Download Avoid Humiliation - Try Humility - St. John`s Lutheran Church of East

“Avoid Humiliation – Try Humility”
Lk. 14:1-14
St. John’s – East Moline
09/01/13
Intro.: A young woman asked for an appointment with her pastor to talk with him about a personal sin she was
worried about. When she saw him, she said, "Pastor, I have become aware of a sin in my life which I cannot
control. Every time I am at church I begin to look around at the other women, and I realize that I am the prettiest
one in the whole congregation. None of the others can compare with my beauty. What can I do about this sin?"
The pastor replied, "Mary, don’t worry about it. In your case it’s not a sin. It’s just a horrible mistake."
Pride, which is at the root of all sin, leads us into many such horrible mistakes, doesn't it? One of the worst is
when we buy into the idea that honor comes from pushing our way to the front of the line and forcing our way to
the top of the heap. In today's Gospel Jesus speaks out against, a fallen world that rewards hubris and punishes
humility, saying, "Avoid Humiliation - Try Humility!"
I. Hubris Ends In Humiliation.
A. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines hubris as an “exaggerated pride or self confidence often
resulting in retribution.” Our reading in Proverbs makes it clear that hubris ends in humiliation. “Do not put
yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great," it says, " for it is better to be told,
"Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” (Prov. 25:6-7) If it is risky to take a place of
honor for ourselves in the presence of other people, how much more dangerous is it to do so in God’s presence?
After all, there are a lot of people in this world who are more distinguished than most of us. And there are
certainly many people who are more “deserving” of a place here than we are, people who are more faithful, live
more holy lives, and do more for God’s kingdom than us. Who are we to take the seats of honor we are in
tonight/this morning and what gives us the right to come to God or to receive any kind of reward from Him?
B. Think about it, when you hear the Lord extolling the virtues of righteousness do you assume that He is talking
about you? Are you ready to walk up to the front of the church and claim your award for all the good things you
have done and to receive the crown you have earned with your faithful service?
The Pharisees and scribes were. They foolishly thought that when God talked about righteousness He was
describing them - the way they lived and the things they did that set them apart. They expected God to reward
them for their religious practices, like the way they kept the Sabbath regulations. They thought that they were
better than the rest of the Jews and in a completely different class than the Gentiles, the manifest sinners, and
people like that ailing man who crashed their exclusive dinner party to be healed by Jesus.
They were notorious for seeking honor and praise and for exalting themselves before God and other people.
What Jesus noticed at the dinner as “they chose the place of honor” was typical for them. We know that when
they prayed they actually thanked God that they were not sinners like other people. The Bible tells us that they
loved to put their religion on show for others to see. Every day, they would seek the praise of other people and
stand up before God and boast, “Well, God, what do you think? Pretty special, huh? I think I’ll come on up and
take that place of honor.”
They believed they were better and more deserving of God’s blessings than those who did not attend
synagogue or practice religion like them. Their pride led them to only associate with people like themselves religious people, relatives, friends and people in high places - who would honor them, invite them to dinner, and
reward them. [Nt. v.12] They were God's holy favorites, so why would they humble themselves to serve sinners
or invite the lowly to share in the blessings they had earned.
We are not so different than those ancient Pharisees and scribes, are we? Deep down most of us believe that
we are better than others, even in the sight of God. We expect, even demand, that God bless us above the people
out there who never come to church or act religious the way we do. In our homes and church we prefer people
like us; people whose every sentence is not polluted with vulgarity and cursing and we assume that God must
prefer people like us also. We want to fill our church with those who already think and live like us, who believe the
Bible and pray regularly, who live moral and upright lives. Why waste our time serving those outside this inner
circle or inviting undeserving sinners to share the blessings of God’s kingdom? What will we get out of that? That
promiscuous woman living off welfare, she won’t appreciate it. That ex-con or struggling drug addict won’t bring
us any honor. That mentally challenged person riding their bike to some menial job, who needs help with rent and
food, will not be able to repay us for what we do for them. So here we are with our comfortable little group of
friends and family, stroking each other’s egos and rewarding each other. Like the Pharisees and scribes good
Christians like us seem to be looking for immediate honor and temporal rewards. We exalt ourselves because we
think it is the way to get God's attention and to get ourselves into heaven.
C. In our Gospel, however, Jesus warns the people at the dinner and all of us that this will only lead to
humiliation, to shame and to everlasting contempt. He says, "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.” (vv.8-9) He also told his host that there was no glory or lasting reward in inviting
and serving only those who make you feel good and can repay you.
Glorifying and exalting ourselves before other people and especially before God will ultimately lead to
humiliation. The next time you think of others and are tempted to say with the proud Pharisee, “I thank you Lord,
that I am not a sinner like them,” remember the Lord’s warning, “..everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.”
That seat of honor you are assuming today and the rewards that you have received for serving those who could
repay you, may actually belong to someone else, like that woman enslaved by welfare you ridiculed, that excon or
struggling drug addict you despised, or that developmentally challenged person you were so reluctant to help. We
are not better or more deserving than anyone else. We are, everyone of us, unworthy sinners. So as St. Paul
writes, “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12) Instead of assuming a place of honor
and chasing after rewards…
II. Try An Attitude Of Humility.
A. Humility involves not taking advantage of a supposed right or privilege. It means confessing, not just with
our mouths, but in our hearts that we are "by nature sinful and unclean...and...justly deserve [God's] present and
eternal punishment." True, Spirit-worked faith, brings us to recognize the unreachable holiness and glory of God
and to realize that we don’t even deserve an invitation to the wedding feast let alone a seat of honor in God’s
presence. Humility will lead us to consider others more important than ourselves, looking after their needs above
our own, and gladly accepting the place of a servant. It means that we confess with the Psalmist: “I would rather
be a [lowly] gatekeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell [luxuriously] in the tents of the wicked”
B. Our epistle encourages us to learn this way of life by following the example of others. It says, “Remember
your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate
their faith.” (Heb. 13:7) When you hear these words I hope that you do not think that they are directing you to
remember me, to consider my life or imitate my faith, you can do much better. Think, instead, about the apostles,
pastors and deacons of the early church, many of whom set aside the privilege of social status, walked away from
prominent families and sold everything they had to serve others in the name of Christ.
From them we learn that it is not about us and our glory, but about God’s love for all and His glory revealed in
the lowly cross of Christ. What freedom we have when we begin to realize that it does not matter if people honor
us, and instead realize that it is more important for us to honor God! What a better life we have when we stop
trying to exalt ourselves and instead exalt the name of Jesus! What joy when we finally stop trying to lift ourselves
above others and start lifting others up to God! This, the lowest seat of a humble beggar who by grace has been
invited to the Lord’s table, is the best seat in the house.
Following the example of those who have gone before us we are Spirit led to humble ourselves and joyfully
invite others to take a seat of honor in the Lord’s kingdom. No matter who they are or what they have done, no
matter how they talk or dress or act, we reach out to them and say, “Here, I saved a seat for you in front of mine.”
In spirit worked humility of faith, and realizing that it is not about reward or repayment but about bringing glory
and honor to God, we can now begin to love and serve people who are in need without ever expecting anything in
return.
C. Of course Jesus gives us the clearest example of this kind of humility in serving those who could not and
would not repay Him. Jesus did not come into the world to exalt Himself and win the praise and honor of men, but
to humble Himself for our salvation and His Father’s glory. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give
His life as a ransom.
Our Lord humbled Himself to become one with us in flesh and blood. He lowered Himself to take the place of
least honor on that cross. The One who deserves all honor and glory subjected Himself to humiliation, when He
was ridiculed, unjustly accused, rejected, tortured, crucified as a public spectacle of shame, and forsaken by His
Father to take away the sins of the world. As our epistle says, “Jesus.. suffered outside the gate in order to
sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he
endured.” (Heb. 13:12-13)
Each and every day Jesus reached out to the unworthy, people like the man in our Gospel, and he invited them
to receive God’s kingdom by faith and to feast at His Father’s table with Him. He welcomed and ate with sinners –
sinners like us who can never repay Him. Our epistle encourages us to take that seat of dishonor with Him and to
serve those who will not repay us. We are called to go to Jesus outside of this little circle and to humble ourselves
and to endure the same reproach he did. Not for the sake of pride or reward, but for the salvation of others and
for the glory of God. And we can do this with the full assurance of faith that just as Christ was exalted through
humility, so it is and will be for us. Already, we have been exalted and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms
through faith, and someday we will hear him say to us "Names....Friend, move up higher! All those years you
humbled yourself, now let me exalt you and raise you up.
Concl.: So come, let us swallow our pride that leads to humiliation and try humility, instead, "for everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Amen.