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LUKE 14:1-14
Hearing the Call….
to Humility
Rev’d Chris Johnson
I'm sure you've all had the honour of being a guest at a wedding.
You know that when you walk into the
Reception Hall you find the seat which has been allocated to you.
If you wanted to, you could go straight to
the top table and sit down next to where the bride and groom will sit.
But you would soon be ushered down
to a lower seat - red face and all.
I was once at a wedding where I saw some people change the name tags on the tables.
They didn't like the
table they were allocated, so moved their name across to another table with the people they wanted to sit
next to.
How rude is that!
In today's reading from Luke 14 Jesus tells a parable about a marriage feast.
In those days obviously seating
wasn't allocated because people could come in and choose their own seat.
Jesus advises to choose the lowly seat.
Much better to be there, and then invited to come up higher; than
grab the most important seat only to be ushered to the back of the room.
Today we begin a new series from Luke Chapters 14 to 19.
The series is called, Hearing the Call.
Today the
theme is - Hearing the Call to Humility.
-This is obviously the theme in the parable of the wedding feast.
-It is an important theme in the story of the man being healed on the Sabbath and
-It is there in Jesus’ instruction to the host of the dinner party to invite the poor and the sick when giving a
party.
God calls us to humility.
We're going to spend 8 weeks in Luke hearing afresh the call of God on our lives.
And this is all about what it
means to belong to the Kingdom of God.
Each week we will pick up a theme of Kingdom living.
Jesus said in
Matthew's gospel, ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you as well.’
As we examine Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom, I trust we will be refreshed in the call of God on our lives.
Today we look at the Kingdom and humility.
We’ve talked about the Wedding Feast but there are two other stories in this passage as well.
In Verses 1 - 6 there is the story of Jesus challenging the Pharisees and experts in the law; by healing a man
on the Sabbath.
This is a story about compassion but there is also a lesson here about humility.
The
Pharisees were very proud of their adherence to the law such that it blinded them to the true nature of the
Kingdom.
Jesus reveals their blindness by asking two questions.
1.
In V3, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
And we are told that they were silent, why?
If they
answered yes they would be seen as lawbreakers and the Pharisees were supposed to be the upholders of
the law.
If they said no they would be seen to be enforcing the law but heartless that they didn't want this
man to be healed.
We’re told they were silent.
2.The second question Jesus asks really shows up their hypocrisy.
V5, “If one of you has a child or an ox that
falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”
Once again, they are silent.
Why?
Because the answer is, obviously they would.
Jesus is showing up their
double standard in the way they applied the commandment to keep the Sabbath.
A little more humility is required on their part, a humility that would issue in compassion.
1
The final paragraph v’s 12 – 14, is addressed to the host of the gathering challenging him to make sure he
invites people to his house who will not have the ability to repay the invitation.
We see here an exaltation of
the poor, crippled, lame and blind.
We’re told Jesus is in the home of a prominent Pharisee.
I don't think he is having a go at the host but just
wanting to reinforce a Kingdom principle.
After all the host has invited Jesus to this dinner party, and he
must have known Jesus was an itinerant preacher without much opportunity to repay the invitation.
It is also
interesting that one of the guests is this man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body.
This pharisee has
invited someone who others may have shunned.
Once again in this final piece of teaching the theme of humility is prominent.
It takes a humble person to mix
with those on the margins and to act with no thought of reward.
So Jesus has some important teaching here about being the guest and being the host at a party.
And I take it
we have all been in both those roles:
-Be a humble guest and take a lowly seat - don't seek the seat of honour.
-Be a humble host and don't just invite your friends and the well to do, but also the poor and the outcast.
And overall, be wary of religious pride.
Because you know the law of God doesn’t necessarily mean you
understand the Kingdom of God.
If we truly understand Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom, it should humble
us, not make us feel like we are better than anyone else.
Humility really is an elusive quality isn't it because as soon as you think you’ve achieved it you really have
something to be proud about don't you.
There is a pop song from quite a few years ago that was good for karaoke; and it goes something like this,
“Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.
I'm always in front of the mirror 'cause I
keep getting better looking every day.
To know me is to love me I must be a hell of a guy.
Oh Lord it's hard to
be humble but I'm doing the best that I can.”
So how can we pursue humility when it is so slippery and hard to get a handle on.
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