Jesus went to a wedding and noticed the guests jockeying for places of honour at the dinner, so he told them a parable, which we will get to in this blog.
These days, at weddings, we all have guest cards with our names and seating assignments, but that mustn't have been the case in Jesus's time.
It's so different these days, and unfortunately, I can see where pushing ourselves forward to make ourselves stand out in front of a crowd, a gathering, assembly, mass, or throng, or whatever, can be a real thing for anybody watching.
If anything needs to be said or done in front of a crowd, then Percy is THE one you should contact. Mind you, not any actual physical work or the hard lines of all human resources type activities can be achieved by Percy. Hard work must be avoided by Percy at all costs; 'Out the front' is the way to go. Just leave the actual 'hard work' to someone else.
Physical work is FAR FAR beyond what Percy intended ever to happen - "I am out the front type of person," says Percy, and BOY! is he that!!!
Yes! Jesus did go to that wedding, and yes! he did notice lots of guys vying for the position way out front, so he said to his followers, and I quote from the THE VOICE BIBLE in Luke chapter 14 and verses 7 - 11:-
"Whenever someone invites you to a wedding dinner, don't sit at the head table. Someone more important than you might also have been invited, and your host will have to humiliate you publicly by telling you to give your seat to the other guest and to go find an open seat in the back of the room. Instead, go and sit in the back of the room.
Then your host may find you and say, 'My friend! Why are you sitting back here? Come up to this table near the front!'
Then you will be publicly honoured in front of everyone. Listen, if you lift yourself up, you'll be put down, but if you humble yourself, you will be honoured."
This is something we all have to take on board today, that he is teaching us all the fact that we have to choose to be humble.
Unlike our man Percy mentioned above, who always ALWAYS places himself way above everyone else and refuses to do any menial tasks, Jesus wants to firmly get through to us to never put ourselves in the place of distinction but always put others ahead of us.
Jesus also wants us to get the message that respect isn't ever earned by forcing our way to the top and to be the most important person there is, wherever we are.
Jesus was also encouraging us to prepare for the day of judgment when we will all have to give an account of what we are doing, where we have been, who we have been with, and what we have ever done.
I think the Pharisees and all the nobles would have been on the lookout for Jesus, mainly because he was such a crowd-drawing personality, and they really wanted to find out who this Jesus was.
Jesus attracted and did miraculous things in the crowds, and the people at that time really thought he was amazing. It was truly horrible what eventually happened to Jesus, but at this time, the nobles and Pharisees in the city thought they were gaining people's attention by inviting this Jesus into their homes.
Basically, their total motivation was that they were out to get him, they wanted to trap him, and get rid of him.
Jesus knew exactly what was going on, and even though he did, he still went along with the elite crowds and ended up teaching so many lessons to the ordinary people, because of this. These lessons are still being taught today, and we are still learning ever so much.
Back to the Bible and in the The Voice Translation, it says in Psalm 138 and verse 6, "Although God is the greatest of all, He is attentive to the needy and keeps His distance from the proud and pompous."
That's a tad scary. Are we proud and pompous? If we are, then it is certainly time to look at ourselves in the light of what Jesus taught us through these many parables and to put others ahead of us in all situations, just like Jesus did, and what he definitely wants to teach us.
God, in his mercy, is the very one who will choose honour for those who he knows have earned it and not those who want it entirely for themselves. Like our Percy does, who craves honour, distinction, glory, and tribute, and all to himself.
How are you when things look rosy and nice for you? Are you ready to become a person of interest, a number one person?
Which is fine and good, and if so, then huge congratulations to you and yours, and yet there is still that underlying personality, just like Percy's. The very fact that striving to be an out-front person is so different than gaining applause for something you have worked hard to achieve.
I attended my niece's graduation at Newcastle University and watched her receive her doctorate. I was certainly one of the crowd standing up and applauding her achievement.
Then there was my grandson Sam, who had just recently received his Bachelor of Education. He has turned out to be great at his job, and he enjoys it so much.
So, there is truly nothing wrong with being 'out the front' of the crowd and getting applause, but what is so different is what Jesus told us at that banquet that he attended. Gaining applause or pushing yourself forward or wanting to be the most important person, standing out in front of a crowd, is lifting yourself up, as Jesus had put it so plainly in his parable.
Standing up for what you believe is good and great. Working hard at your job or gaining diplomas and University degrees are also magnificent and wonderful, but pushing yourself to the front in every possible situation just to make yourself THE most important person in the universe is completely and utterly the wrong way to feel and the wrong way to go.
It was Jesus's message to me that came loud and clear, as mentioned in the verses above, that brought me to my senses and actually gave me, and still does give me, a real view of putting Jesus way above everything else. I stopped racing to be the first HR Officer to gain pats on the back, did it stop me from achieving? No, it didn't.
Being a Christian does set you apart and makes you realise just how amazing the life of Christ is. Often, it's certainly not easy to be a Christian in today's world; we set ourselves apart in lots of ways, but it's one hundred percent beautiful knowing just how much God loves you and is with you constantly in every possible situation.
Have you thought about giving your life to Christ?
Hope to see you next time - God's richest blessings to you.
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