The only way up is down

Please have a seat. Good morning, it’s such a joy to have so many from around the world join us today. Part of the joy of meeting internationals over the years is getting to learn about so many cultures. Even if that means learning for the first time that Guyana is not in Africa, and not in any way related to Ghana. They’re close on the map if you zoom out far enough, but different countries in different continents. But whichever part of the world you’re from, there’s one thing that all international students share in common. It’s not the love for food, although that is a big thing – but it’s that you’ve all come here for the same reason; 'opportunity'.

Whether you’ve come from Nigeria to study computer science or Malaysia to study medicine, you’ve chosen to be here to gain better skills, better work experience, and better qualifications that would hopefully put you in a better position in life. That shows us that we all want to raise ourselves up in some way, doesn’t it? To do well at uni to honour our parents, to work hard to provide for our families, to make good connections to be accepted by others. I know many have only just arrived, but if we look ahead into our future plans back home or here, are we not dreaming of a fulfilling career with a respectable pay? Do we not want to have accomplished much in our time here to be approved by others? Well in today’s Bible passage, Jesus shows us that with God, the only way up is down (which means humbling ourselves before him). We need God’s help to do that, so let’s ask him now in prayer.

It’ll be good to have your Bibles opened in front of you to our passage in Luke 14.7-11, on page 873. Here Jesus is at a dinner with religious leaders and people of high positions – like you’ve been invited to a dinner event at the house of the CEO of your future company. And Jesus notices the guests fighting for the best seats at the table, guests fighting for a better position in life. So, he shares a parable which is a story with a spiritual message. Have a look at Luke 14.8-11:

When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honour, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Like weddings in many cultures today, the most important guests will be seated next to the bride and groom. The parents of the bride and groom, the best man, the maid of honour, and the closest friends and family. Well, back in those days even more importance was given to those seated closer to the host. If you had a good seat near the host, you’re not just an important family member or friend, you’re an important member of the community. Instant recognition from everyone, and an opportunity to gain favour with the host. Having that in mind, Jesus tells them what not to do, and what to do. He tells them not to choose the good seats (the places of honour) because they will be humiliated when the host decides to downgrade their seats. And he tells them instead to choose the lowest seat so they can later be upgraded.

After the service there’ll be a free meal in the church hall which all international students are invited to. It’s a big hall with many tables that could fit 100 or more people. If we imagine the host of the meal is your future employer of a top company in your field, and at the front of the hall is his table with distinguished guests from around the world who would be able to jumpstart your career in the city of your liking, all you need to do is simply sit at the table and start chatting. But the host arrives, sees those seated at his table and knows that you’ve chosen to sit there. So, he tells you to get up, go to the back of the hall and exchange seats with someone who has chosen to sit at the back because they think they don’t deserve a good seat. Now, most of that won’t happen at the meal just to clarify. You don’t have to be worried about sitting in the wrong seat and having someone tell you to get up and leave. It’s just a simple Indian meal, free seating.

The first lesson Jesus teaches us is that the host decides our position or place – we are only guests. We can try our best to get good seats or explain why we might deserve that seat, but the host has the final say. But maybe after hearing that story you think, ‘that’s okay, I’m not like those people seeking a better seat. If I’m invited to a wedding dinner, I’m not going to take someone else’s seat – that’s just rude!’ But if we ask ourselves again, what are we seeking for in life? We know our answer to that reveals our heart’s desire to seek the best opportunity that puts us in a better position. A better position to maximize our career options. A better position to meet the right people. A better position to have the right people accept us. That desire to put ourselves first and in a better position is us trying to take a better seat.

The second message seems to be a simple one: be humble so that you can be raised later on. Is Jesus just saying that if we’re humble now by choosing the lower seat; if we settle for a job with a below average income and if we’re not trying to establish ourselves before others, then he will reward us later by giving us the dream job and family?

In the passage immediately after, Jesus shares another story about a banquet (or feast). This time he compares the feast to God’s kingdom (in other words, heaven where his people are). Those eating with him at the wedding feast are there with him in heaven for eternity, and everyone is invited but not everyone turns up. Jesus is not teaching to be humble now so that you can be raised to a better position on earth (5, 10 years from now), but humble yourself before God so that you can be raised to be seated with Jesus (in heaven forever).

During my final year of uni at Newcastle, just a few years ago, I was applying for many jobs – both in Singapore and in the UK. I’m sure many can relate to the pressure of trying to build up your CV to show your work experience, skills, and qualifications so that companies would offer you a job. The mistake is to think that God’s kingdom works the same way. Imagine if you were to bring your qualifications and status to God the host, (degree in medicine, work experience, academic achievements, family status). You would be humiliated and rejected as the host tells you to get out of your place to take the lowest place, because those things you’ve done to improve yourself won’t matter in God’s kingdom. Have a look at Luke 14.11 again:

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

So, only by coming with humbled hearts that know we don’t deserve a seat at his table does Jesus accept us and exalt (raise) us. It’s like walking into an interview with poor qualifications, no experience, a criminal record even, and still being offered the highest executive position. Of course, I don’t suggest you try that when applying for jobs, but that’s because God’s kingdom is the complete opposite of how the world rewards hard work and accomplishments with personal success. In the world, the only way up is to raise yourself up, but with God, the only way up to him is to lower ourselves so that he can raise us up. Now you might be thinking that doesn’t make sense – why does God work this way? How could he just accept us without us having to do anything? Well, it only makes sense because of what Jesus has done. Jesus who though was of God, lowered himself to take the form of a man, lived a perfect live, and then lowered himself even more when he took all the punishment we deserved by dying on the cross, so that we could be honoured. Jesus lowers himself down, so that we can be raised up because morally, none of us deserve honour before God. We are all seeking to raise ourselves up for our sake and for our own good even on our best days, on our own standards, we are filled with selfishness, shame, and much more we don’t want to admit. And based on God’s standards we fall even further from the mark, but Jesus takes the lowest place where we deserve to be so that we can be moved up to a ‘better place’ at his table with him for eternity (if we accept him as our saviour).

If you’re an international student, all this doesn’t change the fact that you’re still here to further your studies and widen your career options. Those are necessary and important opportunities that you should make the most of. But as you do, please consider that you need to respond to God, the host who decides your place in his kingdom. And there are really only two ways to respond; to reject the message and continue living your way, or as Jesus tells us in this parable to humble yourself before God. Well, what does that look like?

Maybe you’ve grown up in a Christian family back home where you went to church your whole life, read the whole Bible, but like the religious leaders at the dinner, there is an outward religious appearance covering an inner desire to raise yourself up in society. I find this question helps reveal if there’s something I’m seeking for myself more than God. Ask yourself, ‘is there something that I must have at whatever the cost? And if I don’t have it, I will be broken.’ I must have…(a work visa to stay in the UK/have someone I can start a family with/the funding my research needs…) and if not, I will be broken. Humble yourself by living for Jesus before your personal advancement. Which means even if I don’t get that something, it might hurt, but I live for Jesus more than my own desires to better myself.

I know for some here today, you’re hearing this for the first time and possibly thinking, ‘I’m not really trying to get a better position in life, and I do my best to help others around me – so, I’m good enough for God.’ Because God is the host, it’s on his perfect terms that he decides who’s acceptable. And any thinking that believes, ‘I can do it on my own without the help of Jesus’ puts you in the category of ‘exalting yourselves’. So, humble yourself by accepting that you’re not good enough and believing that only Jesus can save you. Or maybe you’re hearing this as someone who’s been following Jesus for some time already, you’ve served in church for years which makes you feel that you naturally deserve a better position with God because of all the time you’ve given to play in the music team or read the Bible with others. Well, that also lands you in the same zone of, ‘I can do it on my own without the help of Jesus’, only that you’re relying on your works as a Christian. So, humble yourself by relying on Jesus alone to be raised up before God.

So much for a welcome. All of this can sound like Jesus is putting such heavy restrictions on our lives. Not to raise yourself into a better position but instead choose the lowest place? I didn’t travel all the way here to be last. Why would anyone sign up for that? It’s so easy for us to be focused on the here and now, where denying our desires for self and fighting against our pride is a battle each day. But we can’t lose sight of what has and will happen if we have humbled ourselves before God and trust in Jesus. God raises us up to be with him in his kingdom – way beyond what we deserve. A kingdom that we’re apart of now and when it’s fully here we’ll be with him and his people celebrating and feasting. What an assurance we have, that however hard lowering ourselves on earth will be, we will be raised up when Jesus returns which makes all of it worth it. What a comfort we have knowing that the one who asks us to lower ourselves has done it from the highest to the lowest.

So, as you seek the opportunities ahead of you this year, know that there is a bigger opportunity in God’s kingdom. Everyone is invited and everyone needs to consider it, not just like a job opportunity for the next few years but an invitation into an everlasting kingdom with Jesus that starts now. Will we raise ourselves up or bow down before God?