Table Lessons
Proper 17, Year C; Luke 14:7-14
What is it about eating that brings us closer in relationships? Think about it—on a first date, where do you go? Out to dinner. On anniversaries and birthdays, how do you celebrate? With a meal. Families gather around tables, meals mark our milestones, and something about eating together teaches us about relationships.
That’s exactly what we see in our Gospel lesson. Jesus is at a meal in the house of a Pharisee, and while everyone else is busy positioning themselves near the host—deliberating, competing, angling for honor—Jesus takes the opportunity to teach about the way of the kingdom. In that culture, the closer your seat to the host, the greater your perceived worth. John reclining on Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper makes the point: proximity meant favor. But here, Jesus turns the tables. He reveals that in the kingdom of God, it is the Father who determines position, and His preference is not for the proud but for the lowly.
This isn’t a one-off lesson; it’s the pattern of Jesus’ ministry. The Pharisees and Sadducees considered themselves closest to God, yet Jesus constantly turned His gaze to those in the back row—the blind, the lame, the overlooked. His attention was always for those who could do nothing for themselves. That is how the kingdom operates: the last shall be first, the first shall be last. Not as a catchy slogan, but as the actual program of God.
Of course, this is hard for us. We fear being overlooked. Whether it’s the kid never chosen for the team or the worker worried about being passed over for promotion, our instinct is to push forward, to make ourselves noticed. Yet Jesus says: humble yourself, be content with the last place, and trust that God sees you. Over and over Scripture reminds us: He is the God who sees (Gen. 16:13). His eyes are on the lowly, and He is the lifter of heads.
And when God does lift us up—when He moves us from the back row closer to the front—the lesson continues. If you find yourself hosting, Jesus says, don’t fill your table with those who can repay you. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the blind. Extend the same grace you’ve received. As much as you have been blessed, be an agent of blessing. As much as you’ve been forgiven, forgive.
This is not only the program of the kingdom; it is the pattern of the King Himself. Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus, though He was God, humbled Himself, took the form of a servant, and became obedient to death—even death on a cross. And because He humbled Himself, the Father exalted Him, giving Him the name above every name. Jesus did not just teach humility; He lived it. He girded Himself with a towel, washed His disciples’ feet, and became last, so that the Father might make Him first.
So what does this mean for us, the church—the citizens of the kingdom, the city of God? It means we take on the same mind as Christ. We humble ourselves, content with our seat, trusting God to lift us when the time is right. And when He entrusts us with position, we use it to look where He looks—toward the broken, the overlooked, the humbled—and invite them in. For a church that refuses the humbled is no church at all. But the true bride of Christ welcomes those her Bridegroom has invited.
The table, then, is more than food. It is a school for the kingdom. At the table we learn humility, we learn trust, and we learn to host as the Father hosts. And in all this we see Christ, who became last so that He might be exalted, and so that we too, humbling ourselves, might one day be lifted up.
Peace be with you,
Pastor Bruce
