Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekend Sermon. I am glad to be able to be with you today, and I want to thank you for reading the blog.
This week I've been working hard on writing. I've sent in stories to publishers, and I've written poems and sent poems out to literary journals. I love working on poetry.
I really want to find a different job soon. I am so stressed out working where I am. Please pray that I can find a different job soon. Another thing that I would ask for your prayers about is getting my house sold. A few months ago, I tried to get my house sold, and I didn't have any success. I want to get out of that house. Please pray that it will happen this time. Thank you for your prayers.
Today here in the United States it is Inauguration Day. Whatever you think of the new President, the Bible calls on us to pray for our leaders. Let us all pray that our leaders will have wisdom to do what is right.
Also, let us pray for those who are suffering as a result of natural disasters. Pray for those in Italy, Haiti, California and Nevada.
Please pray for peace in the world. Pray for Syria especially as that nation is still firmly in the grip of turmoil.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let's pray for the nations of Morocco and Malaysia. Pray that many in these two nations will come to know Jesus.
For the past couple of weeks, we have been in a series of messages on the parables of Jesus. Last week, we looked at the parable of the light under a basket. We are not to hide our light. We are to let our light shine into the darkness so that others will know about Jesus. We shine our light so that we can help make this world a better place.
In today's message, we will focus our attention on the parable that Jesus told in Luke 14:7-14. This is a powerful parable that teaches us lessons about humility and hospitality.
Jesus was often invited to banquets that were held by prominent people and religious leaders. One Sabbath day, Jesus was dining in the home of an important Pharisee. While dining, a man with dropsy came to be healed. Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath much to the consternation of the religious leaders. Jesus told them that if their ox fell into a hole on the Sabbath, they would certainly go and pull the ox out. So, why should a man who was suffering not be healed on the Sabbath Day. The religious leaders didn't answer a word to Jesus.
While Jesus was at the dinner, He noticed that the guests were all trying to get the best places at the dinner table. The best places would have been those that were closest to the host. Jesus said that when invited to a dinner, instead of seeking the best place, one should take the worst place. If you take the best place right away, someone more esteemed by the host might arrive and then you might be asked to take a lower place. This would be embarrassing. However, if you take the lowest place, the host may ask you to come up to a better place which would allow you to have honor in the eyes of those at the dinner table.
I think that this example is so good, because I've had this same thing happen to me a couple of different times. Once, when I was at a dinner given for my Grandpa, my Grandpa asked me to come up and sit with him at the head of the table. On another occasion, when I was at a gathering for my friend, the family asked me to join them at the family table.
What this parable of Jesus is getting at isn't fundamentally about where you sit at a dinner. Jesus is making a point about the attitude of humility that His followers should have. We should follow the example of humility that was given to us by Jesus Himself.
Jesus was the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He came to this earth in human form and suffered in all manner just as we do. He took upon Himself the form of servant. He demonstrated the attitude of service that we should have when He washed the disciples feet in the Upper Room on the night before the crucifixion.
While Jesus was on this earth, He always sought to serve and not to be served. Jesus went about healing and delivering people. He didn't use His power for Himself. He used His power to make other people's lives better.
Jesus demonstrated deep humility when He went to the cross suffering the shame of death on a cross. Because of this, He was exalted, and He sits at the right hand of God the Father. One day He will return in power and great glory. Every knee will bow to Him, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
When we act in humility, we truly show that we are followers of Jesus. When we don't try to get glory for ourselves in this world, we show that Jesus is our Lord.
The mark of someone who is not a follower of Jesus is a heart that is lifted up in pride. Someone who always wants to be number one does not have the attitude demonstrated by the Lord Jesus.
Being humble means letting others receive the glory. It means not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, It means that we recognize the fact that without the help and the aid of the Lord Jesus we can do no good thing. It is only through His enablement that we can accomplish anything.
Jesus went on to make another point. He told that man who was the host of the banquet that when he held a banquet in the future, instead of just inviting prominent people, the host should invite the lame and the blind and the outcast. The prominent people can pay one back with an invitation to their parties. Those who are poor and sick can't. Those are the ones to invite, Jesus said. Jesus said that if you invite the least of these, you will be rewarded when He comes back to earth to establish His kingdom.
What Jesus is saying here is that we shouldn't have the attitude that we are giving to get something in return. If we have that attitude, we will not have a reward in the world to come. Many people give to others thinking or knowing that they will get something back. Some people even give to the work of the Lord hoping that they will get money back in return.
Jesus told us to give to those who cannot repay. What does this look like? It means helping the homeless have a place to stay and something good to eat. It means helping children who don't have much have a good Christmas or enough food and good clothes. It means helping those who life has passed by. They more than likely will never be able to do anything monetarily for you. However, Jesus sees and knows when out of the love in our hearts we seek to help others seeking nothing in return. That is the attitude that Jesus wants His followers to have.
That is the attitude Jesus had. We have nothing that we can offer to the Lord. We were dead in trespasses and sins. While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us. By His grace alone we have received the gift of His salvation. There is nothing we can do to earn it. He just asks us to accept His gracious gift of love and salvation.
Next week, we will continue with our series on the parables of Jesus. On Monday, I will post the verse of the week. Last year, I posted two verses each week with the hope that we would work to memorize the verses. I hope that many of you were successful in memorizing a lot of Scripture. On Wednesday, I will post a review of a dog book. May God bless you all. Amen.
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