Seating charts
This week's helping of Bible study is Luke 14:7-11:
Whenever I read these verses, I think of parking. Imagine parking in your parking lot, right by the door of your building, only to see your friend who walks with a cane pulling in afterwards and having to hobble the full length of the parking lot because you took the last close spot. Awkward.
Or imagine going to dinner at someone's house, and helping yourself to the last of the seconds, only to realize the host hasn't sat down to eat yet. Awkward. Or picture going to get free food handouts downtown, because they're free, only to find out that there wasn't enough left afterwards for people who were genuinely in need.
When we jump in to claim things for ourselves, sometimes we actually take something that was intended for someone else. I'm always amazed at how unaware some people are of others. People will walk past a whole line of people waiting, only to get sent to the back. People will stock up a whole plate of the most expensive item from a buffet, leaving none for anyone else there. People will go and camp out in a restaurant for hours, eating free food and ordering nothing, until eventually the place goes out of business (coffee houses call this "camping" and a lot of the lack of power outlets and free wifi now is a result of it.) All of these things are a result of not being aware of your place in the world around you. It's an attitude of "I deserve this and I am what matters."
When we try to hoard money, or honor, or those tasty bacon-wrapped crab leg thingies, we often do it at the expense of God's other friends. That makes us look like selfish dorks. We're not here to accumulate possessions, positions of honor, money, power, real estate, and so on. Jesus' disciples argued amongst themselves over who was greatest. Their families urged Jesus to appoint them to positions of wealth and influence. People begged Jesus to tell their siblings to give them a bigger share of the inheritence. All of them missed the point.
When you claim the humble place, you're allowing God to assign the position of honor. Maybe he's got that position reserved for someone else? Why get competitive? Why inflame that in others? Why provoke envy? If the position is yours, God will make sure you get it, but if you shove others down in order to take it, or assume that none of them wants it or deserves it as much as you do, that's when you are likely to get shot down.
The humble place is the place Jesus chose for himself when he was born. He didn't go around telling people how humble he was for taking it. He didn't pretend it was the most noble place by virtue of its obvious humbleness. He simply chose it and accepted it. But when people gave him honor, and presented him with gifts, he accepted those as well. His ambition was to do the work of God, not to make something great of himself. God's work can be done anywhere, because anywhere is where God and God's things are always found.
Unless you're better than Jesus, the low place is probably a good start for you. He is with you no matter where you are, and he is what matters, so what does it matter where you are? Compared to Jesus, do you deserve honor and praise? Do you deserve wealth and a long uncomplicated life? Do you deserve the worship and deference of your fellow man? Or did you just walk into the world and sit down in Jesus' seat without realizing it?
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: "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. 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. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Whenever I read these verses, I think of parking. Imagine parking in your parking lot, right by the door of your building, only to see your friend who walks with a cane pulling in afterwards and having to hobble the full length of the parking lot because you took the last close spot. Awkward.
Or imagine going to dinner at someone's house, and helping yourself to the last of the seconds, only to realize the host hasn't sat down to eat yet. Awkward. Or picture going to get free food handouts downtown, because they're free, only to find out that there wasn't enough left afterwards for people who were genuinely in need.
When we jump in to claim things for ourselves, sometimes we actually take something that was intended for someone else. I'm always amazed at how unaware some people are of others. People will walk past a whole line of people waiting, only to get sent to the back. People will stock up a whole plate of the most expensive item from a buffet, leaving none for anyone else there. People will go and camp out in a restaurant for hours, eating free food and ordering nothing, until eventually the place goes out of business (coffee houses call this "camping" and a lot of the lack of power outlets and free wifi now is a result of it.) All of these things are a result of not being aware of your place in the world around you. It's an attitude of "I deserve this and I am what matters."
When we try to hoard money, or honor, or those tasty bacon-wrapped crab leg thingies, we often do it at the expense of God's other friends. That makes us look like selfish dorks. We're not here to accumulate possessions, positions of honor, money, power, real estate, and so on. Jesus' disciples argued amongst themselves over who was greatest. Their families urged Jesus to appoint them to positions of wealth and influence. People begged Jesus to tell their siblings to give them a bigger share of the inheritence. All of them missed the point.
When you claim the humble place, you're allowing God to assign the position of honor. Maybe he's got that position reserved for someone else? Why get competitive? Why inflame that in others? Why provoke envy? If the position is yours, God will make sure you get it, but if you shove others down in order to take it, or assume that none of them wants it or deserves it as much as you do, that's when you are likely to get shot down.
The humble place is the place Jesus chose for himself when he was born. He didn't go around telling people how humble he was for taking it. He didn't pretend it was the most noble place by virtue of its obvious humbleness. He simply chose it and accepted it. But when people gave him honor, and presented him with gifts, he accepted those as well. His ambition was to do the work of God, not to make something great of himself. God's work can be done anywhere, because anywhere is where God and God's things are always found.
Unless you're better than Jesus, the low place is probably a good start for you. He is with you no matter where you are, and he is what matters, so what does it matter where you are? Compared to Jesus, do you deserve honor and praise? Do you deserve wealth and a long uncomplicated life? Do you deserve the worship and deference of your fellow man? Or did you just walk into the world and sit down in Jesus' seat without realizing it?
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