"Friend, move up higher!"

Luke 14:7-11

Concordia University Chicago Chapel
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 6, 2013

Jesus saw how each guest was trying to strategically and selfishly sit down at the place of honor. For us, it might a nice window seat, sitting next to an important person, or behind the bench at the stadium.

I wonder what Jesus thinks about Chicago traffic when three lanes merge to two? What about those drivers who refuse to let cars merge in front of them so that they won’t lose their precious 4.2 seconds? What about those who refuse to merge right away and whiz on by dozens of cars waiting patiently for their turn and then demand entrance to the front of the line?

For Jesus, where you sit at the table or whether you get through a construction zone earlier is a small window into the human soul. It is a small window but what we see through that little window is a huge problem. There is something deeply wrong with us—a sickness that plagues us all—and that troubling reality that we all experience is pride. Pride is the belief that I belong at the head of the table—it’s my place in line, not yours—what happens to me is of greater consequence than you.

Here is the troubling truth: We are both perpetrators and victims of pride. Pride traps us in a world where the self is the center of the universe. The earth is not the center of the universe, nor is the sun, not even our solar system or our galaxy. To put our selves there is a grand delusion of a false world. There are over 7 Billion people in this world. We cannot always be first. Jesus wants to save us from the shocking, painful and startling realization that we may not be as important as we think we are. He wants to ease us into a sober, self-assessment. He wants us to see that the world will not and cannot revolve around us. He calls us to humility.

Recently my wife and I were invited to dinner. It was no ordinary dinner. The home where the meal was served is adorned with beautiful furniture, paintings, and with the finest China and silverware. It was a seven course meal cooked by a local celebrity chef. Each course had its own designer wine or beer to match the food and its effects on the palate. Among the handful of people there were a CEO of a major institution, a person who just published a book on one of the church fathers, a restaurant reviewer for a major newspaper, and a retired professor who had a center of advanced study named after him in his honor. The meal itself was won by the highest bidder at a gala event on the top of a skyscraper in Chicago. There were three components to this event: the place, the meal, and the distinguished guest. As you might have already guessed, I was not the winner of that bid nor was I the distinguished guest. The retired professor was the distinguished guest.

Of all the things I saw, heard, and tasted that evening, what had the greatest impression on me was the distinguished guest. At one point during the evening, he began to observe people telling their stories to one or two people but not the whole table. He saw this as a lost opportunity and a fracture of the evening. “Wait a minute, wait a minute!” he said. “I want to hear that story you are telling over there but I can’t if I keep listening to this other interesting story over here. Can we all just take turns so we all can hear?” And so we all took turns and shared our stories. And we experienced those encouraging words, “Friend, move up higher.” You matter. Your story is important. You count.

It’s not as painful as it may first seem. Jesus calls us out of a world where we serve ourselves. He calls us into a world where we serve others…and here’s the clincher, where the great Other serves us. It is not your job to serve yourself. It is God’s job to serve you. Our job is to respond in kind by serving others. Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.” He is the one who says to us in the Gospel, “Friend, move up higher.” In his death, he lifts us up in forgiveness and raises us up to restored relationships. In his resurrection, he raises our eyes to a greater vision of what this world can be and he exalts us from death to eternal life. And once we realize how well we are served by God, it becomes contagious. So, friends, move up higher.