Lifestyles of the Famous and the Forgotten Luke 14:7-14. Introduction

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1 Introduction In Luke chapter 14 Jesus deals with the Pharisees about false piety or fake religion. Now Jesus deals with a group of guests about false popularity or phony standards of success. Once Jesus is done with the guests He will move on to the host (vv.12-14) about pride and selfishness. The values in the Kingdom are upside down from the values of this world. In our world there is a premium on those who want to be first, those who want to get ahead. In the Kingdom of heaven the first are last, the weak are strong, the proud are humbled, the poor are rich, those who surrender win; the hungry are filled, those who sacrifice everything have everything, those who give get. Clare Sheridan, journalist for the New York World, once interviewed Mussolini, the Italian dictator: What she remembered particularly was Mussolini s parting advice on what it took to succeed in life. Above all, keep your heart a desert! the dictator told her. It has been said that the father of success is work--the mother of achievement is ambition. Not much has changed. We live in a world that craves attention, fame, notoriety. We have come to accept self-promotion as a way of life. I don t care what you say just so long as you spell my name right. In the dog eat dog world of the famous and the former famous the ladder of success is filled with people just above you, trying to kick you off the ladder. Francis Bacon compared fame to a river that easily carried things light and swollen but that drowned things weighty and solid. It is interesting to scan old editions of encyclopedias and see how many famous people are forgotten people today (Warren Wiersbe; TBEC; Vol.1; p.229). Eventually the famous become the former famous. Experts in management tell us people want to be valued; they wear an invisible sign that says make me feel important. Burger King s slogan is Have it your way. For the Christian our slogan must be Have Thine Own Way Lord. Humility is the fundamental grace so elusive, so difficult to obtain, and once you have it and know it slips like jello nailed to a tree. D.L. Moody once said; A man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility. Jesus And The Party Scene (v.7) Luke 14:7 (NKJV); So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: In the party scene of the first century popularity and status was determined by where you sat at a party. In order to be important you had to be invited to the right homes, and seen at the right places where people would know how really important you are. The emphasis was on reputation and not character. It was more important to be seen sitting in the right place than living the right kind of life. 1

2 In the world of the first century, the closer you sat to the host, the higher you stood on the social ladder and the more attention (and invitations) you would receive from others. Naturally, many people rushed to the head table when the doors opened because they wanted to be important (WarrenWiersbe; TBEC; Vol.1 p.229). When Jesus noted how they chose the best places he gave them this parable. The Parable Of Ambition (vv.8-10) Luke 14:8 (NKJV); When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; Luke 14:9 (NKJV); and he who invited you and him come and say to you, Give place to this man, and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. Luke 14:10 (NKJV); But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, Friend, go up higher. Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. Jesus is speaking to the man who has come to the party looking to move up, to build a reputation, the man who is looking for honor, recognition or position. Is it wrong to want to get ahead, to be good at what we do, to excel, to be excellent? It could be. It certainly is not wrong to do your very best and exercise your gifts and callings with excellence. But at what cost? Jesus is warning the ambitious person about self-promotion. People need to be careful. Do not seek to sit in a seat or occupy a position that is higher than your capability, maturity or character will allow. You will be displaced. You will discover the seats you could have occupied, already occupied. You will be forced to take a different seat. You could be embarrassed. Is Jesus suggesting we take the lower seat in order to avoid social embarrassment? I don t think so. I don t think Jesus is suggesting to the religious leaders a staged humility. Jesus hated the pride that pretends to be humble (R. Kent Hughes; Luke Vol.2; p.112). Proverbs 25:6-7 (NLT);6 Don t demand an audience with the king or push for a place among the great. 7 It is better to wait for an invitation than to be sent to the end of the line, publicly disgraced! Jesus points out three things for the person who assumes the lower place; (1) The person s presence is acknowledged by the host. (2) The person is rewarded and moved up to a higher position. (3) The person is recognized and honored by all, no matter how high or low or how far from the top the position might be. Hunger and Humility In The Real World (vv.11-14) 2

3 Luke 14:11 (NKJV); For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. This is what is known as an axiom or principle of the kingdom. Jesus makes it clear the man who elevates himself, exalts himself, promotes himself will be abased. It would appear that this is more than just a possibility but rather a certainty. The word humbled and humbles or humility (tareinphrosune) means lowliness of mind. The word is almost exclusively a Christian word. In the Greek world in the New Testament world a humble man was viewed as a coward, a cringing, effeminate, door-mat. Jesus made humility a virtue. When men looked at Jesus they saw the strength of humility and the perfection of the person who walked in meekness and lowliness of heart. You will notice that Jesus never said, Look I am God, the second person of the trinity, the guy who glows in the dark. You should notice me. Philippians 2:8 (NKJV); And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Humility means at least five things: (1) to walk as a servant to others, always ready and willing to help. (2) To behave in an unassuming manner, not being showy or pretentious, haughty or proud, arrogant or assertive. Matthew 18:4 (NKJV);4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (3) It means to assume a spirit of lowliness and submission, of oneness and identification with others, not showing conceit or superiority or being boastful. (4) It means to possess a sense of lowliness and unworthiness, to have a modest opinion of oneself, knowing that others are just as significant and valuable. (5) It means to come to God on a regular basis, and confess one s spiritual needs and unworthiness. As you can imagine humility is a big fat stinking problem for most people. Why? Because the world still views humility as weakness or cowardice and now mental illness as low-self-esteem. We fear humility. We fear that it will make us objects of contempt and shame and abuse causing us to be passed over, neglected, ignored. But just the opposite takes place. The Lord loves the humble and resists the proud. Humility is the mindset that leads to conversion, we must go lower, in order to get higher. We must squeeze through the narrow gate. The results of humility are God notices you and human beings will notice you. You serve and love others. You put other people first. You are always the first to come and the last to leave and you make sure everyone is served before you. True humility comes when you measure yourself---not by the pastor, or the person next to you but the Lord Jesus. When we examine our lives in light of Christ we measure ourselves against perfection. Jesus was without sin. When we measure ourselves against men even good men we make a severe error. God demands humility and rejects pride. 3

4 Matthew 8:20 (NKJV); And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. Humility comes from a continued consciousness of God s presence. We are aware that the food we eat, the air we breathe, the body we have, the job, the family, our very lives are because God allows us the awesome privilege of loving and serving Him. Humility comes when we acknowledge the truth about ourselves, our awful pride, and an honest appraisal of ourselves. It takes courage to see ourselves honestly, basically self-centered, self-absorbed. In moments of delusion and weakness we see ourselves as the center of attention, the hero in our own story, the great reformer bringing mankind closer to justice, the amazing sportsmen. I heard on a movie trailer for the movie Aviator that Howard Hughes when he received his father s tool company, purposed he would be the world s best businessman, the best golfer in the world, the best pilot in the world, the best movie maker in the world. We want to be the queen or the princess, the prince charming or the sweet Cinderella. We hate worm-theology. We love self-esteem. We love our rights. After all we have boundaries. Yet Jesus Jesus saw the landscape of sin as a vast land filled with sinful people and Jesus refused to fence himself in. He allowed sinners to touch him. He allowed sinners to need him. He allowed sinners to hurt him. He allowed sinners to kill him. The self-seeking self-promoting person invariably does so at the expense of others. In other words, the person who exalts himself in his mind, and in his heart and in his behavior will treat others as less and lower than himself in order to push himself up. We must never degrade others or downplay their roles and gifts in order to exalt or promote our own. We must never demean others, trying to wound them, or shame them or humiliate them. We must never tear down others, hurt others, or damage others either in their reputation or person when the goal is to lift ourselves above them. The self promoting person exaggerates their sense of self-sufficiency and in fact is usually in great need of the Lord. The self-promoting person is fond of saying, I don t need anything from you. The problem with the attitude is that it often spills over in their relationship with the Lord. The self-promoting person loses their moral compass and sometimes ignores or neglects justice. The self-promoting person, the person who exalts himself, determines the rightness or the wrongness of things in terms of whether or not their action will push him or her forward into the lime-light. You know you have a problem if you have had to lie about yourself in order for you to look better in the eyes of others. Did you have to steal, or cheat, or abuse, or ridicule, or shame, or hurt, or damage or kill something or someone in order to get your way? The person who lives a life of self-promotion and self-exaltation rarely lives a life of peace. 4

5 The truth is the world simply does not believe this to be true. Washington does not believe it. Professional athletes do not believe it. Wall Street and Madison Avenue refuse to believe it. Advertisers and Business men live each day and work each day and hope each day it is not true. The tragic truth the vast majority of Christians may believe it see it in the Bible read it for themselves intellectually acknowledge that it is true there it is in red letters in my Bible yet cannot bring themselves to live out the consequences of this statement. We are intoxicated with pride, bloated with selfimportance; we are terminally taken with ourselves. In the High Church we are in love with altars and thrones and magnificent works of stain glass art, we love gold lace vestments, sedan chairs, and great big hates and that look like a fish with its mouth open. The Low Church is no better off with its gold thrones, bubbling water falls, designer suits, perfect hair, and permanent beg-a thons. At best we are ambivalent. We subscribe to the axiom in principle. We loathe the proud climbing in others. But we do it too, only we are far more subtle. The trick is to get into the prominent seat without appearing to try, to get there all the wile protesting, to decry it in others while we ourselves subtly pursue it. God help us all! And he will, and does. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore under God s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (Peter 5:5-6) R. Kent Hughes Vol.2; p.113). Luke 14:12-14 (NKJV); Then He also said to him who invited Him, When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. What is Jesus saying? Then He also said to him who invited Him Jesus addresses His host. Jesus knew the host had invited his guests for self-serving reasons. It was pay back time. They had invited the host to their cool parties and now it was time to reciprocate, return the favor. Or it could be he had invited them over in the hopes they would return the favor and invite the host to their cool parties. Jesus cares about our motives. Was Jesus invited simply so the host could be seen with Jesus? The host s hospitality was motivated by greed, ambition, pride and selfishness. He was purchasing recognition. Please don t read this and say see the Bible says we can t have our friends or family over for dinner. Jesus is warning his host don t simply have family, friends, and rich neighbors so that all your social occasions turn into some back-slapping mutual admiration society. Have you ever had a dinner or a party and said, Let s not have them over. I hate them. They make me sick. They offended me. We usually don t talk that way. We simply think in our minds, They have nothing to offer, nothing to give, nothing to contribute. If anything they are parasites, taking and taking with nothing to give. 5

6 Jesus goes right to the heart of the issue why share? We share to glorify God, not to seek the recognition of men. We look for the applause of heaven, not for the temporary rewards of forgetful people. Verses 13 and 14 give us an interesting principle. Jesus said when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the blind and you will be blessed! How? Will channel seven or Nine News recognize me as an every day hero? Will they write an article in the Denver Post or the Rocky Mountain News? Jesus makes it abundantly clear you can have your reward now or you can have your reward later. In the first century there was no People with Disabilities Act. There were no hospitals. In the first century it was considered improper to invite the poor or the handicapped to a feast or a party. It was considered rude, impolite, a bummer, a downer, to redirect the focus or merriment on to the depressing circumstances of the less fortunate. You may not know this but it was also considered rude to invite women. Jesus commands us to put these people on the top of the guest list because they can t pay you back. If your heart is right God will pay you back. Oddly enough our motivation should not be reward either in this life or the next life. We serve; we give, with unselfish hearts knowing we are laying up treasure in heaven. Matthew 6:20 (NKJV); but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:21 (NKJV) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:21 (NKJV); So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Jesus is giving a strong warning to cultivate and embrace humility. Why? Because no one can enter into the Kingdom of God unless they are will to be humble. Humility includes serving those who can never repay. Conclusion There's a story told of a pastor who was officiating at a funeral. When he was done, he was asked to lead the funeral procession as it made its way to the cemetery. So he got into his car, and he started driving at the head of the funeral procession. He flipped on his radio and became preoccupied, lost in thought; he forgot where he was going. About that time, he passed a K-Mart and thought about something he needed to pick up. So he turned into the parking lot. As he was looking for a parking space, he just happened to glance into the rear-view mirror--and saw a string of cars following, all with their lights on! So self-absorbed, and then so humbled. -- Mary Graves, "Getting Sober for Christmas," Preaching Today, Tape No