Luke 14 (2)

Pray Psalm 123.1, 2.
Unto You I lift up my eyes,
O You who dwell in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
Until He has mercy on us.

Sing Psalm 123.1, 2.
(Darwall: Rejoice, the Lord is King)
To You we lift our eyes, O God enthroned above!
With longing gaze and heaving sighs we plead Your love!
Refrain v. 2
We look to You! Have mercy, Lord,
upon us by Your sovereign Word.

Read Luke 14.1-11; meditate on verses 7-11.

Preparation
1. How should we think about and pursue life in the Kingdom?

2. What promise does Jesus make to those who maintain this attitude?

Meditation
A good many years ago Carly Simon sang about a man who spent most of his time looking at and thinking about himself. “You’re so vain,” went the refrain, even chiding the object of the song by saying, “You prob’ly think this song is about you, don’t you?”

Rick Warren admonished us in his book The Purpose Driven Life, to reconsider how we think about our walk with the Lord. The opening sentence of that widely-read book explained, “It’s not about you.”

Not enough of us have taken that message to heart.

Doubtless by now subscribers to Scriptorium have mapped out their Personal Mission Field and are working it faithfully day by day. The problem with too many of us, however, is that which Jesus indicted in our passage for today. Rather than looking for ways to serve others and make disciples “as we are going”, too many of us have all the arrows defining where we go turned around and pointing to ourselves. The operative question that guides us in our daily walk is not “Whom can I serve?” but “What’s in it for me?”

We’re so vain. Sadly, though, we don’t think Jesus’ teaching is about us, do we? We just keep on going to church, getting involved in programs, making friends, and whatnot, all the while thinking, “This will be good for me. I think I’ll like this. I’m so blessed by this church.” We keep thinking the world revolves around us and that we should always have the place of honor.

That’s a dead-end way of life.

Life in the Kingdom is not about us. It’s about Jesus, and Jesus humbled Himself and came to serve, not to be served. You’ll never be exalted with Jesus until you get this lifestyle straight (v. 11).

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths” (Prov. 5.21).
“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous…” (Ps. 34.15).

This can be seen as good news, or not, depending upon what we are doing.

When Jesus “noted how they chose the best places” (Lk. 14.7), He decided to tell a parable to describe the chagrin with which He observed their behavior. He, of all people, had the right to speak it.

Look at the example Jesus set and the humility He exhibited by coming to earth: “who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2.6-8).

God wants us to be humble. He wants us to imitate Jesus (1 Cor. 11.1). He says, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow” (Is. 1.16, 17).

In fact, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6.8).

Jesus takes note daily of what we are doing and not doing. Good news and bad. But just like a parent who dearly loves their child, He loves us and wants what is best for us—which is always to trust and obey Him.

He tells us to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him, for He is gentle and lowly in heart. Doing this will bring rest to our souls (Matt. 11.29).

This way of service, this way of living, is the only way to find peace with God. But peace is only ours when we allow the Holy Spirit to do the work He wants to do in and through us.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” and be sure to “sit down in the lowest place” so you can “be exalted” with Him as you “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Phil. 2. 5; Lk. 14.10, 11; Matt. 6.33).

Jesus. It is all about Him.

For reflection
1. What is humility? How would you be able to tell that someone was humble?

2. Why is humility so hard to embrace as a way of life?

3. How can you tell when vanity is beginning to push humility aside in your life? What should you do then?

Why seek the higher place with an appetite for the heights, when you can make it simply by holding on to lowliness? If you exalt yourself, God throws you down. If you cast yourself down, God lifts you up. One may not add to or subtract from the Lord’s pronouncement. Augustine (354-430), Sermon 354.8

Pray Psalm 123.2-4.
Cast your burdens on the Lord in prayer. Look to Him to make you a servant to all the people you will encounter today.

Sing Psalm 123.2-4.
(Darwall: Rejoice, the Lord is King)
As servants strain to see their earthly lord’s command,
so we would in Your presence be and firmly stand!
Refrain v. 2
We look to You!  Have mercy, Lord,
upon us by Your sovereign Word.

Have mercy, Lord, we pray; our souls are weary, worn.
The wicked world condemns our way and heaps up scorn.
Refrain

Our souls are sore oppressed by this world’s ease and pride.
In You we would be healed and blessed, and in You hide.
Refrain

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available free by clicking here.