Invitations

Luke 14:1-11.  KJ2000
 
(1) And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
(2) And, behold, there was a certain man before him who had dropsy.
(3) And Jesus answering spoke unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
(4) And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;
(5) And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have a donkey or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?
(6) And they could not answer him again about these things.
(7) And he put forth a parable to those who were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief places; saying unto them,
(8) When you are bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest place; lest a more honorable man than you be bidden of him;
(9) And he that bade you and him come and say to you, Give this man your place; and you begin with shame to take the lowest place.
(10) But when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that bade you come, he may say unto you, Friend, go up higher: then shall you have honor in the presence of them that sit at table with you.
(11) For whosoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.
 

It is the custom in our day to invite guests to a wedding and arrange the seating for them. This is commonly done with round tables, place names at each, thus ensuring pleasant conversation and no damaged egos. It is a reflection of how much we value pride in our land that this is necessary. It is also a sign that politeness still is of value in a land in which the young are taught that rudeness and maturity are the same thing.


See the politeness of our Lord here:
 
Does he condemn this Pharisee, as he does so often in other circumstances? No; he teaches him, and by the gentle means of a parable.
 
Even the parable itself is gentle, for it concerns a different kind of feast—a wedding feast.


The virtue of politeness, especially as a guest, is hereby proclaimed. One of the reasons politeness needs to be taught so well is that it helps us over our pride. Are you the lowest of the guests at the wedding? This can really hurt if you thought you deserved an important place. But if you are not a family member or long time friend, you understand that you will be at the outer tables—and are therefore not offended. Politeness can be used to control our expectations, and these must often be kept in check. Being the lowest only hurts when you expected to be the highest.


Our Lord is the same kind of guest. When we first take him into our hearts, it appears that he is the lowest and meekest of guests. Does he insist on perfect sinlessness in behavior immediately? No, he begins his gentle (but firm) work upon our souls with polite persistence. At first it is the very noticeable sin that is remedied, but as time goes by we note that he brings up one thing after another, only as we can bear to deal with them, correcting them gently, as is His nature.

But see what this does to us! We come to him with the sense of awe which is the natural result of meeting the Living God. As we grow in the faith, we go "higher up." Our place at the banquet becomes closer to the Host. We should lose none of the sense of awe, but we should grow in the familiar sense that here is the Friend of Sinners, the one in whom love is completely perfect. As we grow, we come closer to Him. As we come closer to Him, we become more like Him. We start at the back of the hall—but our Lord calls, "Friend, come higher up."