When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at 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 the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’In case you've missed it the theme this week is about humility. Also, in case you missed it, a few days ago we talked about biblical humility not being about lowering yourself but about not making yourself greater or less than those around you. With this in mind let's see what Jesus is trying to say here. Actually let me tell you a story that might help illustrate this.
My wife, who was my girlfriend when this happened, invited me to a family Christmas gathering. There must have been 50 people there, all related, none of which I knew. We entered the home, walked to all the aunts and uncles to pay our respect. Then we said hi to all the cousins and various other guests. Not too long after we said our hellos we got our food and looked for someplace to eat. As you may imagine finding a seat wasn't easy, but we found a corner to crowd into and began talking with whoever we were around.
As we ate and talked another couple walked in who I was told was a distant cousin and her boyfriend/guest. I watched as the young man made his rounds, just as we did. As I watched them my focus turned to how the boyfriend/guest was behaving. He was making jokes, putting his arm around people, and talking louder than the others around him. I just thought he was already well known by the family, but was a little concerned with how the one who invited him was beginning to behave.
They grabbed their food and, just as my wife and I did, looked around for a place to sit and eat. The TV in the living room was showing a football game and there just so happened to be an open recliner directly in front of the TV. This is where the young man decided to sit, and as he sat all eyes watched him with surprise. Before he could get his first fork-full of food shoveled into his mouth the homeowner and eldest of the family, the patriarch of the family, approached him and gently asked the young man to get of his seat.
I asked my wife who that was and she didn't know so she asked the cousins we were sitting with and they said they didn't know either. I continued to watch, as was everyone in that room, as the young man made a few jokes about not knowing the seats were reserved, took a few bites of his food, then stood up. It was at this point the young girl who had invited him decided to rip into him with sharp comments of being rude and embarrassing, after which she got up and walked out of the room. The young man followed and fifteen minutes later they returned at which time he apologized to the entire family for how he acted.
The family forgave him and the gathering continued and we all got to know the "new and improved" young man. He wasn't such a bad guy after all.
"For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
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