WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:02.419 Grace mercy and peace be to you from God our 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:04.440 father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:10.880 Amen. Would you pray with me, please? Lord God, 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:13.000 we thank you that you build faith in our hearts 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:15.060 through the power of your word and the working 00:00:15.060 --> 00:00:18.199 of your Holy Spirit. As we consider the word 00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:20.059 you bring to us this day through your servant 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:23.219 Luke, we pray that you would open our minds to 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:26.120 understand and transform our spirits in our hearts 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.570 to believe. Let your spirit guide us in living 00:00:29.570 --> 00:00:32.509 in the way you have chosen for us so that we 00:00:32.509 --> 00:00:37.270 might serve you and serve others humbly and joyfully 00:00:37.270 --> 00:00:45.289 Amen Up is down and down is up in the kingdom 00:00:45.289 --> 00:00:49.670 of God or So it seems to those of us living here 00:00:49.670 --> 00:00:53.850 in this world From God's perspective the way 00:00:53.850 --> 00:00:56.789 things are in his kingdom are the way things 00:00:56.969 --> 00:01:00.810 ought to be. The kingdom of God is all about 00:01:00.810 --> 00:01:05.810 turning things right side up. It's just that 00:01:05.810 --> 00:01:09.750 right side up often looks upside down to those 00:01:09.750 --> 00:01:15.890 of us living in this sinful world. Our gospel 00:01:15.890 --> 00:01:22.370 text for today shows Jesus making one of those 00:01:22.370 --> 00:01:27.120 paradoxical statements that he often makes. statement 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:32.319 that may sound upside down but in reality is 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:37.519 right side up from a kingdom point of view. Jesus 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.239 said everyone who exalts himself will be humbled 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:46.019 and he who humbles himself will be exalted. This 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:50.319 is so typical of Jesus. If you happen to remember 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:54.170 the gospel text from last Sunday Jesus said, 00:01:54.349 --> 00:01:56.530 there are those who are last who will be first 00:01:56.530 --> 00:02:02.810 and first who will be last. Later on in the book 00:02:02.810 --> 00:02:06.510 of Luke, Jesus will say the very same words that 00:02:06.510 --> 00:02:09.069 we heard in our gospel text for this morning. 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:13.189 And in fact, we find this idea throughout the 00:02:13.189 --> 00:02:17.650 Bible. For instance, Mary, the mother of Jesus, 00:02:17.930 --> 00:02:21.650 said this about God. He has scattered those who 00:02:21.650 --> 00:02:24.509 are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought 00:02:24.509 --> 00:02:27.370 down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted 00:02:27.370 --> 00:02:32.509 up the humble. Both James and Peter in their 00:02:32.509 --> 00:02:35.949 epistles quote the very same verse from the book 00:02:35.949 --> 00:02:39.150 of Proverbs when they write God opposes the proud 00:02:39.150 --> 00:02:45.409 but gives grace to the humble. This theme runs 00:02:45.409 --> 00:02:49.449 throughout the entire Bible. Theologians call 00:02:49.449 --> 00:02:54.080 it the great reversal. The idea that in the end 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.039 God is going to turn everything around from the 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:02.379 way it is right now. That He will set things 00:03:02.379 --> 00:03:07.280 right side up from His perspective. And He is 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:12.900 already at work doing exactly that. You and I 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:19.539 are by very nature sinners. In our frail and 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:22.719 faulty human wisdom, we hope that we can be good 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:28.460 enough, that we can be moral enough to earn God's 00:03:28.460 --> 00:03:32.979 favor. We spend our days going through life living 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:39.060 in a way that seems right to us. But the Bible 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:45.039 says that is the way of death. Faithfully living 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:49.449 under God's precepts does not come easily or 00:03:49.449 --> 00:03:54.349 naturally to mankind. No one is able to do it 00:03:54.349 --> 00:03:57.289 without God's power at work in them and without 00:03:57.289 --> 00:04:00.669 the Holy Spirit's guidance for humble obedience. 00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:04.930 And who better to demonstrate that for us than 00:04:04.930 --> 00:04:09.310 the one whom God sent into this world in a very 00:04:09.310 --> 00:04:13.969 humbling fashion. Jesus came into this world 00:04:13.969 --> 00:04:17.589 through a virgin's womb, maybe the greatest paradox 00:04:17.589 --> 00:04:26.009 of all. God as man. Born in a stable surrounded 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:32.870 by noisy, smelly animals. Born into a lowly carpenter's 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:39.949 home. Having to flee to Egypt to escape the hateful 00:04:39.949 --> 00:04:43.189 infanticide inflicted by Herod and then only 00:04:43.189 --> 00:04:46.310 being able to return to live in Galilee after 00:04:46.310 --> 00:04:52.610 Herod's death. This humbling was done for us 00:04:52.610 --> 00:04:58.269 and for our salvation. Jesus gave up the glory 00:04:58.269 --> 00:05:02.550 of heaven to take on human flesh. And if he did 00:05:02.550 --> 00:05:05.970 not take this lowly place, then he would not 00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:09.810 experience hunger and thirst. He would not be 00:05:09.810 --> 00:05:13.329 a man of sorrows. He would not be one who had 00:05:13.329 --> 00:05:19.579 no place to lay his head. If he did not lower 00:05:19.579 --> 00:05:23.379 himself. He could not be under the law and therefore 00:05:23.379 --> 00:05:26.579 he could not perfectly fulfill the law on our 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:30.240 behalf so that he could take the punishment that 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:36.560 is meant for us for breaking God's law. And who 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:40.399 could whip, beat, and crucify God if he did not 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.879 first humble himself and allow them to do so? 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:51.480 So then who better? to teach a lesson in humility. 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:55.620 In our gospel reading for today, Jesus had been 00:05:55.620 --> 00:05:58.959 invited to a dinner party at the home of a prominent 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.319 Pharisee and the text tells us that their intent 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:08.899 was to watch him very closely. Most likely with 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:12.120 the intent of embarrassing or humiliating him 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:16.420 and even better, to find a reason to get rid 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:20.300 of him. And present at this gathering was also 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:24.300 a man who was affected by dropsy, a disease which 00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:31.680 causes the body to swell with fluid. Disfigured, 00:06:32.259 --> 00:06:36.920 ceremonially unclean, certainly not an appetizing 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:41.939 sight or presence. And the host seated Jesus 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:44.939 across from this man at what would have been 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:50.839 the lowliest seat at the table. Certainly a humiliating 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:54.579 snub to a teacher who had become well known by 00:06:54.579 --> 00:07:00.220 this time. The Pharisee not only placed Jesus 00:07:00.220 --> 00:07:03.439 in this lowest seat to embarrass him, but he 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:08.180 also did it to put a challenge before him. And 00:07:08.180 --> 00:07:12.019 then he and all of his guests watched Jesus closely. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:16.420 waiting for him to rise up in outrage and to 00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:23.100 demand to be moved. But Jesus turned this challenge 00:07:23.100 --> 00:07:27.779 upside down. He asked the guests gathered around 00:07:27.779 --> 00:07:30.980 the table, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:37.540 or not? And none of them answered. So Jesus answered 00:07:37.540 --> 00:07:43.160 by healing the man with dropsy. From that humiliating 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.199 seat at which he had been placed Jesus used his 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:50.759 divine power to heal a man who was humiliated 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:54.500 By the devastation and the ravages of his disease 00:07:54.500 --> 00:08:01.500 But this healing Was only an outward sign of 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:06.199 what Jesus had truly come to do God would use 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:12.220 the blood sweat tears pain and death of his son 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:18.600 to heal and redeem the spiritually sick, the 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:23.319 sinfully disfigured, the morally humiliated. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:27.819 These are the ones that Jesus came humbly into 00:08:27.819 --> 00:08:35.899 this world to heal, to rescue and to save. Jesus 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:38.720 then proceeded to challenge the men sitting around 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:43.309 the table to further adjust their thinking by 00:08:43.309 --> 00:08:46.789 comparing his act of healing on the Sabbath to 00:08:46.789 --> 00:08:50.250 a different situation, but one which presented 00:08:50.250 --> 00:08:56.049 the same ethical issue. If one of you has a son 00:08:56.049 --> 00:08:59.509 or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath 00:08:59.509 --> 00:09:05.169 day, will you not immediately pull him out? The 00:09:05.169 --> 00:09:08.529 question Jesus was really asking is, is it lawful? 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:14.419 to show mercy, to help, to rescue on the Sabbath? 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:20.379 And again, no one answered. They could not answer 00:09:20.379 --> 00:09:23.919 because their answer would demonstrate how their 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:28.059 man -made idea of keeping God's law turned the 00:09:28.059 --> 00:09:32.379 intent of God's commandment regarding the Sabbath 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:38.740 upside down. And then having witnessed the guests 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:41.679 arriving and eagerly choosing places of honor 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:45.620 at the dinner table, Jesus began to teach by 00:09:45.620 --> 00:09:50.000 means of a parable. He spoke about a wedding 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.360 feast and the choosing of seats there. He didn't 00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:56.419 tell them that he was responding to their own 00:09:56.419 --> 00:10:00.220 actions earlier during this dinner. He simply 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:03.620 taught them about true humility and how it might 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:09.169 also lead to true honor because choosing seats 00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:12.490 stood for something totally different in this 00:10:12.490 --> 00:10:16.350 parable. The parable was not intended to instruct 00:10:16.350 --> 00:10:19.309 men how to choose seats at a banquet in hopes 00:10:19.309 --> 00:10:23.690 of their own glorification, but about who and 00:10:23.690 --> 00:10:30.919 how God chooses to lift up and glorify. How God 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:33.879 does things radically different in his kingdom 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:39.580 than men do in their world. Jesus turned their 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:45.299 finite understanding of these things upside down. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:49.860 And in this passage, Jesus clearly demonstrated 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:54.100 the contrast between being humble and being humbled. 00:10:55.149 --> 00:10:59.110 He was teaching how to live in God's right side 00:10:59.110 --> 00:11:04.750 up way of living by faith. And one of the people 00:11:04.750 --> 00:11:08.250 attending the Pharisees' dinner party got it. 00:11:08.990 --> 00:11:11.590 One of them understood that Jesus wasn't just 00:11:11.590 --> 00:11:17.590 getting instructions on how to throw or pick 00:11:17.590 --> 00:11:21.730 seats at a banquet. We know this because the 00:11:21.730 --> 00:11:24.590 verse that follows immediately after today's 00:11:24.590 --> 00:11:28.450 gospel text says this when one of those at the 00:11:28.450 --> 00:11:31.769 table with him heard this he said to Jesus blessed 00:11:31.769 --> 00:11:34.669 is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom 00:11:34.669 --> 00:11:40.149 of God apparently this man had been watching 00:11:40.149 --> 00:11:48.309 Jesus very closely how about you The lesson for 00:11:48.309 --> 00:11:50.610 us in Jesus' teaching today is that humility 00:11:50.610 --> 00:11:54.850 will lead more surely to honor and glory than 00:11:54.850 --> 00:11:59.809 will pride. Self -importance most often leads 00:11:59.809 --> 00:12:05.529 to humiliation. We who are citizens of the Kingdom 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:09.990 of God are not to be seeking places of position 00:12:09.990 --> 00:12:13.909 or honor for ourselves. We are not to presume 00:12:13.909 --> 00:12:18.480 that we are better than others. Rather, we are 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:21.840 to understand and to confess that we are sinners 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:27.519 seeking God's forgiveness and salvation and guidance 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:32.639 for living our lives of faith. And to that end, 00:12:33.139 --> 00:12:36.580 the Lord invites us to the feast which is set 00:12:36.580 --> 00:12:42.480 before us today, to His holy supper. And the 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.840 places of honor at this table do not belong to 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.799 those who choose them. They belong to those who 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:54.179 have been chosen by God. In reality, each one 00:12:54.179 --> 00:13:01.240 of us here deserves to be outside. We are nothing. 00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:06.860 We deserve nothing from God. We're not here on 00:13:06.860 --> 00:13:10.340 account of our worth, our wealth, our status, 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:16.139 our intellect, our skills, or our cunning. We 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:20.159 are who we are. and where we are by the grace 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.860 of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ sits at the head 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:28.200 of this table and we are here by his grace alone. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.580 So let us come to this table today delighted 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:36.860 that we have been invited and prepared, rejoicing 00:13:36.860 --> 00:13:42.840 in his goodness and grace and mercy. Let us not 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:45.980 look for a place of honor or position rather 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:50.580 let us take the lowest place and count each one 00:13:50.580 --> 00:13:54.360 of us here as being more important than ourselves. 00:13:55.860 --> 00:14:00.000 Let us be humble. And then we can await together 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:05.159 the ultimate invitation of the Lord to come up 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:10.240 higher to that glorious wedding feast in heaven. 00:14:11.779 --> 00:14:16.759 God is at work turning things right side up. 00:14:16.970 --> 00:14:22.029 by bringing fallen, broken, lost sinners like 00:14:22.029 --> 00:14:27.610 you and me to faith. Christian faith truly is 00:14:27.610 --> 00:14:33.929 a divine work. It has to be because everything 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:39.690 about faith runs contrary to human nature. It 00:14:39.690 --> 00:14:43.950 is unnatural to us and to our natural proclivities. 00:14:44.850 --> 00:14:51.559 It is upside down to us. And as we prayed, God 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:55.419 opens our minds to understand. He transforms 00:14:55.419 --> 00:14:58.799 our hearts and our spirits so that we may believe. 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:03.379 And then He guides us every step of the way in 00:15:03.379 --> 00:15:06.139 order for us to do what is right and what is 00:15:06.139 --> 00:15:11.620 good and to remain faithful. So let us come before 00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:16.669 our God with humility. And this humility is found 00:15:16.669 --> 00:15:20.850 only by living outside of our worldly selves 00:15:20.850 --> 00:15:27.230 and living in Christ Jesus. Only in Christ are 00:15:27.230 --> 00:15:32.669 we set free from that upside down world's ways 00:15:32.669 --> 00:15:37.629 and thinking. Only in Christ are we free to show 00:15:37.629 --> 00:15:41.409 real love to those around us, to do good for 00:15:41.409 --> 00:15:45.450 them. to be a source of joy and happiness for 00:15:45.450 --> 00:15:49.350 them without any concern for their worthiness 00:15:49.350 --> 00:15:57.309 or what we might gain in return. As God's people, 00:15:58.230 --> 00:16:03.710 let us walk humbly toward one another and walk 00:16:03.710 --> 00:16:08.509 humbly before our God to take the lower part 00:16:08.509 --> 00:16:13.620 or the lower position and let God exalt us. This 00:16:13.620 --> 00:16:18.279 is the way of greatness and honor in God's right 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:22.159 side up kingdom. That's what the apostle Paul 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:24.320 encouraged in his letter to the Ephesians when 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:27.159 he wrote, as a prisoner for the Lord, then I 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:29.320 urge you to live a life worthy of the calling 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:32.820 you have received. Be completely humble and gentle. 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:36.320 Be patient, bearing with one another in love. 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:42.570 The kingdom of God. is all about turning things 00:16:42.570 --> 00:16:47.990 right side up. It is all about the great reversal. 00:16:49.750 --> 00:16:52.830 Jesus became sin for us so that we might become 00:16:52.830 --> 00:16:59.929 righteousness in him. Our sinful, haughty, arrogant 00:16:59.929 --> 00:17:03.789 hearts are changed and renewed so that we might 00:17:03.789 --> 00:17:07.970 joyfully take the most humble place and joyfully 00:17:07.970 --> 00:17:13.529 serve. others. On the last day death will be 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:19.109 life. The judge will be our savior. The humiliation 00:17:19.109 --> 00:17:22.150 that we know here will be exaltation in heaven. 00:17:23.369 --> 00:17:26.769 The poverty we experience here will be riches 00:17:26.769 --> 00:17:33.670 in heaven. And there will be no last seats. Only 00:17:33.670 --> 00:17:37.029 seats of the highest honor for those who are 00:17:37.029 --> 00:17:41.079 forgiven and redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:45.599 That's how things are in the Kingdom of God. 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:49.720 Right side up from His perspective. Just right. 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:54.640 Just the way it ought to be. And how good and 00:17:54.640 --> 00:18:00.180 gracious is our God who invites us in. Amen. 00:18:01.259 --> 00:18:04.079 And may the peace of God which passes all understanding 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.349 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our 00:18:07.349 --> 00:18:08.329 Lord. Amen.