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Sermon Date:	September 2, 2007 (Redeemer, Sanford)
Sermon Text:	Luke 14:1-14
Church Calendar:	14th Sunday after Pentecost
Delivered By:	Rev. Brian Roberts

"Jesus on the Menu"

In the Gospel story today, we find Jesus, on one Sabbath day, eating dinner with the Pharisees in one of their homes. But at this dinner, the menu has little to do with the meal.

At this dinner, Jesus is on the menu. Jesus has been invited to eat so that the Pharisees can watch Him, closely—scrutinize His every move, scan for weakness. They want to see how He might be used.

You see, meals among the Pharisees are less about food and more about status. Those who are deemed most important get to sit near the head of the table, and those who have less status sit farther away. And here we find Jesus, right in the middle of this strange, worldly dance for status.

But from the Pharisees’ standpoint, things are going to get even stranger. Already, this meal has been interrupted once: Somehow, a sick man, swollen with fluid build-up on his body, has found his way in, looking for Jesus.

And, Jesus has healed him on the spot. Now, the Pharisees aren’t quite sure what to do with this. On the one hand, Jesus has broken their strict rules by performing work on the Sabbath. On the other hand, the work that Jesus performed consisted of healing a sick man. In any event, Jesus knew what was going in the minds and whispers of the Pharisees. So, when the healed man departed, Jesus tells this parable:

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

It’s interesting, isn’t it? It sounds as if Jesus is just quoting a handbook and giving the Pharisees some simple, political strategy for life in their world. If you have some status, sit in a lower spot anyway. That way all that can happen is that you’ll be recognized as deserving a better spot, and be honored by moving up – in front of everybody.

But if you take a high spot at the table, there’s the chance that someone with more status will take your seat, and you’ll suffer the embarrassment of having to move back down – in front of everybody.

That’s how it works in Pharisee-World: The better you do, the higher up the table you move. In fact, that’s how it works everywhere in the world, doesn’t it? The better you do, the farther you go. However, the problem with the Pharisees is that they see salvation the same way. The better you keep the laws of God, the closer you are to heaven.

So, beneath what seems to be, at first, simple political strategy, Jesus is warning them of their spiritual emptiness. Before God, because of their sins, if they try to exalt themselves, they will be humbled. Of course, here’s the rub: If they all strive to be the humblest and work hard at being the lowest, that’s no better. Nobody likes someone who takes pride in their humility.

So, whichever end of the table they’re shooting for, only humiliation awaits them. Furthermore, if they truly want to be worthy in God’s eyes, Jesus says they shouldn’t be having dinner with each other in the first place. Instead He tells them, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

If the Pharisees were truly interested in keeping the Law, they’d be inviting the downtrodden of society. The sick man, who dropped by—he should be sitting with them right now. But he’s gone away.

However, that’s the man who gets the most from the meal! The Pharisees are busy worrying about doing enough and being enough in order to sit in a certain spot in relation to each other and Jesus. They’re consumed with their own status and works. But the sick man cares nothing about such things. He’s sick and dying. Status and works don’t mean much when you are sick and dying.

This man comes to Jesus because he trusts that Jesus can heal him. And this man is the one who leaves the meal exalted, because he as been forgiven and restored.

So now, let’s talk about us. Life in this world is a lot like the Pharisees’ table. It’s about moving up towards the top seat. It’s about advancing and improving yourself.

If you’re the first one at work and the last one to leave, you stand a much better chance of getting that raise. If you work hard and dedicate yourself to your work, you stand a better chance at advancing your career or your business.

The more time you spend reading and studying, the better you will do at school, which will improve your chances for a good college, which will improve your chances for a better career, which will improve your chances for making more money.

The more time you spend with your family, the better your kids are likely to turn out. The more you focus on diet and exercise, the better your health is going to be. The better you handle your money, the more comfortable your retirement will be. That’s simply the way the world works.

And so it HAS to be. Our lazy, find-the-easy-way-out, sinful, natures need to be pushed and goaded into action. But it’s frustrating, isn’t it? There are so many ways you have to work hard, and only so much time in the day.

And here’s the kicker: All these different requirements for success clash and conflict with one another. Long hours at work mean less time with the kids, so you might get the promotion but have troubled teens. More time sitting and studying means better test scores, but less activity equals weaker health. More responsibilities mean more headaches, moving you down the table away from low-stress.

To be at the head of the table in one area means that you end up seated in the low spot in others. So what do you do? You have to prioritize. You have to balance things out—there’s no other way. But if you go for balance, you’ll have a middle seat at best. Try to be good at all things, and you’ll never be great at anything.

I don’t have to tell you – do I – that life can be really hard?

Do you know what’s really scary? So many believe and teach that heaven is yours if only you do your best.

So, while you’re juggling all these different responsibilities, you can only be sure that you’re saved, if you do well enough. The thought is that when things are going well, that’s how you know if God is blessing you. And if things are not going well, then you know that God is unhappy with you.

So how do you “do your best?” Self-help books give a lot of advice. Prioritize. Simplify. Take breaks for yourself. Outsource. Hire somebody else to take swimming lessons for you. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Follow 48 steps toward an easier life.

Do you really want your salvation based upon how well you handle life? Do you really want to seat yourself at God’s heavenly banquet table based your efforts and work? There will always be someone who works harder, succeeds more, achieves better status, raises a better family, makes more money, lives a happier life… and so on.

The wonderfully Good News that Jesus wants us to know today is that our salvation is based upon how well JESUS has handled life! Our place at the heavenly banquet table is totally dependent upon Christ’s efforts and work.

Jesus Christ came to this world and lived the perfect and holy life that WE were supposed to live. He then exchanged that holiness for our sinfulness when He suffered and died on the cross. He who was first – Jesus Christ, perfect and holy – suffered the ultimate embarrassment and terror of being made last in God’s eyes – punished and abandoned by God.

And, we, who were last in our humiliating sinfulness, have been exalted by God – receiving Christ’s forgiveness and holiness. What an amazing gift of grace!!

Status, advancement, improvement… none of these things make any sense here. We have been given the righteousness of Christ. We are holy saints in God’s eyes. He has embraced us as His own dear children. There is no higher place, or advancement, or status that really matters.

This is what our faith is. It trusts that Christ has given us everything in our salvation. And it lives a life of trust and contentment, believing that God has us safely in His hands – no matter what is happening to us. It knows, even in the hard times, that we are so blessed – because we are destined for eternal happiness in heaven.

The challenge of our faith is that the world does NOT live this way. The challenge of our faith is that living in this world IS hard work. The challenge of out faith is that we constantly doubt that God has us safely in hand.

In your work, by the time you finish all your responsibilities, you’re tired. You want a break. You wish you had more energy. You regret the way you snapped at somebody earlier in the day. And when you get home, the “To-Do” list hasn’t gotten any shorter.

Neither has the list of aches and pains. You can’t do what you need to do as well as it needs to be done. All of this demonstrates to you that you have limitations—that you only have so much to give. And tomorrow probably won’t be any easier. That’s how life is in this world – it is constantly accusing you, because it demands more than you’re able to give.

But that is not how your Savior treats you. You see, you arrive here on Sunday morning, perhaps still shaking cobwebs from a night’s sleep. You have just lived through another week on this earth, recognizing your limitations, not to mention your discontentment and sins. But here, the Lord speaks His Word to you. Here, He invites you to His table.

He doesn’t say, “If you do well enough with your life, and if you’re good enough at worshiping here, then I invite you to be forgiven.” Oh, no. He doesn’t tell you that the food’s only at the top end of the table, so you’d better get to work and move up a few chairs.

Instead, He tells you that because He became flesh for you. He knows all of your weaknesses, and limitations, and temptations. Where you have failed to live up to God’s commands, Jesus has kept them for you. Where you merited God’s judgment for your sin, Jesus has endured that judgment on the cross for you. And where you lacked righteousness and perfection, He gives you His own.

Remember the sick man who appeared at the beginning of the story? He doesn’t care about table position, because one chair or the other won’t help him. He comes to Jesus because he needs healing and forgiveness. And, he trusts that Jesus will provide it.

That is you and me this day: We do not come before the Lord saying, “Look, Lord! Look at all the great works we’ve done this week! Plus, we’re extremely humble about them, too!” No, we come before Him after a week of weariness and work, of limitations and failures. We come with the prayer of those in need: “Lord, have mercy upon us.”

And, as promised, Christ has mercy. He cleanses us of our sins. He feeds us His Words of grace. He encourages us with His promises And, He renews our everlasting life.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the world worries about first and last, more and less, wealthier and poorer, status and position. But you? Let God worry about those things. You belong to Christ. Trust Him. Live your lives in Him.

Amen.

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