many people who have found that they had an experience in which they served someone who was socially unseen… unsupported… and that they never felt closer to God.
That which is rooted in God…is able to extend honor to others.
Matthew 20:16 (ESV) ?The last will be first, and the first last.”
Romans 12:9-10 (ESV) ?Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ?
Matthew 20:28 (NIV) ?“….just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Finally…he goes further in giving instructions that will change us.
Luke 14:12-14 (NLT2) ? 12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
Now before you go cancelling that family dinner….or feel judged by that party with friends…I don’t believe that Jesus was actually teaching us NOT to invite family and friends.
The simple truth is that Jesus is simply using the common means of exaggeration to make his point.
We know he was a part of countless meals in which family and friends were a central part…and never denounced them in any way.
We know that he shared meals among those who held high social status…in fact… he is at a meal with them even as he speaks.
The literal translation would be: “When you give a dinner do not always keep inviting your friends.” Jesus is really saying that we shouldn’t ONLY invite family and friends… habitually and exclusively.
What he is saying…is BREAK out of the transactional cage… by extending yourself to those you may not be gaining as much back from.
He is telling us that we shouldn’t look at people and think, ‘What can I get out of them?’
Jesus calls us into the freedom to…
3. Extend our life to those who may be deemed “less” or “least” in social status.
Jesus refers to inviting “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind”… and I think it’s safe to understand that they represent any who our current culture and circle would deem less or least in social value.
Some… family member… someone in your apartment building… workplace.
CLOSING:
It’s a call to freedom… to pierce the vanity that binds us.
It is a vanity that holds us more than we’d like to think.
Change is not easy…
We might feel intimidated – afraid that we can’t provide what some need…so we avoid them. He doesn’t say that you will be able to meet all their needs….but include them.
We might try to overcompensate with some criticism or anger towards those who are well to do. That isn’t the call that Jesus is making.
Change comes by…
Seeing the value of those who may be deemed “less” or “least” in social status.
Focusing on their value…And extending ourselves to them. who may be deemed “less” or “least” in social status.
There at the table of our lives… we can clear the cloud that keeps us from grace.
Max Lucado said it this way, ‘ The sign of the saved is their love for the least.”
Will you choose in your heart… that this week…if not this day… you will go to someone… who offers you nothing to clothe your pride.
PRAY
Resources: John Hamby (“When Jesus Comes To Dinner”); Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III
(“Jesus Cared about the Lord's Day. A lot.” And “Why was I a Guest?”); Steve Ely (Table Manners)
Notes:
1. Why are the best teachers of the future paid moderately…and those who entertain us paid so much? As some suggest…because we have an unspoken value of the bigger than life importance that they represent…and we live vicariously through. (It’s not that their athletic or musical talents are not great…but those alone can’t explain the enormity of what the time and treasure we give them.)
Apart from the true and living God … Caesar becomes god…and soon the rise of celebrity culture. In them, we may find some archetype of ourselves… a more “ideal” version…and seek to live vicariously through their “bigger than life” positions…which we help create.
2. The powerful significance of the table…and what the sharing of meals represents is one again at the forefront of this whole scene as well as Jesus’ teaching.
As Clair Sauer notes
“Our experience at shared meals and Christ's stories of common suppers remind us of our call to radical hospitality; our call to invite and welcome all at the Lord's Table!
The Table is the place where we are all acknowledged and accepted, where we are loved and valued. And since this is what Jesus’ ministry is all about, it is no wonder then that Christ so often shares meals with others, or talks about meals together, as in this passage today.
At the Table, we are the unworthy recipients of Christ’s generous hospitality and from the Table we are sent out to extend that same hospitality to others; to offer a place of welcome for the stranger, to offer food to the hungry, to offer a place of honor to the poor and outcast.
And Rev. Luke A. Powery notes:
To the gospel writer Luke, “nothing [is] …more serious than a dining table” (Fred Craddock). The Eucharist and revelations of the risen Christ occur there (Luke 24). Jesus promises the Holy Spirit while eating (Acts 1). Jews and Gentiles reflect the nature of the church through table fellowship (Acts 10, Acts 11). The table is taken so seriously that Jesus gets into trouble because of his eating buddies. He was known as a “friend of tax collectors [publicans] and sinners” because he ate with them. Table fellowship meant full acceptance of one another and the inclusiveness of Jesus revealed by the company he kept, especially of the socially ostracized, was suspect.
A hospitality that is risky, so risky that in the images of the Last Supper, we see Jesus sitting at a table with his disciples, including Judas Iscariot who would betray him.
3. Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III notes: Throughout the gospels, you find Jesus in conflict with the Jewish leaders of His day over Sabbath observance. They were regularly concerned that Jesus was undermining the traditions of the elders, which He was, but they accused Him of undermining Moses, which He was not. The traditions of the elders are not found in the Old Testament, they’re not found in the Torah, they’re not found in the first five books of the Bible, they’re not found in the Law of Moses. They are interpretations, elaborations, applications, and expansions on Old Testament ethical and ceremonial obedience. And Jesus did not enforce those traditions on His disciples and He regularly came into conflict with the Pharisees because the Pharisees thought that a good God-fearer, a good Jewish person ought to follow those traditions.
3b. N.T. Wright says: “Pride, notoriously, is the great cloud which blots out the sun of God’s generosity: if I reckon that I deserve to be favoured by God, not only do I declare that I don’t need his grace, mercy and love, but I imply that those who don’t deserve it shouldn’t have it.”
3c. As Tim Keller notes: The educated and the influential and the powerful people in every society find every other religion more palatable than Christianity…because unlike the other religions, is the only one that says, “You can do nothing to save yourself. Jesus Christ had to die a bloody death to pay the penalty of your sins so God the Father could adopt you freely by his grace.” How many times do you see in the Bible things like this? Jesus would say to the Pharisees, to the influence brokers, to the educated, to the top of the social class, “The whores and the whoremongers go into the kingdom before you.” How many times do you see places where it says, “The common people heard Jesus gladly?” - Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. THE GREAT BANQUET; ON HUMBLING (August 30, 1992)
4. From, The Weight of Glory (HarperOne, 2001), pp. 45-46.
5. Jesus is speaking forth a truth which God had declared long ago… that humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 22:4; 29:23; Isaiah 66:2.) This is lived out in it’s most profound way in the life of Jesus.
God opposes the proud (Prov 3:34, James 5:6, 1 Peter 5:5), therefore if you exalt yourself He will humble you.
