When I was serving as the Director of Ministries for the Central District of the Missionary Church, one my responsibilities was to organize an annual Men’s Breakfast for the various regions of our District. I would find a pastor who would host the event at his church, and he would be responsible for providing the meal and scheduling a speaker for the morning.
One year at the breakfast in the Peoria, Illinois area, the host Pastor scheduled one of his seminary professors as our speaker. Leading up to the event, my Pastor friend told me over and over how special this man had been to him and how close they had been as friends. The morning of the event, he continued this conversation by revealing that he felt like this professor had been like a father figure to him. I was looking forward to witnessing the reunion of these two old friends.
However, when the professor arrived and my friend greeted him, his first words were, “Nice to meet you. What is your name?” My friend was embarrassed that he was not remembered by this professor and that he had apparently overstated their relationship. I felt badly for his embarrassment but learned an important lesson.
It is a lesson that Jesus taught in a parable he shared with guests at a meal he had been invited to attend. It was in the home of a prominent Pharisee. Jesus stood back and watched how the guests were jockeying to be seated near the host. In first century culture, the closer one was to the host, the higher his status was considered to be.
In response to this jostling for position, Jesus told a parable in Luke 14:7-11. “When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “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. 9 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. 10 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. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The point is obvious. Jesus is teaching the necessity for humility in our lives. The pharisees were known for using their status as religious leaders to garner personal attention and respect. Jesus is warning them that this could lead to a harsh response from our Lord. In another teaching in Matthew 19:28-30, he makes his point in a unique way. “Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” (Verse 29 is the passage God gave to Cindy and I that confirmed our call to ministry!)
Jesus gives us the truth that in eternity, we will be seated in places of high honor and given great responsibility in his eternal Kingdom. But then he gives the formula needed to get there. It involves sacrifice and humility. This is not so we are lowly and weak in this life. He is asking us to ensure that we are not using our relationship with him to gain status for ourselves but are confirming that our lives will consistently direct all honor and praise to him. We take the back seat, so God gets the front.