Living Waters Christian Fellowship - Lake Nacimiento - California

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.”

Introduction Notice the concept of exalting oneself in pride vs humbling ourselves. Notice the concept of being put down in shame vs being exalted in glory. Active then passive. What we do determines what is done to us.

Notice also the idea of the societal pecking order, and how we deal with it. Should I try to be a social climber or not?

1. Some places in life are seen as better than others v7-8

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;

2. It is human nature to want the better places for ourselves v7-8

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

3. What makes one place better than another? I’m in a good place, or not.

At a wedding feast, the seating was determined by your relationship with the family. So the better seats were the closer seats. The seating at a banquet, or our position at any event might be symbolic of our situations in real life.

What makes one place better than another? Physically, emotionally, spiritually? The Central Coast and SLO are often voted as the best place to live in America.

We might base our choices for the “best places” on our own needs - for provision, security, self esteem, popularity, power, curiosity, excitement, peace. What place do I need to see, choose and sit down in to meet the needs of my life or my family?

4. Sometimes other people determine our places v9

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.

5. Who is allowed in the better places? v8, 10

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;

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.

Someone being given a better place is honorable (valued), and the act of being moved up is glory (brightness, high opinion).

The idea here is that you get the place you deserve, depending on your perceived honor (value) or glory (high opinion) if the master of the banquet is always fair.

6. Is the master of the banquet always fair? No, people in authority are not always fair minded - leaders, bosses, teachers, parents, coaches, the people in charge of the pecking order are not always fair. Their perception of a person’s value is often their own opinion, and may not be accurate.

How many times has a person’s whole life course been affected by the “master of the banquet” assigning them a position based on his own value system and opinion?

Recent poll of negotiations for salary - the most brutal ones came out on top. In the world, many times nice guys do finish last.

7. Is there a limited number of good places?

At a wedding banquet, yes. In the rest of life, no. God can bless us anywhere we go. And even at a wedding banquet, I could choose to be blessed, and to be a blessing to those around me, no matter where I sat.

So where does the prevalent idea in our world come from, that there is a limited number of good places, or opportunities, or resources, and that we need to claw and scratch and run over other people to get what we need?

It’s called coveting, and God said not to do it, but to trust Him to meet the needs in our lives.

8. Coveting is needless, and is a major cause of problems in the world

A major cause of sin, of unloving behavior, problems between people in the world, is in the misconception that there is not enough for everybody, and we must crush others under our feet to push ourselves higher. The idea is that every time someone takes a better seat at the table, it means someone else is being pushed to a lesser seat. This even causes nations to go to war with each other.

In God, there is enough for everybody. He wants to and is able to bless everyone abundantly. Even entire nations.

9. Coveting is rooted in lack of trust in God

Many people don’t realize they can trust Him. They ignore the vertical relationship and focus on the horizontal.

This goes back to Cain and Abel - I refuse to do what’s right to come under God’s blessing, so I’ll just eliminate the competition.

Families, companies, organizations and nations do this.

10. When we trust God, humble ourselves, He lifts us up, puts us in a good 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.”

We really need to trust God, get with His program. If not, we may do unloving things to advance ourselves, and this leads to shame. Pride leads to shame.

The source of humility is faith and trust in God. I can humble myself, not try to advance myself, take a lower seat, because I know God is looking out for me. Humility leads to glory. Jesus could wash feet, knowing He came from God and was returning to God. Boy was He moved to the Highest Place.

11. Jesus does not want us to be ashamed

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.

He created us to be naked and unashamed - open, vulnerable, unflappable, secure

1st miracle - to keep a young couple from being ashamed

The one who trusts in Jesus will never, by no means be put to shame.

I like to avoid embarrassment, do you? So let’s be humble, trust God, let Him lift us up, take care of our needs. And, if we have been proud sometimes, not trusted God, had some selfish ambition, we can ask, and He will forgive. There is no shame, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

It breaks Jesus’ heart to see someone who made a mistake on the seating arrangement of life being put down in shame.

12. We should have no part in putting others to shame

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.

Imagine having to move - knowing that other people are watching us, critiquing us, judging us, looking down on us. When somebody trips, I look the other way.

Satan means accuser - gets us to miss the mark, then accuses, shames us.

As Christians, we must stand with Jesus, not satan.

Conclusion

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.”