In the Gospel lesson for today, Jesus observed how the people at the feast chose for themselves places of honor. Jesus told the people a summary of the Proverb: “Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. Or as God had Micah write: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Contrary to the way of the world, or the way of the sinful pride of our flesh, the Christian life is a humble life. We know there is nothing we can do to earn His favor. We don’t deserve anything He gives us. God teaches us to repent of our sins and receive in grateful joy His forgiveness and any and all other gifts He gives us according to His good pleasure for the sake of Jesus Christ.
As Christians, this is a very basic lesson we have learned. You do not worship the passing earthly mammon of influence, riches, even the worship of this temporary life and health. Even if you have been blessed with all sorts of earthly influence and recognition, you know – if you’re a Christian – that your life is one of humility lived before God. You are not greater, more worthy, of more value than other believers. You must not and cannot scramble to crown yourself with laud and honor here, for there is only One who deserves it. But there’s another and even more basic reason why the Christian life is a humble life. It’s because Christ’s earthly life was a humble life.
Jesus took the lowest seat. He humbled Himself. From eternity, He shared all honor and glory with His Father. But He hid His glory under the form of a servant. He always had every right to the glory of His Father, yet He waited for His Father to honor and exalt Him at the proper time as He fulfilled the Law in His perfect God-man flesh. This is how He saved us from the dishonor, eternal shame, and condemnation that we deserve. He came to serve in His humility, His obedience, His waiting upon the Father. It is in His humility that we trust and rejoice. It is the very object and foundation of our faith. We rely on our Lord’s meekness. As David sings in Psalm 18, “Your humility made me great.” God’s humility, God’s meekness, God taking the lowest seat at the table is what establishes us, unworthy sinners, to be righteous.
It’s truly an incredible thought. But as incredible as it is, God gives us the faith to believe it and rely upon it. God credits His own humility to us. By this little seed of faith, we receive the very obedience, suffering, and death of His Son, Jesus Christ. So just as He was raised from the dead and given the greatest honor in heaven, so will God exalt us in His time and at the rightful place.
In fact, we already have this honor. We who believe in Christ and are baptized into His precious name, God has already appointed a seat with Him in heaven. In the meantime, as we walk on earth and carry around our dying bodies, He prepares a table for us and comes to serve us. He honors us with food of which the angels themselves long to catch a glimpse. He gives us His own Holy Spirit, sustaining us with His own living voice, and nurturing us with His own body and blood. Even now, in the gathering around His throne of grace, in the assembly of His powerful Word, He invites us to walk about His altar and receive the blessing of Christ sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins. Today, right now, we are His honored guests.
So now, what does our humbled and exalted Lord teach us? He who honors us with His own inheritance, who called us to be heirs of His own kingdom, who has given us a status greater than we could have ever imagined – what does He say to us? He tells us in our daily lives to take the lower seat. Walk with humility. Count yourself to be less significant than others. Bear with one another in love. Put up with the weaknesses and annoyances of those around you. Don’t try to impress the popular and influential people of this world. Instead, give attention to those who can’t give you anything in return.
Jesus says that those who honor themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be honored. He’s speaking to us who have already been honored even more than the highest angels. He speaks to us who have every right to boast of our standing before God. We who have been called to be a royal priesthood are taught by the one who called us to humble ourselves.
Now, we need to understand why the Christian life is a humble life. Yes, it’s because everything we have from God is a gift, unmerited, completely unearned by us. But more importantly, it’s because we are in Christ. Jesus shares everything He has with us. As St. John says, as He is, so are we in this world. If Christ has given us everything He has, then it follows that we begin to resemble Him, think like Him, talk like Him, and even smell like Him. St. Paul says that we are an aroma of death to those who are perishing but an aroma of life to those who are being saved. We are strangers in this world, because that’s how Jesus is. So Jesus teaches us to live this Christian life, to bear our crosses, and not expect our honors and praises right now. Not to expect earthly glory, riches, success, or love from this world. We are holding a much greater treasure, which is kept fully for us in heaven and given only in part by faith right now.
Just to clear, Jesus is not teaching us to be ashamed of our standing before God. He’s not teaching us to speak with less confidence. It isn’t arrogant to boast that you know that you will be saved, unless such confidence is built on your own feelings of accomplishment and security. But don’t be fooled by false humility. We should boast in the promise of our Savior who has conquered sin, death, the power of the devil, and will return to judge the world and vindicate His Holy people. We should boast that the head of the heavenly banquet has already invited us and called us to come up to the high seat. We should strive to keep this precious gem shining all around us.
When you strive for pure teaching, then you are not striving to be liked by the world. When you strive to keep the unity that only the Holy Spirit gives in His Word and received by faith, then this will rarely if ever give you a place of honor at the earth’s table. We should speak God’s Word with humility, not because we are afraid of how the world will react to us. No, Jesus isn’t teaching us to be timid or cowardly. Instead, we speak God’s Word with humility, because we know that it is the power of God to salvation. We tremble before it. And we know that the Lord who gives it to us also wants to give it to all people.
When you put all of that together, then you get a lot of humility in this life. You get a lot of disappointments. You encounter a lot of apathy, even a lot of anger and hostility. It’s humbling. It’s often humiliating.
Yet, we rely on this doctrine of our Lord to bring about what the world can’t recognize. We can boast in this doctrine of our Savior, defend it, and insist that it’s true. We don’t need to pull punches when we say that there is salvation in no one else than Christ. We don’t need to downplay any truth from God’s Word. It’s our inheritance. But when people don’t receive it well, when you aren’t given that promotion or you aren’t invited to sit with the cool kids, don’t despair. Turn to Him who invites you to a much higher seat. Because He will hear your complaints with more care, understanding, wisdom, and attention than all the vain sympathy of this world. Then join your fellow saints right here around the altar where your Lord serves you with the highest honor.
It’s very common for Christians to get discouraged by the humility they experience in the world. They see how they don’t fit in at work or school. And then they get obsessed with fitting in. That is partially why there is such a proliferation of church “types”. People want to go where people are like them, whatever that means. Maybe even in this congregation you may be tempted to feel like you “don’t fit in”. St. Paul doesn’t tell you to try to find a congregation that’s a good fit for you according to your preferences. We are all sinners in need of a Savior, in need of His unchanging Truth. No, there is one body and one Spirit. We were called to one hope. There is one Lord, one Faith, and one baptism. There is one God and Father of us all. This is what we confess together in the Creed. And it is only through this confession that we know we are accepted by God’s Grace revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ.
You may notice that several people in this world have more honor and prestige than you do. Perhaps you see people in church who are more talented, more accomplished, more joyful, or just seem to have their house in order better than you do. But consider this. Those same people have one and the same hope that you do. Those same Christians have staked their entire eternity on the same Christ and the same baptism. They call upon the same Father. Their faith and confession is ridiculed and attacked in this world just as much. Because it’s the same faith and confession. It didn’t come from them. And it didn’t come from you. It is a free gift of God who invites us to come up and dine with Him.
Knowing this is how you bear with one another in love. When you recognize that no matter how well off or well to do you are in comparison to your fellow saints, you confess together the same saving doctrine of Christ in His body to His glory. So, take the lower seat together in this world. If you have more of these world’s goods, then share them. If you don’t have as much, then don’t let it bother you. You have the Word of your Savior. You have the highest treasure there is. Receive it with meekness, because it has the power to save your soul. Let this be your boast and your confidence, even if you have to bear mockery and humiliation on account of it. It’s good for you to be humiliated in this world if it drives you to cling more firmly to Christ and His Word. And at the Last Day or at the hour of your earthly rest, your Host, Jesus Christ, shall come to you where you are and say: “Friend, move up higher!” And so you will be, in His glory forevermore. Amen.
Pr. Aaron Kangas