March – 3 – Called to Serve

By Spally TaylorFebruary 27, 2019

Sunday School Lesson

March 3

Lesson 1 (KJV)

Called to Serve

Devotional Reading: Luke 14:15–24

Background Scripture: Luke 14:7–14

Luke 14:7–14

7. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

8. When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

9. And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

10. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

11. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

12. Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

13. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

14. And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Key Verse

Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.—Luke 14:11

Lesson Aims

After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:

1. Describe Jesus’ view of humility.

2. Distinguish between behaviors that indicate humility and those that don’t.

3. Demonstrate humility in one choice in the week ahead.

HOW TO SAY IT

Introduction

1. God’s Way Up Is Down

Some drivers hate to make turns against heavy traffic. Faced with the need to turn at an intersection across several busy lanes, they will drive out of their way to avoid the turn. In countries where people drive on the right side of the road, they will make three right turns to avoid one left turn. For them, the way left is right, and right, and right again.

Jesus expressed a similar idea throughout His teaching. He taught that under God’s reign, the way up, the way of honor and exaltation, is actually down, in lowly, self-giving service to others. Those who seek prestige, power, wealth, and status will be brought low. But those who lower themselves, who seek nothing for themselves and instead minister to others in humility, God will exalt. Jesus, the divine Lord who gave himself in death for undeserving sinners, taught and demonstrated that humility is the way to exaltation. This is the theme of today’s text.

1. Lesson Context

Today’s text is part of the account of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem; the account extends from Luke 9:51 to 19:28. Jesus was approaching Israel’s sacred city, having warned His disciples before the trip began that there He would be handed over to His enemies. They would put Him to death, but He would be raised again to life by God the Father (Luke 9:22). Although Jesus stressed, “Let these sayings sink down into your ears,” it didn’t (9:44).

The immediate backdrop of our lesson is an occasion on which Jesus was invited to a Sabbath day meal at the home of a powerful religious leader. At this grand meal was a man afflicted with dropsy, a malady characterized by painful swelling of the limbs (Luke 14:1, 2). Jesus confronted the other guests about their objections to His healing the afflicted man on the Sabbath. Receiving only silence as a response, Jesus proceeded to heal the man, pointing out their hypocrisy in the process (14:3–6). Our text is divided into two parts: advice given to guests at a banquet and advice given to the host.

1. The Humble Guest

(Luke 14:7–11)

1. Unpretentious (vv. 7–9)
2. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them.

Our text today begins with a teaching of Jesus identified as a parable. The noun being translated occurs 50 times in the New Testament, and 48 of those are in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Speaking in parables is a key characteristic of Jesus’ teaching. Parables range from brief comparisons (“Unto what is the kingdom of God like?… It is like a grain of mustard seed,” Luke 13:18, 19), to elaborate stories (“A certain man had two sons,” 15:11–32). Parables are designed to provoke the listeners’ thought processes and challenge the listeners’ assumptions.

Jesus delivers this parable at a grand meal. Shared meals in Jesus’ culture are occasions for the display of social status. The wealthy could display their abundance on such occasions, and places at the table closest to the host are regarded as carrying the greatest honor. Those not invited to such banquets can observe the proceedings from outside, and the ostentatious display of wealth is often the host’s objective. These factors all play a role in our understanding of Jesus’ teaching in this text, though His focus is on far more than correcting the customs of His day.

Jesus obviously speaks to those present with Him at the meal. But by calling them those which were bidden (invited), the writer Luke emphasizes that Jesus speaks to people who are in a position of privilege. Their important host has invited them as his peers to his sumptuous table. None of them are in positions of weakness like the seriously ill man whom Jesus has just healed.

In response to the invitation, and as people generally do, these seek the most prominent places at the table (the chief rooms). We might think of how people at a crowded event featuring open seating rush to get the best seats with good views.

8. When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him.

Weddings are common occasions for large meals to which many people are invited. Thus they provide a fitting backdrop for Jesus’ example. His counsel is to avoid the typical behavior of assuming the best position (the highest room) that one can get at the table. To do so is to risk embarrassment. Someone worthy of more honor than oneself might also be in attendance, and that person’s presence might result in a socially awkward outcome!

As Jesus speaks of those more honourable, we hear an echo of His description of himself on other occasions. In the upper room at the last supper, He will admonish His disciples for the argument about who is greatest, noting that He, clearly the greatest of their company, lives among them as one who serves (Luke 22:24–27). Jesus’ own nature as a servant, not their habitual desire for prominence, is what must determine the position that His followers seek.

9. And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

The end result of seeking the highest, most honored place may well be the opposite: shame. The host of the banquet, the one to whom guests are beholden for the privilege of attending the meal, may tell the honor-seeking guest to give up the place of prominence to allow the more honored person to have the proper seat. But isn’t that just common sense? Don’t those listening to Jesus know this (and perhaps have experienced it) already? Most likely! But there’s a point here that must not be missed: it’s not the guests who determine who takes which seats; that privilege belongs to the host of the banquet.

Just before telling this story, Jesus had honored an uninvited guest, the man with dropsy who humbly sought healing, by acknowledging his suffering and restoring him to wholeness. In doing so, He accepted the scorn of religious leaders who saw His actions as a Sabbath violation. Like the host in His story, Jesus exalted the one who took a low position. Like the wise guest in His story, Jesus willingly takes the lowest place, serving others instead of himself. His permanent move to the seat of highest honor becomes certain (Luke 22:69; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1).