Tag Archives: honour

Your Turn Is Coming

Christian Life, , ,

YOUR TURN IS COMING

“‘Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You’d rather eat and be served, right? But I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves. And you’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. Now I confer on you the royal authority my Father conferred on me so you can eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and be strengthened as you take up responsibilities among the congregation of God’s people.'” Luke 22:27-30 (The Message).

Of course we would rather sit down at the dinner table and be served than watch others eating while we serve! But once again, we belong to a kingdom where all the values are a reversal of this world’s values. In the present order of things, “sitting at the table” implies occupying an important position in society.

Serving is a menial job and is reserved for the “nobodies”. In the world’s eyes, Jesus is a “nobody”. In fact, even believers often treat Him as a nobody – it’s “Jesus, do this; Jesus, do that” as though we were the masters and He the servant.

Once again Jesus is teaching us to view this life as part of a bigger whole. Being a servant in the here and now is a necessary part of our apprenticeship for our task in God’s kingdom. It would be foolish to employ an untrained person to do a responsible job, especially one that handles people’s lives. No airline company would employ a rookie to pilot their passenger planes.

There are examples in Scripture of people who were placed in responsible positions without first being taught to be a servant. The most glaring would be King Saul, Israel’s first king. He had great potential but he was never put through his “servant” training before he became king. When the tests came, he failed dismally because he did not know how to submit to God’s authority.

He was disqualified and replaced by David, a shepherd boy who had learned to serve as the youngest son in a family of eight. His trust in God carried him through many dangerous situations and equipped him to be a true leader of God’s people because he submitted to God’s authority and ruled wisely under God.

Having a servant heart is a necessary part of being a disciple. It teaches us how to live in submission and obedience to our Master and equips us to be imitators of Jesus. Without this training we would be liabilities to God in His kingdom just like Satan was, taking the bit between our teeth and causing chaos through disobedience and self-will.

There will be a time when we reap the reward of faithfully serving others through our obedience to God. Jesus assures us that, if we stick with Him, we will share the honour of a place at His table if we have passed the test of humility and self-sacrifice. Joseph spent thirteen years in slavery and imprisonment in preparation for his great task although he was not guilty of wrongdoing. God found him faithful and promoted him to a place of honour and authority where he could “sit at the table” because he had served well.

Our turn is coming. Our years of training may be long and tedious but they are intended
to prepare and test us for great responsibility and honour. If we stick with Jesus and serve others with humility, we shall also share in the reward of “a place at His table”, taking up our responsibilities among the congregation of God’s people.

Jesus is the perfect pattern God has given us to follow. “Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him and was designated by God to be a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:8-10 (NIV).

You’re In The Wrong Place

Christian Life, , , ,

YOU’RE IN THE WRONG PLACE

“He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honour at the table, He said, ‘When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honour. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he’ll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘ You’re in the wrong place. The place of honour belongs to this man.’ Red-faced, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.'” Luke 14:7-9 (The Message).

Seating around the table at a Middle Eastern dinner party in Jesus’ day was somewhat different from the way westerners do it. The table was low and the guests reclined on cushions on their left elbows. This meant that each guest had his back to the person on his left. The place of honour would be the place on the left of the host because that person was close enough to engage in conversation with the host.

The one on the right of the host would be on the right of the host at the end of the table – leaning against the host. This was probably the place occupied by John at the Last Supper and the place of honour, on Jesus’ left, by Judas because Jesus was able to converse freely with him and offer him the sop.

What is it about us human beings that we have a craving to be noticed? From early childhood, the little one cries, “Look at me, daddy; look at me, mommy!” To be the guest-of-honour was to be noticed, to be important in the eyes of the host. Why do we crave to feel important? Is it because we have a deep, inborn sense of worthlessness which we can only deal with by constantly seeking affirmation and approval? Every guest wanted the place of honour, to be noticed by the host.

Being important has temporary significance but it is, in fact, like an addiction which has to be fed. Significant people’s approval stills that craving for a while but it keeps coming back. What lies behind this ‘approval addiction’? Is there some deep-seated insecurity that drives us to seek attention and to be important to someone? When the father-child relationship is disturbed for whatever reason, the need for approval from someone significant drives people to seek attention elsewhere.

If alienation from our earthly fathers fuels that craving – how much more alienation from our heavenly Father? When we have settled the problem of sin that created the rift between us and God, through Jesus, we experience a sense of security in Him which sets us free from that need to be noticed.

That brings me to something else. What was it about people that Jesus noticed? He noticed the Pharisees and was thoroughly put off? He also noticed the tax collectors and sinners and was drawn to them. Why? I think it was the difference between hypocrisy and honesty. The Pharisees liked to draw attention to their external ‘righteousness’ to get people’s approval, but Jesus saw through them. It was a cover-up for the rottenness inside which they refused to admit.

The other group had nothing to hide. They knew they were bad; they knew Jesus was good but they loved to be with Him and He loved to be with them anyway. Their bad behaviour did not put Him off as much as the Pharisees’ dishonesty did. Jesus can handle our sin but He cannot handle our pride.

We often find it easy to be honest about other people. We open our mouths freely about what we don’t like about them and take pride in our being ‘straight’ with people, but what about honesty about ourselves? That’s a different matter because it takes humility to own up to who we are. And that’s exactly the point! God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. If you are honest about your own faults, guess what! Jesus has no issues with you. You will be free to occupy the seat of honour at His table.

But it’s your choice, once again…

Whose Dust Are You Wearing?

Bible Study, , , , ,

WHOSE DUST ARE YOU WEARING?

“And when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you.'” Luke 10:10,11

Jesus was a rabbi, trained in the educational system of His day. It was customary for a rabbi to select a group of disciples to be trained to follow and imitate him. His shoes were fitted with a flap which kicked up dust when he walked. His disciples would walk in a line behind him and the one closest to him would be covered in the dust kicked up by the flaps on His shoes.

It was such an honour to be covered with the dust of one’s rabbi that one would not wash it off but rather show it off. This dust symbolised the blessing of the rabbi’s influence and it was used as a verbal blessing spoken over people, “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.”

By contrast, Jesus instructed His disciples to wipe off the dust of a town that would not receive them. He did not want them to be influenced by the attitude of hardness expressed by that town’s rejection of them. They were His representatives. What they said and did was what He said and did because He identified with them completely in their ministry. Therefore, if the people of a town rejected His disciples, they rejected Him and His Father.

There is a lesson for us in this teaching of Jesus. If we are disciples of Jesus, we are to wear His yoke, His way of interpreting the Scriptures and His way of living the Word of God. We will live under His influence, covered with His dust, if we walk close behind Him. But if we allow the influences of ungodly people, their dust, to cover us, we will, in turn, shake off that dust on other people as we go through life.

Jesus said that we are to shake off the dust of unbelieving people because it will affect the way we wear His yoke and carry His dust in the world. We need to ask ourselves daily, “Whose dust am I covered in today? Do I walk close enough to my rabbi to be covered in His dust, or am I carrying the dust of the ungodly world because I have not shaken it off?”