September 2, 2001

Luke 14:1, 7-14

One time when Jesus went for a Sabbath meal with one of the top leaders of the Pharisees, all the guests had their eyes on him, watching his every move.

He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, "When someone invites you to dinner, don't take the place of honor. 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 honor belong to this man.' Redfaced, you'll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.

"When you're invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, 'Friend, come up to the front.' That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I am saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face. But if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."

Then he turned to the host. "The next time you put on a dinner, don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You'll be--and experience--a blessing. They won't be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned--oh, how it will be returned!--at the resurrection of God's people."

<The Message >

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1.


How does one demonstrate humility in print? Is it the space given for others to doodle on the page or in their imagination?

2.


Is humility in print a willingness to not get in the last word? Does this equate to not getting in the first shove to which Jesus was responding?

3.


The next time you attempt to communicate remember to invite the mute and wordless to get in the first and last "word." Listen to the stutterer and the deaf and the child. In this we are--and experience--a blessing strong enough to last to the end, all the way to the resurrection in the last day.

In what other ways can this passage be taken from a meal setting and placed into other common times of life in addition to that of communication?

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