Called to be Sent!

Luke 6:12-19

12 At about that same time he climbed a mountain to pray. He was there all night in prayer before God. 13 The next day he summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, Andrew, his brother, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon, called the Zealot, 16 Judas, son of James, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

17 Coming down off the mountain with them, he stood on a plain surrounded by disciples, and was soon joined by a huge congregation from all over Judea and Jerusalem, even from the seaside towns of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come both to hear him and to be cured of their ailments. Those disturbed by evil spirits were healed. 19 Everyone was trying to touch him-- so much energy surging from him, so many people healed!

Food for thought!

Jesus summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles! This is very revealing. Jesus called to himself his disciples, and from amongst them he designated apostles. So what is the difference between disciple and apostle? Well, disciple simply means learner or apprentice or listener, that's, one who learns from a teacher. Apostle means sent, envoy, messenger, commissioner, ambassador. Jesus chose his apostles from his disciples. They were to be those who were always learning more and more about him. A Christian is a man whose whole life is spent learning from Jesus and about Jesus, whom he will some day meet face to face and will then know even as he is known.

Jesus had many disciples, but few apostles. The apostles were just twelve,  chosen to be his ambassadors to in the world. A little girl received in the Sunday School a lesson on the disciples. She did not get the word quite right because she was very young; and she came home and told her parents that she had been learning about Jesus' samples. The ambassador is the man who in a foreign land represents his country. He is supremely the sample of his country. The Christian is ever sent to be an ambassador for Christ, not only by his words but by his life and deeds.

It was from his learners that Jesus chose those he sent. Before we go, we must come; before we talk, we must listen; before we give, we must get. Before Jesus went for men, he went for his Father in prayer, the whole night. When we go to church, we go as disciples, to learn and to listen. We live the church as apostles, sent into our world, our place of work, our homes, to represent Jesus. "Go, the Mass is ended." They tell us at the end of Mass.

To go and represent Jesus, we don't have to be extraordinary people. On the contrary we have to be what we are, that is, ordinary people. Look at the Twelve. They were very ordinary men. There was not a wealthy, nor famous, nor influential people; they had no special education; they were men of the common folk. It is as if Jesus said, "Give me twelve ordinary men and I will change the world." The work of Jesus is not in the hands of men whom the world calls great, but in the hands of ordinary people like ourselves.

They were a strange mixture. To take but two of them, Matthew was a tax-collector, and, therefore, a traitor and a renegade. Simon was a Zealot, and the Zealots were fanatical nationalists, who were sworn to assassinate every traitor and every Roman they could. It is one of the miracles of the power of Christ that Matthew the tax-collector and Simon the Zealot could live at peace in the close company of the apostolic band. In Christ the most diverse and divergent types of people can live at peace together. It is only in Christ that we can solve the problem of living together; because even the most opposite people may be united in their love for him. If we really love Jesus, we will also love each other.

It is always good to do good!

Luke 6:6-11

6 On another Sabbath he went to the meeting place and taught. There was a man there with a crippled right hand. 7 The religion scholars and Pharisees had their eye on Jesus to see if he would heal the man, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. 8 He knew what they were up to and spoke to the man with the crippled hand: "Get up and stand here before us." He did. 9 Then Jesus addressed them, "Let me ask you something: What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?" 10 He looked around, looked each one in the eye. He said to the man, "Hold out your hand." He held it out-- it was as good as new! 11 They were beside themselves with anger, and started plotting how they might get even with him.

Food for thought!

We begin our work week with a worker. The gospel says "There was a man there with a crippled right hand." His RIGHT hand was crippled! If this man was a right hander, he couldn't work normally. And if he couldn't work normally, his family couldn't survive normally; the bread winner was not able to work as he should. He was jobless. This man makes us remember the many men and women unemployed and unemployable because of their physical condition, because of world recession. Yes, there are many people out there like this man, unable to feign for themselves and their families.

This explains why Jesus could not and did not let this man suffer one more day. Jesus is teaching you and me that the good we can do today, be done today! Don't put off for tomorrow the good you can do today.

There is in this story a glorious atmosphere of defiance. Jesus knew that he was being watched but without hesitation he healed the man. He bade the man stand out in the midst of them all. This thing was not going to be done in a corner.  If you're doing good, never fear your critics. Critics are just that, critics!

Critics are like Pharisees who took the quite extraordinary course of hating Jesus who had just cured a sufferer. They are the outstanding example of people who love their rules and regulations more than they love God and neighbour. We see this happen in organizations, in families and in churches over and over again. Normally, disputes are not about great matters but about matters of discipline and customs and laws. Sometimes we set our loyalty to a system and to a custom above loyalty to God.

Did you notice that the man, empowered by Jesus, tried the impossible? He stretched his withered hand! He was a man who was prepared to attempt what was humanly impossible. He did not argue when Jesus told him to stretch out his useless hand; he tried and, in the strength Jesus gave him, he succeeded. Some of us are yet to stretch our hand, our talent, ourselves and do what seems impossible. Impossible is a word which must be banished from our vocabulary as Christians. As a famous scientist said, "The difference between the difficult and the impossible is only that the impossible takes a little longer to do."

The gospel says, "The religion scholars and Pharisees had their eye on Jesus to see if he would heal the man, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction." In this incident Jesus openly broke the law. To heal was to work and work was prohibited on the Sabbath day. And that's exactly what Jesus deliberately did. Jesus broke the religious law!

By doing so, Jesus laid down the great principle that, whatever the rules and regulations may say, it is always good to do good, regardless of the moment and place. 

Failing to plan is planning to fail!

Luke 14:25-33

25 One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, 26 "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters--yes, even one's own self!--can't be my disciple. 27 Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. 28 "Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? 29 If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: 30 'He started something he couldn't finish.'31 "Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? 32 And if he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce? 33 "Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple.

Food for thought!

Once Benjamin Franklin said, Failing to plan is planning to fail. What he meant is what Jesus teaches us today when he says, "Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: 'He started something he couldn't finish."'

An unfinished building, just as unrealized life, is always a humiliating thing. And Jesus wants to save us from such humiliating. In his book "How to Succeed", Brian Adams wrote, “Plans are guideposts to success. Success arrives by design; failure by the lack of it. Plans are the guide posts along life’s road to success; without them the road is an unsure and rocky one. Poorly devised plans will never harvest riches. Achievements can be no greater than the undertakings. If your plans are sketchy and your aims low, you can never hope to achieve high rewards."

To develop a workable plan of action, mentally visualize the things you want to accomplish. Jot them down across a sheet of paper, then list the steps necessary to accomplish your plan. When you know what you want to achieve, create a plan for getting there. Once you have a basic plan, follow through with the plan until you achieve your objectives.

Stephen Covey, author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", recommends that we “begin (planning) with the end in mind.” In other words, know that you what to achieve; what you want to be, and then move backwards to square one. Whether it is a special project or a simple daily routine, begin by setting a goal that takes into account the steps needed to reach it.

And once you have set a (noble) goal, don't give up before you achieve it. Or as Jesus put it, be ready for sacrifice anything in order to get it. In other words, if you're not willing to pay the price, then you won't get the prize. There is no prize without a price. Behind everything we want in life, behind every achievement, there's a cost to pay; there's a struggle, a cross. Without the cross there's no salvation; without pain there is no gain. Remember, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Just as a road map is an indispensable tool for a trip, the cross in whatever forms it comes to us, is an indispensable tool when we travel the journey of life toward our goals.

Did you notice? Jesus does not say, If you have a cross...; he says, Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. In other words, Jesus knows that we all have some cross, some struggle, some fight to make before we succeed. Do you know yours?

Have you (not) read the Bible?

Luke 6:1-5

1 On a certain Sabbath Jesus was walking through a field of ripe grain. His disciples were pulling off heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands to get rid of the chaff, and eating them. 2 Some Pharisees said, "Why are you doing that, breaking a Sabbath rule?" 3 But Jesus stood up for them. "Have you never read what David and those with him did when they were hungry? 4 How he entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? He also handed it out to his companions." 5 Then he said, "The Son of Man is no slave to the Sabbath; he's in charge."

Food for thought!

This is the first of two incidents which show the opposition to Jesus rapidly coming out into the open. He and his disciples were passing along corn fields. The fact that the disciples plucked the ears of corn was in itself no crime. One of the merciful laws of the Old Testament laid it down that anyone passing through a corn field was free to pluck the corn so long as he did not put a sickle into it (Deut.23:25).

On any other day there would have been no complaint; but this was the Sabbath. Four of the forbidden kinds of work on Sabbath were reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food; and technically the disciples had broken every one of them. By plucking the corn they were guilty of reaping; by rubbing it in their hands of threshing; by flinging away the husks of winnowing; and the very fact that they ate it showed that they had prepared food on the Sabbath. To us the whole thing seems fantastic; but we must remember that to a strict Pharisee this was deadly sin; rules and regulations had been broken; this was a matter of life and death.

They made their accusation and Jesus quoted the Old Testament to them. He quoted the incident in 1Sam.21:1-6 when David and his comrades, when they were very hungry, ate the showbread of the Tabernacle, the equivalent of our Eucharist. The bread stood just as our Eucharist stands for us in the Tabernacle, for the very presence of God and none but the priests might touch or eat of it (Lev.24:5-9). But David's need had taken precedence over rules and regulations.

It is most significant that they were watching Jesus and his disciples as they passed through the corn fields. Clearly they were spying; from now on every act of Jesus' life was to be scrutinised by those bleak and critical and hostile eyes.

This said, Jesus will use this incident to teach us all: "Have you not read what David did?" The answer of course was, "Yes", but the Pharisees had never seen what it meant. It is possible to read scripture meticulously, to know the Bible inside out from cover to cover, to be able to quote it verbatim and to pass any examination on it, and yet completely miss its real meaning. Why did the Pharisees miss the meaning, and why do we so often miss it?

(i) They did not bring to scripture an open mind. They came to scripture not to learn God's will but to find proof texts to back up their own ideas. Far too often men have taken their theology to the Bible instead of finding their theology in the Bible. When we read scripture we must say, not, "Listen, Lord, for thy servant is speaking," but, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant is listening."

(ii) They did not bring a needy heart. The man who comes with no sense of need always misses the deepest meaning of scripture. When need awakens, the Bible is a new book. When we read God's book we must bring to it the open mind and the needy heart, and then to us also it will be the greatest book in the world.

Embrace the new!

Luke 5:33-39

The Pharisees and scribes said to Jesus, "John's disciples are well- known for keeping fasts and saying prayers. Also the Pharisees. But you seem to spend most of your time at parties. Why?" 34 Jesus said, "When you're celebrating a wedding, you don't skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but this isn't the time. As long as the bride and groom are with you, you have a good time. 35 When the groom is gone, the fasting can begin. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come! 36" No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. 37 And you don't put wine in old, cracked bottles; 38 you get strong, clean bottles for your fresh vintage wine. 39 And no one who has ever tasted fine aged wine prefers unaged wine. "

Food for thought!

There is in religious people a kind of passion for the old. Nothing moves more slowly than the religious. The trouble with the Pharisees was that the whole religious outlook of Jesus was so startlingly new they simply could not adjust to it.

Jesus used two illustrations to make his point. "You cannot put a new patch on an old garment," he said, "The strong new cloth will only rip the rent in the old cloth wider." Bottles in Palestine were made of skin. When new wine was put into them it fermented and gave off gas. If the bottle was new, there was a certain elasticity in the skin and it gave with the pressure; but if it was old, the skin was dry and hard and it would burst. "Don't," says Jesus, "let your mind become like an old wineskin. Be elastic, be open to new ideas, be open to Good news.

The whole passage is about Jesus' condemnation of the shut mind and a plea that we should not reject new ideas.

(i) We should never be afraid of adventurous thought. If there is such a person as the Holy Spirit, God must ever be leading us into new truth. Imagine: how would medicine fare if doctors were restricted to drugs and methods and techniques three hundred years old?"

(ii) The man with something new has always to fight. Galileo was branded a heretic when he held that the earth moved round the sun. Lister had to fight for antiseptic technique in surgical operations. Simpson had to battle against opposition in the merciful use of chloroform. Let us have a care that when we resent new ideas we are not simply demonstrating that our minds are grown old and inelastic; and let us never shirk the adventure of thought.

(iii) We should never be afraid of new methods. That a thing has always been done may very well be the best reason for stopping doing it. That a thing has never been done may very well be the best reason for trying it. There is a wise and an unwise conservatism. Let us have a care that in thought and in action we are not hidebound reactionaries when we ought, as Christians, to be gallant adventurers.

Business not as usual

Luke 5:1-11

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

Food for thought!

Put out into deep water!

Jesus knows how to challenge us; to pull our legs. He challenged Peter and his companions. Night is the time for fishing and the proper place to cast the net is near the shore. This is what Peter knew; but if Jesus wished to fish by day light in the middle of the Lake, Simon was not too weary to try. Jesus sometimes tells us to do the contrary, to do what's against the common practice, to go against expectations, to do business not as usual.

When we follow the guidance of the Lord in our lives, we achieve results that will blow our minds. This is what we see in Peter's miraculous catch of fish. He and his men toiled all night long and caught nothing; they were following traditional and time worn methods. They were following their tradition, their common practice, their own minds as to where and how to throw the net. The result, in one word, was failure. But when they followed the Lord's guidance which, humanly speaking, did not make much sense (fishermen do not set the net in broad daylight), the result was a resounding success.

Even for Jesus it is business unusual. Up to now Jesus has been preaching in synagogues; now he is at the lakeside. Jesus is now conducting his business in an usual way. His church is now the lakeside and the open road, and his pulpit a boat. Jesus would go anywhere where men would listen to him. When the synagogue was shut Jesus took to the open road. Business unsual.

Be and Do your best at home!

Luke 4:38-44

38 He left the meeting place and went to Simon's house. Simon's mother- in- law was running a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. 39 He stood over her, told the fever to leave-- and it left. Before they knew it, she was up getting dinner for them. 40 When the sun went down, everyone who had anyone sick with some ailment or other brought them to him. One by one he placed his hands on them and healed them. 41 Demons left in droves, screaming, "Son of God! You're the Son of God!" But he shut them up, refusing to let them speak because they knew too much, knew him to be the Messiah. 42 He left the next day for open country. But the crowds went looking and, when they found him, clung to him so he couldn't go on. 43 He told them, "Don't you realize that there are yet other villages where I have to tell the Message of God's kingdom, that this is the work God sent me to do?" 44 Meanwhile he continued preaching in the meeting places of Galilee.

Food for thought!

There are great truths in this short incident.

(i) Jesus was always ready to serve. He had just left the synagogue. But no sooner had Jesus left the synagogue and entered Peter's house than the insistent cry of human need was at him. He did not claim that he was tired and must rest; he answered it without complaint.

(ii) Jesus did not need a crowd to work a miracle. Many people will put out an effort in a crowd that they will not make among their own private circle. Many of us are at our best at work and at our worst at home. All too commonly we are gracious, courteous, generous and polite to outsiders and the very opposite when at home. But Jesus was prepared to put out all his power in a small home. Be and do your best at home, first.

(iii) When Peter's mother-in-law was cured immediately she began to serve them. She realized that she had been given back her health to spend it in the service of others. She wanted no fussing and no petting; she wanted to get on with cooking and serving her own folk and Jesus. Mothers are always like that. We would do well to remember that if God gave us the priceless gift of health and strength, he gave it that we might use it always in the service of others.

(iv) Early in the morning Jesus went out to be alone. He was able to meet the insistent needs of men only because he first companied with God. Once, in the 1914-18 war, a staff conference was due to begin. All were present except Marshal Foch, the commander-in-chief. An officer who knew him well said, "I think I know where we may find him." He led them round to a ruined chapel close beside General Headquarters and there, before the shattered altar, the great soldier was kneeling in prayer. Before he met men he must first meet God.

(v) There is no word of complaint or resentment when Jesus' privacy was invaded by the crowds. Prayer is great but in the last analysis human need is greater. Pray we must; but prayer must never be an escape from reality; going to church should never be an escape from going to market place. Prayer cannot preserve us from the insistent cry of human need. It must prepare us for it; and sometimes we will need to rise from our knees too soon and get to attend human need.

As you know, we shall be judged by our attention to human need: "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into your home. 36 I needed clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me" (Mt 25,35-36).

Close to the Lord means away from the devil!

Luke 4:31-37

31 He went down to Capernaum, a village in Galilee. He was teaching the people on the Sabbath. 32 They were surprised and impressed-- his teaching was so forthright, so confident, so authoritative, not the quibbling and quoting they were used to. 33 In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, 34 "Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you're up to. You're the Holy One of God and you've come to destroy us!" 35 Jesus shut him up: "Quiet! Get out of him!" The demonic spirit threw the man down in front of them all and left. The demon didn't hurt him. 36 That set everyone back on their heels, whispering and wondering, "What's going on here? Someone whose words make things happen? Someone who orders demonic spirits to get out and they go?" 37 Jesus was the talk of the town.

Food for thought!

In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed! This is strange. Someone in the prayer meeting was possessed! Why would a possessed man go to a prayer meeting? And why could the other people stay in tranquility with a demon possessed man? Were they not aware that one of them was under the grip of the devil? Or was it that the possessed man pretended to be ok.

Be it as it may, there are things in us that escape us. There are things that we cannot know on our own; we need the Lord to know ourselves. Only with Jesus can we discover what's hidden in us and among us. Without Jesus we really don't know ourselves, we don't know one another. The gospel says that as soon as Jesus showed up, the devil showed himself and screamed aloud "Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you're up to. You're the Holy One of God and you've come to destroy us!"

The devil did not and could not stay silent before Jesus. This means that while the devil can manage to stay silent among us, it cannot with Jesus. It means that the best way to fight devils and all evil spirits is by staying close to Jesus. "So place yourselves under God’s authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you." (James 4:7).

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith." (1 Peter 5:8-9).

"Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11-12).

God custom-made us!

Luke 4:16-30

He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come

when the Lord will save his people.”

Jesus rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son, the one we’ve known since he was a youngster?” He answered, “I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, ‘Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn’t it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian.”

That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They threw him out, banishing him from the village, then took him to a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw him to his doom, but he gave them the slip and was on his way.

Food for thought

What on earth am I here for? This is the question that Jesus answers in today's gospel reading. Jesus knows why he came down to earth: "to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come

when the Lord will save his people.”

These words are the Jesus' Personal Mission Statement. They're his resume, his CV. Jesus knows why came. This is Jesus. What about you and I?

If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God, because you were born by his purpose and for his purpose. You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for. You must begin with God, your Creator.

Did you notice how Jesus came to know his purpose? It was by reading the Bible. The gospel says, "He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written." In other words, the starting point is the Word of God, the Bible. When Jesus opened the Bible he saw himself in it. In other words, Jesus' destiny had already been foretold, by the prophet Isaiah.

It is only in the Word of God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to dead end. You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don't get to choose your purpose in life.

None of us is an accident. Our birth was no mistake or mishap, and our life is no fluke of nature. Our parents may not have planned us, but God did. He was not at all surprised by our birth. In fact, he expected it. He custom-made our body just the way he wanted it. He also determined the natural talents each one of us would possess and the uniqueness of our personality. This is what Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to...!" Yes, God custom-made each one of us for a purpose, for something very special. Do you know yours?

They watched Jesus & Jesus watched them!

Luke 14:1.7-11

1 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. 7 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, he said, 8 "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. 9 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. 10 "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! 11 What I'm 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."

Food for thought!

This passage tells us certain things about Jesus and his enemies. It shows us the serenity with which Jesus met life. There is nothing more trying than to be under constant and critical scrutiny. When that happens to most people they lose their nerve and, even more often, lose their temper. They become irritable; and while there may be greater sins than irritability there is none that causes more pain and heartbreak.

But even in things which would have broken most men's spirit, Jesus remained serene. If we live with him, he can make us like himself.

It is to be noted that Jesus never refused any man's invitation of hospitality. He could turn any occasion into graceful moment to teach us some eternal truth. Jesus would not refuse even an enemy's invitation. It is as clear as daylight that we will never make our enemies our friends if we refuse to meet them and talk with them.

They watched Jesus' every move; but Jesus watched them too, with his divine eye. The gospel says that, "Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honour". Jesus also notices us; looks at us; observes us! And when he sees us, he sees us from inside out; he sees our motivations and intentions.

On this occasion Jesus chose a homely illustration to illustrate what he saw. If a quite undistinguished guest arrived early at a feast and annexed the top place, and if a more distinguished person then arrived, and the man who had usurped the first place was told to step down, a most embarrassing situation resulted. If, on the other hand, a man deliberately slipped into the bottom place, and was then asked to occupy a more distinguished place, his humility gained him all the more honour.

Humility has always been one of the characteristics of great people; the great are humble.

Why we need humility?

We need it after realizing the facts. However much we know, we still know very little compared with the sum total of knowledge. However much we have achieved, we still have achieved very little in the end. However important we may believe ourselves to be, when death removes us or when we retire from our position, life and work will go on just the same.

We need it when we stand beside the perfect. It is when we see or hear the expert that we realize how poor our own performance is. And if we set our lives beside the life of Jesus, if we saw our unworthiness in comparison with the radiance of his stainless purity, our pride would die and be replaced by humility.