When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not recline at table in the place of honor.
We may not initially find this temptation to choose the place of honor to be very relatable. Our goal at wedding banquets is more probably to be at a table that eats first rather than any other considerations. What is the equivalent for us, who don't hold the concept of honor in high regard? One might think of recognition as an analogous term. And recognition is something we do tend to value. When we put in hard work that goes unnoticed we do typically notice the omission. The world colludes with this desire of ours by teaching us that we must endlessly promote ourselves, fill out our resumes, and build our personal brands. Yet even in the world, overselling ourselves, bragging and showboating, leads to unfavorable outcomes. The less we can play that game and still achieve our goals the better.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
'Give your place to this man,'
The deeper sense of the banquet to which Jesus referred was the heavenly banquet of the Kingdom of God. And Jesus himself was indeed a more distinguished guest for whom his listeners would one day be forced to relinquish the places of honor they chose for themselves. At another time Jesus had said that the true places of honor in the Kingdom, at his right and his left, were not handed out arbitrarily but were only for those for whom they had been prepared by his Father (see Matthew 20:23). Jockeying for position for the sake of honor, recognition, or privilege was to prove that one was unfit for the true honor of the Kingdom. We see this in the lives of the saints, to whom these seats of honor have been truly bestowed, although they themselves did all they could to build up others rather than themselves.
'Give your place to this man,'
and then you would proceed with embarrassment
to take the lowest place.
We must not become convinced of our own propaganda such that we come to believe that we really are the best and most deserving. We must instead come to see ourselves more realistically, with our strengths, yes, but also with our many limitations. The eyes of the saints were open to their weakness and a way which we, indifferent, are not. We must not become so insistent on recognition at the merely human level that we forget that the only true recognition that matters ultimately is in the eyes of God.
Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
'My friend, move up to a higher position.'
Society would suggest that if we take the lowest place we will get trampled and used as a doormat. But in the Kingdom it is not so. When we rely on God, to give us what he desires through grace, rather than on ourselves, to get what we deserve through human effort, we will hear the joyful call to "move up to a higher position". The companions at our table will then hold us in a genuine and not a superficial esteem for they will see that our position is based on the love God has for us. This will not exclude others or make them feel jealous, for surely such a position is available for all who put their trust in him.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
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