Open 475 RR Luke 14:7-14 NKJV "Social Climbing" Close 579 LUKE 14:7 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 8 "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; 9 "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. 10 "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. 11 "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 12 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, the blind. 14 "And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just." 14:1 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. 2 And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" 4 But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. 5 Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" 6 And they could not answer Him regarding these things. This event probably took place on one of the last Sabbaths before Jesus' crucifixion. That in itself gives meaning to this story. And Jesus was not invited for His good looks. Verse one tells us that they were watching him closely. They were probably trying to get some evidence against him for the trial that they knew they would eventually have. So their motivation was not to enjoy an afternoon of pleasant fellowship with some friends. Rather it was hopefully an opportunity to catch Jesus in some violation of the law. I don't know if you have been in a situation where people were watching you closely to try to find something wrong. I have. In my first district, after being there for a year, the members of one of my churches all of a sudden took an interest in recording my sermons. Being naive at the time, I felt good about it. I later found that they were combing through them to try to find something against me. Interestingly enough, later they were telling me about that, and said, that the sermons were really not bad. I guess that's half of a cup.. Anyway Jesus was under scrutiny. But while they were watching Jesus, he was reading their hearts. Verse 7 says that he noted, he paid attention, noted, marked, what was going on. And what was going on? He probably had to hide a grin somewhere as he watched the childish way that the guests manipulated their ways around the table to find what they thought to be the most exalted place at the table. He had once before upbraided the Pharisees about this type of activity before. Luke 11:43 "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Watching what is going on, once the hubbub settles down, he dispenses some good advice. Not just good spiritual advice, but good political advice. 10 "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. Then he relates another parable, or bit of advice. 12 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, the blind. 14 "And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just." In other words, when you invite someone to dinner, invite someone who is really needy. Jesus ties this directly to salvation at the resurrection. In the first of these parables, Jesus speaks to how we should behave in public situations. In the second, Jesus speaks to who should be invited to our dinners. Today we are invited to a feast. We are not to rush greedily to the table and begin grabbing. Neither are we to hang back and refuse to enjoy the feast. It has been provided for our spiritual nourishment. It is a feast of communion with our Lord. After all, is not that what a feast is all about? You can eat anywhere. You come to a feast for food AND fellowship. Also, notably, it is a feast to which the poor are invited. There is nothing that we can bring with us except our impoverished, malnourished selves. The King of the Universe has reached down to us poor week humans, and provided for us everything that we can possibly need. The ordinance of humility is reflected in the first parable. The bread and wine are reflected in the second. For those who may not be familiar with our practice, we celebrate the ordinances of humility as directed by our Lord in John 13. And we celebrate open communion, inviting any believer in Christ to join with us as we celebrate the Lord's goodness.