Committments that Tie Us Down

Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests (Luke 14:16).

FEASTS OM JESUS' DAY

Most of Luke 14 deals with the subject of giving and going to a feast - the biggest and best time of partying known to the 1st Century.  This is especially true for a time where only wealthy people (less than 5%) could afford meat on a regular basis. 

I think Jesus' hearers were amazed that anyone would turn down the opportunity of getting good food.  But Jesus told a parable of a bunch of people who did just that.  Today it would be like people turning down a free-no strings attached-vacation to anywhere in the world.  Jesus said there is this fantastic once in a lifetime opportunity to go to a feast that everybody in real life would not think twice in going to, and those who were invited all made up excuses to get out of it.

THE LESSON

Jesus used this as an illustration of God's invitation for us to enter into and serve in the kingdom of God.   But like those who gave excuses to skip out of the feast, people today (as in Jesus' day) allow life's responsibilities to keep them from entering into God's invitation.

Jesus saw that when we buy things, we become responsible for their upkeep and for using those things. Jesus also knew that when we get married, we bring in new responsibilities that also distract us from God's call.  These distractions keep people out of following Him and out of eternity. 

They are not evil in and of themselves, but the distraction can be. 

Jesus' followers were poor and landless people, who were either single or were willing to step away from their families long enough to walk with him.  His followers had few if any committments that kept them from following him.  Those who had commitments to land or family could not or would not follow him.

Brown Nosing

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11).


Jesus told his audience how to handle feasts.  The lesson was both for those who were guests at special events and for those who host them.

WHAT IS A BROWN NOSE?

During WWII, certain people overtly tried to please everyone higher in rank, in order to gain influence and raise in rank.  Others began calling these people "brown nosers," because on the metaphoric ladder going upward, their noses were in the bottoms of those above them.


WHAT IS A FEAST?

In the ancient world, feast were big deals. Meat was not eaten every day, so to have a feast with meat was special.

Today, we have parties and celebrations.  We invite friends and people with whom we want to build relationships.  Almost all of our parties and celebrations have food involved.  Wedding receptions, Graduation parties, funerals, rites of passage, or just parties for the sake of parties, all have food served.

During the First Century, people had feasts for different reasons.  Some were religious, such as Passover, some were rites of passage, such as marriage ceremonies, and some were for celebration (EX: the Prodigal Son).  The focus on food was just as much, if not more, than it is today.

WHEN YOU ARE A GUEST
 In Jesus' day, seating order during feasts was important.  Even today, wedding receptions traditionally place people who are most important to the wedding couple closest to them in proximity. According to the book of John, the author of the book was the one who had the seat of honor at the last supper - the place right next to Jesus.


Jesus told his followers that when they are invited to any feast, they should take the lowest position. That means that people could choose where they wanted to sit, and if they could choose where they would sit, I suppose most people competed for the best seat. It may be that the host chose certain people for the top places and let everybody else compete for the rest.
 So Jesus had an angle on this.  Pick out the lowest postition and the host will see you, and invite you to the top, because you don't belong on the bottom.
 Jesus intended this lesson to be for all types of situations.  In life's situations, don't jump for the highest honor. 


Typically people look to get ahead and choose positions and opportunities that will take them higher or serve their own interests.  Those opportunities oftentimes are wealthy or influential people that we seem naturally attracted to.


WHEN YOU HOST A SPECIAL EVENT


The guests were not the only ones being political about the feast.  While the guest struggled for the best seating, the host had already carefully chosen the most influential people as guests for his feast.  


This whole story is about status - people using each other to get ahead in the social world.  The guests compete for for status with their seat position, while the host competes for status by inviting the people who will best serve his interests.


Jesus directed both sides to seek the lowest to become the highest.  In the case of invitees, they were to receive the best place by sitting at the lowest.  And in the case of the host, by inviting the lowest and poorest in society, his reward would come later - at the day of Judgment.


THE TYPES OF PEOPLE TO INVITE


But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind (Luke 14:13).


The poor, crippled, lame and blind were representing an entire class of Israelites who were rejected from society.  Their lives were defined.  When people saw them, they were judged as sinners and cursed by God (see John 9).  As such, they had nothing to offer the social climber, in fact, they may even hinder the social climber's attempt to gain status.

But these rejects were the ones who were invited into Jesus' kingdom.  In Luke 6, Jesus had said, "Blessed are the poor, for your's is the kingdom of heaven."  Jesus said, "Woe to you who are rich...."  The kingdom of God was given to the lowly of this earth, so if you want what's good for you, win friends from that group.  Luke 16 will tell us that winning friends from among the outcasts is our only hope for entering into the kingdom of heaven.

THE LESSON

If you are going to be a brown nose, don't be brown nosing the people who are influencial in this world.  Brown nose the people who are the recipients of the kingdom to come - the poor and the rejected of this world.