Table Talk Series

The senior pastor of a large church walked into the sanctuary alone and felt an overwhelming sense of God's holiness. He went to the front, knelt down at the altar rail, and began to beat himself on the chest, crying out, “Oh Lord, I am nothing!”

A few moments later, the associate pastor entered the sanctuary. He too felt the overwhelming presence of God and, seeing the pastor at the altar, went and knelt down beside him. He also began to strike his chest and say, “Oh Lord, I am nothing. I am nothing.”

It happened that the whole staff, one by one, began coming in. The youth pastor, the worship pastor—eventually, the whole staff, all kneeling at the altar bemoaning their “nothingness” before the Almighty.

A little while later, the church janitor came in and got caught up in the revival, as well. He knelt beside the church pastors and began beating on his chest, saying like all the rest, “Oh Lord, I am nothing. I am nothing.”

At that moment the senior pastor looked up, saw the janitor, and nudged his associate. “Well, well,” he said. “Just look at who thinks he's nothing!” (Don Aycock, Memphis, Tennessee; www.PreachingToday.com).

Pride is so insidious, so much so that we can become proud of our humility. This is especially true among God’s people who consider humility a virtue. In their quest to earn respect, they try to exalt themselves among their peers. They seek to make themselves appear more virtuous or more worthy than others. But it only makes them look like fools.

So, how do you earn real respect among your peers? How do you gain real honor among people? How do you win the real admiration of others. Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Luke 14, Luke 14, where Jesus tells a group of religious leaders how they can earn real respect with people.

Luke 14:1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully (ESV).

They have exalted themselves above Jesus, sitting as His judge, carefully looking for something about which they might criticize Him.

Luke 14:2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy (ESV).

Dropsy is a painful disease in which a person’s limbs are swollen with excess body fluids. Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day considered such a person unclean and immoral (cf. Numbers 5:27). So how did he get there, since no pharisee would normally allow such an unclean person to dine with them? I believe they deliberately planted him right in front of Jesus to bait him into violating the Sabbath.

After all, Luke records at least five other occasions before this where Jesus violated their Sabbath traditions. On the Sabbath He had cast out a demon (Luke 4:31–37), healed a fever (Luke 4:38–39), allowed His disciples to pluck grain (Luke 6:1–5), healed a man with a paralyzed hand (Luke 6:6–10), and delivered a woman from a disabling spirit (Luke 13:10–17).

The pharisees knew that Jesus would violate their Sabbath traditions again. That’s why they invited the man with dropsy to their dinner party. They wanted to bait Jesus to accuse Him of breaking the Law. So, what does Jesus do? He baits them!

Luke 14:3-6 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things (ESV).

Jesus knows that they would rescue their own sons, even their own farm animals, on the Sabbath if necessary. That’s why they were silent before Jesus. They had no answer. In an effort to exalt themselves, they were humiliated.

My dear friends, if you want to earn real respect, don’t do what these pharisees did. Refuse to sit as a judge over others. Instead, det your judgmental spirits aside and show real love.

PUT COMPASSION ABOVE CRITICISM.

Elevate kindness over piety.

When S. Truett Cathy founded Chick-fil-A in 1967, he decided to close the restaurant on Sundays to reflect His commitment to Biblical principles. Indeed, their corporate purpose is “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us, [and] to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” That’s why they remain closed on Sundays to this day, but there are a few exceptions.

One of those exceptions occurred when the Atlanta International Airport was hit with a complete blackout on a Sunday. This is one of the world’s busiest airports, and the blackout resulted in hundreds of cancelled flights and countless stranded passengers. While Atlanta’s municipal government was busy trying to find accommodations for these passengers, Chick-fil-A opened their doors to provide food (Jon Dykstra; “Chick-fil-A is always open – except when an ox falls into a pit,” Reformed Perspective, 1-30-18; www.PreachingToday.com).