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September 12, 2004
15th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 14:1, 7-14
Pastor Robert Raasch

Christian Conduct for the Banquet of Life

1. Think of Yourself with Humility
2. Treat Others Unselfishly

Have you been to any wedding receptions lately? Have you ever been invited to the dinner and then when you got there, you had trouble deciding where you were supposed to sit? It seems like there's this unwritten rule that says that the better you know the wedding couple, the closer to the front you should sit. Right? Obviously the wedding party sits right up there at the head table. The parents and grandparents are right there in front. But what about everyone else? How does everyone else decide where to sit? Sometimes the wedding couple makes the decision for you. They put little name tags at each place. And you spend the first five minutes wandering around looking for your assigned seat. Other times, the couple leaves the decision up to you. But then you're faced with the dilemma, "Should I sit up front or way in the back? Should I take one of the seats of honor, or should I leave it for someone else?" Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

My friends, in our text for today, Jesus helps us make such a decision. Only in this case Jesus is offering advice on more than where to sit during a two hour wedding banquet. He is offering advice on how we conduct ourselves every day of our lives. In fact, here in Luke, Chapter 14, Jesus teaches us about what we might call:

Christian Conduct for the Banquet of Life

Here, Jesus offers two important directives:

1. Think of Yourself with Humility
2. Treat Others Unselfishly

Our text begins with Jesus at the home of a prominent Pharisee. And, while he was there, Luke tells us, Jesus was being carefully watched. By this time in his ministry, Jesus' enemies were looking for any reason to accuse him of wrong doing and thus discredit him before the people. And so they were watching him. But while they were watching Jesus, Jesus was watching them. And he was noticing how they selected their seats as they came to the banquet.

Now, it should probably be said that already at this time, the Pharisees had a powerful reputation for always wanting to seats of honor. They always wanted to be seen and honored by others. In Mark 12:38, for example, Jesus warns the people, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets."

It was to counter that type of "me first" attitude among the Pharisees and among those who were tempted to emulate them, that Jesus offers the advice he does here in our text. Jesus tells the people, "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. {9} If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place." Now I hope you realize that with these words Jesus is not merely dealing with the proper etiquette for banquet seating. Jesus is dealing with a much deeper issue. He's addressing a matter of the heart. The way that the Pharisees went about trying to grab the most prominent spots at the table said something about how they saw themselves. They regarded them selves as better than everyone else. Each one considered himself as worthy of a place of honor. You might say that they were allowing their behavior to be controlled by their ego.

Tell me, is that kind of behavior something that is restricted to first century Pharisees? Or could it be that you and I are guilty of that very same attitude? Could we be the ones who find ourselves thinking, "I deserve something better!" Maybe it happens at church when I think to myself, "Hey, I went to the trouble of getting to church early so I could sit where I want to sit. I've earned this spot on the end of the pew. And how come we never sign the songs I want to sing? I think I should be the one to pick the hymns."

Or maybe it's in our relationship with others that we find ourselves thinking, "Me first." "Why should talk to him?" Or, "I'm not going to waste my time with her. Those people are below me. I'm not going to be seen associating with them." Or maybe it's at work that we say, "Hey how come he got new office furniture and I have to make do with this old stuff. I think I deserve more respect, more money, more benefits." Or, "why do I have to be the one who always has to clean up the kitchen or put away the laundry or discipline the children or bring home the bacon? I mean, for all the things I do around here, I'm the one who deserves the best spot on the couch. I get to run the remote!"

My friends, do you realize how easy, how natural it is to do just like those Pharisees as we jostle for the best spot? To say, "me first," to push our way into the limelight, to grab what we consider to be our just rewards. And of course, that temptation becomes only stronger when it seems that we have worked hard for a particular goal, or we have achieved a certain level of success, or we have accomplished something, be it socially, financially or athletically. When the world says, "You're the greatest," well then (as my father liked to say), it's easy to start believing our own press. We start thinking "I deserve the honor. I deserve the applause."

And so often, that self-centered attitude spills over from our relationship to others to our relationship to God. We think, "God, I deserve what you have to offer. I've earned your good favor. I ought to get lots of good things from you in this life and the next."

Isn't that the attitude which was clearly displayed by the Pharisees? Remember the parable that Jesus told about the Pharisee who stood up in the temple and prayed about himself, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get."

What does Jesus say about that kind of attitude? He says, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." In other words, those who take pride in their own righteousness, those who say, "I've earned God's favor," will be thoroughly humbled when on Judgment Day, God says to them, "Away from me, you evil-doers!" Their pride, their ego, became the roadblock to life with God.

The question is, "will your ego and mine produce a similar result in our eternal lives? Or maybe more particularly, how do I keep my ego from separating me from God? There are two keys to keeping our ego in check. The first step is to confess that sinful pride is just that-sinful! I need to admit that my "me-first" attitude is rebellion from God. It's saying "I'm Number One!" That's idolatry. And that is what brings God's just wrath upon us. By our "me first" attitude, we have earned only a place in hell. And yet, the more important key is the second and that is to believe that in spite of the fact that I've earned the worst spot, God in an act of pure undeserved love, has moved me into the best spot. More specifically, Jesus, by his life and death in our place has rescued us from the hell we deserved and granted us the eternal life we didn't deserve.

In fact, isn't that the point of this parable? Those who think they deserve the best seat will in fact be sent to the worst seat. But those who know they deserve the worst seat will, by God's grace, be moved to the best seat. And because God has already granted you and me the best seat in the heaven, we have no need to scramble for the best seats here on earth. Instead, we can as Jesus says, "think of ourselves with humility."

You might say that's the first point of Jesus' parable. He's speaking primarily about the attitude we have about ourselves. In the second half of the parable, Jesus moves from our attitude toward ourselves to the actions we show toward others. As we participate in the Banquet of Life, Jesus encourages us to not only think of ourselves with humility, but also to II. Treat Others Unselfishly.

Actually, here in our text Jesus turns his attention away from the people who were jostling for the best seats at the table and instead focuses on the one who invited the guests in the first place. In other words, he moves from the guests at the banquet to the host of the banquet. Jesus offers this advice to the host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid." What? Is Jesus saying that it would be wrong for me to invite a few friends over for supper? No, what Jesus is saying is, "Before you throw a party for your friends and neighbors, you'd better ask yourself why are you doing it? Are you it for their benefit or yours? Are you doing it because of all the good things God has done for you, or are you doing it for all the good things you hope your friends and neighbors will do for you?

Jesus says that if we're tempted to give in order to get, then we'd better concentrate on giving to the people who can't give anything in return. That's what Jesus means when he says, "When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." In Jesus' day, there was no reward for inviting these kinds of people. There was no status in throwing a party for the poor. That would be regarded by the culturally elite as a waste of time and money.

And yet, isn't that exactly what Jesus has done for us? Our Savior prepared a heavenly banquet for the people who couldn't pay him back. Jesus didn't say, "Let's see, if I give my throne in heaven, if I sacrifice my life on a cross, if I spill my blood for a world that hates me-what's in it for me? No, Jesus was not concerned about what in it for him. He's always and only concerned about what's in it for you! That's always been Jesus focus: You! The Bible says that Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. That is, to serve you. To give his life as a ransom for you. And because of what Jesus has done for us, because he has prepared a place in heaven for you, now for maybe the first time in our lives, we can look at the different choices in our lives and not ask, "What's in it for me?" Now, just like Jesus did, we can ask, "what's in it for them? What can I do to put other people first? What can I do to serve the needs of the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind?" Maybe it's delivering groceries. Maybe it's spending time in a nursing home. Maybe it's supporting those who minister to the convicts and the mentally disabled. It you think about it, God has given us all an endless number of opportunities to serve others, before we serve ourselves, once we realize it's not "me first."

My friends, as you pick your seat in life, as you choose where you will invest your time and energy, may it ever be a reflection of what you deserve from God and what he's given you instead. God has moved us from the cheap seats to the front row, from sinner to saint, from hell to heaven, from self-server to God-pleaser, all for our good and his glory, in Jesus Christ. Amen.