Transcript
Speaker: instrumentalists, appreciate you leading us in worship. You know, worship is what it's all about because we surrender ourselves to God. We're saying to God, I'm yours. You made me. You have a plan for me. I need you I want you to guide me.
Speaker: And so it doesn't matter what age you are. I'm so thankful, church family, that we are a multi- generational church family. And so never feel like it's over for me. No, it's not.
Speaker: No, we need your wisdom. We need your guidance, regardless of your age. You're very important to us and very important to these young families, especially. So I'm thankful for those who are young. I thank you for those who is, who are in middle age and those who are senior adults. I'm so thankful for each one of you. I want to invite you, if you would, to turn with me to Luke 14, verses 1 through 14. You know, Bible scholars say that Jesus' earthly ministry was about three and a half years.
Speaker: They come at that because his baptism was around A.D. 29. His death, burial, resurrection, his ascension back to the Father took place in about A.D. 33. So somewhere around three and a half years.
Speaker: If you were to put that in the framework of of the Gospel of Luke, what you would discover is that the first four chapters, roughly, ah dividing about chapter four, verse 13, could be described as obscurity. Because Jesus is in the wilderness being tempted. He's he's being baptized.
Speaker: He's being raised. His parents are taking him to to dedicate him, just like the parents did this morning. And so all of that's kind of like off the radar, so to speak.
Speaker: But man, from chapter 4, verse 14, through chapter 9, verse 17, the word would change from obscurity to popularity. Great crowds would follow Christ.
Speaker: And they began to say, we trust you. We believe you. But not everyone liked that. There was a group called the Pharisees and the scribes and the Sadducees, and they did not like that. And so from chapter 9, verse 18, all the way through chapter 19, verse 28, Jesus is on a trip. He's going down to Jerusalem from Galilee, and he's facing hostility. He's facing animosity as he goes along the way.
Speaker: So once again, what we see in this passage we're about to read, one of those Pharisees, who was like a ruler, He actually invited Jesus over for a meal after the sabbath on the Sabbath day for lunch.
Speaker: So you would think that was good, right? But it wasn't really. Because what you'll see as I read through the text, it was nothing more than a setup. They were really wanting to trap Jesus. They didn't like him.
Speaker: And so they were trying to stop him and shut him down from all that growth that was taking place. But even though they were watching Jesus like a hawk, Guess what Jesus was able to do?
Speaker: He was able to turn the tables on them. He was able to gain the upper hand. You know, the idiom turn the tables comes from the early 17th century.
Speaker: It's derived from board games, from board games like backgammon. I don't know if you've heard of ah of a board game that is gaining in popularity, but right now there's a board game named Mahjong that is really popular among Gen Z and millennials.
Speaker: And so probably in this room, there's people who are enjoying that game. As a matter of fact, if you go to Yelp, sometimes if you're looking for the right restaurant, if you're looking for a place where you could gather with other people and play Mahjong, then you could go to Yelp.
Speaker: Well, guess what they've seen over the last little while? an increase by 4,400% increase. People saying, where can I find others that want to play my job?
Speaker: So it's definitely getting to be a big deal. But turn the tables means to obtain the upper hand over an opponent by learning to see the game from their viewpoint and then using it to win.
Speaker: I think that Jesus was the master, spiritually and conversationally, of obtaining the upper hand. Even though they're planning to set him up to fail, they're planning to set him up to to be able to capture him and so forth.
Speaker: It doesn't work. Because he stays with truth. He keeps thinking about God's kingdom. You see, Jesus is on that journey to Jerusalem in Luke 14, 1 through 4. And we don't know exactly where he is.
Speaker: But wherever he was, it's most likely in Perea. But wherever he was, there was a a synagogue there. And they had Sabbath. And after Sabbath, then he was invited over to this man's house for lunch. So i would like for you to open your word, copy of God's word, or you can follow on the screen if you would like.
Speaker: But I'd like to read this passage to you. Would you stand one more time in honor of God's word? It's not like another book. That's why we stand in honor of it. One Sabbath. When he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.
Speaker: And behold, there was a man before whom who had before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?
Speaker: But they remained silent. Now...
Speaker: and he said to them which of you having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a sabbath day will not immediately pull them out and they could not reply to these things now He told a parable to those who were invited when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, when you're invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him.
Speaker: 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.
Speaker: But when you're invited, go and sit in the lowest place so that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher.
Speaker: Then you will be honored 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 he said also to the man who had invited him when you give a dinner or a banquet do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid
Speaker: But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.
Speaker: For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. Let's go to the Father in prayer. Lord, thank you so much for your word. I pray you give us guidance, equip us.
Speaker: Sometimes, Lord, we face opposition for our faith. We face opposition for our standards and our values. And so help us to know how can we win by being pleasing to you?
Speaker: How can we stay focused on the right thing and not get down in the mud with them? We love you, Lord. Please speak to us through your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
Speaker: Well, let me give you three different strategies. If ever you're in a situation and it's like someone is trying to get the upper hand over your faith, they're trying to make fun of you and your family for your values, you need to know how can I respond the way that God would want me to respond.
Speaker: Well, here's what I would recommend. First, counter any duplicity that's on the other side. Counter that with authenticity. Counter it with authentic authenticity.
Speaker: When your opponents choose lies and pretense and hidden agendas, then respond with truth. consistency and transparency. You see, the Pharisees assumed that they could hide beneath the holy day, beneath the Sabbath day, a trick, a plot, a trap that they had for Jesus, but it couldn't be hidden.
Speaker: They thought they could hide it not only but but ah beneath the holy day, they thought they could hide it within a home. They could hide it with hospitality as the window dressing. But Jesus could see right through it.
Speaker: And so there they were. They were dining in the home of this ruler of the Pharisees. But Jesus knew exactly what it was about. They assumed that they could also hide it behind a healing.
Speaker: And so what did they do? They used a man. They planted him right in front of Jesus. And that's why it says, a man before him who had dropsy You know, Jesus had already given miracles on Sabbath days. If you were to go to chapter 4, verse 31 to 37, he cast out a demon on the Sabbath.
Speaker: Chapter 4, verses 38 39, he healed a fever on the Sabbath. In Luke 6, verses 6 through 11, he healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Amen.
Speaker: And then in chapter 13, verses 10 through 7, remember there was a lady who couldn't stand up straight. She was crippled in her back, but he healed her back on the Sabbath. So now here we come to a ah fifth time and they're still trying to trap him.
Speaker: So they were deceptive toward Jesus. They were not receptive toward him. They were using this man and his edema, it's called dropsy in this passage, as bait to catch him.
Speaker: And what they wanted was just let him try to heal somebody on the Sabbath with all of us Pharisees around to witness the whole thing. The means in the end for them, for the adversaries, for your adversary, the devil, or the world system, or the flesh, the means in the end will always be falsehood, always be deception.
Speaker: But Jesus, on the other hand, calls us to overcome by truth, by authenticity, as modeled by Jesus in verses 3 and 4 and 5. You see, what I see him doing is there's a truthful deliberation regarding the Sabbath in the Bible.
Speaker: So basically what he's saying to them when he says to them, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? What he's saying is, is it biblical? did Did Moses actually say, don't heal anybody on the Sabbath?
Speaker: And of course they knew their silence was there because he had them in checkmate. They thought, well, if we say, no, the Bible says that you shouldn't heal people on the Sabbath, then they would think the common people would say, those guys are so heartless.
Speaker: But if he said, if they said to Jesus, yeah, we think the Bible does say that. Then he would say, they would say, well, then the people are going to say we're lawless. So, but anyway, healing gave evidence that not against Jesus.
Speaker: It gave evidence against the Pharisees. That's why I see not only the truthful deliberation regarding the Sabbath in the Bible, but the truthful demonstration.
Speaker: The truthful demonstration of the sick getting better. You see, these guys didn't like it because they couldn't do it. But Jesus could heal. He could make people feel better. And he did make people feel better. So what happened was, rather than being evidence against Jesus, they actually provided a platform for him to give evidence for who he says that he was.
Speaker: Verse 5 talks about an emergency scenario. Amen. that had been exposed. their Their inconsistency was exposed because Jesus said, here's what I'm wondering.
Speaker: If one of you guys are on the way to the Sabbath service and your son or your ox falls into a well, so they're going to drown. You only have so much time when you fall into a well if it's filled, right?
Speaker: So if they do, he says, are you going to hesitate to get them out? He says, will not you immediately pull them out? And so they couldn't say a word.
Speaker: I wonder, I'm just speculating here, but I wonder had that very thing happened earlier that day. One of those Pharisees sitting around that table is like, man, this guy read my life. He knows all about it. And so it's like he had pulled it out.
Speaker: And yet here's a guy that's drowning in his own bodily fluids. And he's like, we don't care. Don't heal anybody like this guy with dropsy or edema on the Sabbath.
Speaker: And so how sad is that? You know, but Jesus on the other end, he has compassion. He has the authority to make the man, to rescue the man, to heal the man.
Speaker: He didn't care about the Pharisees' 39 rules that they had added to the law of Moses. They were always adding more and more rules. And so they said, there's 39 different things you're not supposed to do on this Sabbath.
Speaker: And so they were just making this up. But Jesus, he just called them out on it. You see, he didn't just go quiet like they did. What does it say happened? They could not reply to these things.
Speaker: It kind of reminds me to what happened whenever he healed a woman with that back problem. Remember what happened after that? in In Luke 13, verses 16 through 17, it says, as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
Speaker: So what am I saying? I'm saying prove your point by authenticity. Live it. Live out the truth of God's word. Let them see what a difference it makes in your marriage. Let them see what a difference it makes in the way you talk to your kids, the way you raise your children. Let them see the difference that it makes when you're at work and you say, I work for the Lord, so I'm going to give my whole heart to everything I do.
Speaker: In other words, authenticity is the way to overcome, not by dipping into their duplicity and so forth. Just be honest. Just be transparent. Just be real. Just be consistent and watch what God would do. But also, I think there's a second thing that they were doing.
Speaker: He countered pride with humility. I think we can counter pride with humility. John R. W. Stott said, pride is your greatest enemy.
Speaker: Humility is your greatest friend. I thought that was well said. See, the sick man had been swollen by the retention of fluid within the tissues of his body.
Speaker: But they, on their the other hand, these Pharisees, they were swollen by the retention of pride. Pride within the fabric of their soul. How do we know this? Well, look with me, if you will, at verse 7.
Speaker: Now, he told a parable to those who were invited when he noticed something. What did jesus Jesus notice about all those Pharisees when they were gathering around the table?
Speaker: He noticed how they chose the places of honor. They were like, hey, I want that ruler of the Pharisees to know about me. I want to have a good conversation and promote myself while we're enjoying this meal.
Speaker: Oh man. You know, the arrangement of seating was sort of like in a yeah U shape. And so the honored positions would be the one to the left and to the right of the host. So the closer you could get to the host, the more honored the position was.
Speaker: He noticed how they kept choosing places of honor for themselves. They were not invited there. And so that's why he begins to talk about it. But he addressed the selfishness behind their selection.
Speaker: See, humility, get this, humility is not always silent. Sometimes you have to speak whenever you see the wrong thing being done.
Speaker: And that's exactly what Jesus did. He spoke when he saw the right. It says he told them, saying to them, both of those verbs told and say, they speak of communication.
Speaker: But it's do we speak with the right spirit? Do we speak the truth? Are we speaking with the love? I don't know if this is true or not, but when I got to thinking about what I was learning about pride, I put it in an acrostic.
Speaker: You know me, I like to have fun with words. So anyway, I spelled out the word pride and I thought, what do I mean when I say that they were prideful? What is pride anyway?
Speaker: Well, this is my own attempt at it. The P could stand for, well, I want a position for myself. The R could stand for, I don't just want a position for myself.
Speaker: I want to rule by myself. I want to be in charge with nobody able to disagree with me. The could be, I feel that I should be the focus of the camera.
Speaker: So everybody look at me. The D could be defiant about my way. I want my way or it's the highway. Or E would be exalt myself.
Speaker: Sometimes you should do some research in the Old Testament. How did Satan fall? See, at one time, Satan was an angel. He was a cherub. And so how did he fall? He fell according to Isaiah 14 verses 13 and 14. And he fell according to Ezekiel 28, 17 for one main reason, try pride, pride.
Speaker: So if we're going to fall after him, then we're going to be prideful. But Jesus, his first counter to their duplicity was what? Authenticity.
Speaker: Honesty. But then next, he sees this pride in everybody jockeying for position. And he said, you know what? I'm going to i'm going to tell them humility is the way to go.
Speaker: Not all of this crazy nonsense that's here. And so he tells them and the illustration of what not to do in verses 8 and 9. And then he tells them what to do in verses 10 and 11.
Speaker: So what not to do in a fallen world of selfishness would be this. Avoid selfishness in your actions. Don't try to get those positions that are there out of the flesh, I'm saying.
Speaker: If you want to work hard, if you want to do a good job at work and they promote you, that's different. That's not the same thing. These guys are just saying, I want to take it. I just want to have this.
Speaker: Avoid selfishness in your actions. But notice verse 9. Jesus says, if you do not live by humility, then guess what? If you pick the the best spot out, what could happen is you'll be asked to move seats.
Speaker: They'll say, could you lead let this distinguished person today sit there? And that would be so humiliating. It would be a shame. Do you know that sin and pride and selfishness, you know what it'll bring in your life?
Speaker: Shame. It will make you feel so embarrassed in all your relationships. Don't do it. rather Rather than pride and selfishness, I encourage you to take a place of modesty.
Speaker: You see verse 10. See, the guests were promoting their own reputation, but Jesus flipped the tables. He turned the tables on them to the right kind of living.
Speaker: He said, why don't you demonstrate by your character? Why don't you demonstrate by being a person of responsibility? who's Who's saying, okay, the Holy Spirit gives me self-control.
Speaker: So I don't have to have self-promotion. I will be a man, a woman of self-control. So you prove your value rather than assuming your value. I think some people assume their value so they would take the highest seat.
Speaker: And it's like the next guy's like, no, you know what? I will prove that I'm a blessing to this company or whatever. You might not have ever heard this. I know I had not. But Albert Einstein once said, try not to become a man of success, but try to become a man of value.
Speaker: Which one's more important to be successful or to be valuable? Well, Einstein said, try not to become a man of success, but try to become a man of value so that people say, I want that man. I want that woman on my team. I'm so glad they are in my family. I'm so glad that they are with us in this thing.
Speaker: No wonder he says that man, that kind of man, he's going to be offered friend, move up higher. He's going to be honored. But also I think verse 11 would tell us you're going to have to trust God's plan.
Speaker: See, God's got a plan for you. He's got a destiny for you. And so the best plan is his plan. And so verse 11 is like this spiritual axiom of the kingdom. An axiom is an irreducible truth. What do we mean by an axiom?
Speaker: It's something like the existence of God. I mean, maybe everybody in the room, maybe nobody in this room. I hope nobody in the room. But maybe no one in this room would question whether God exists or not.
Speaker: But if you go outside the room, you go out into the world, some people question the existence of God. But God's existence is like an axiom. It's an irreducible truth. It doesn't matter if people will vote yes, I think he exists, or vote no.
Speaker: He exists. And we will stand before him. The authority of scripture, that's another axiom. Hey, God's word is going to last. The character of God, that's another axiom.
Speaker: So that's what he's trying to say about verse 11 about humble humility and pride. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Speaker: In other words, he's saying this is the way it works. in my kingdom, in my economy. This is the way I do things. All you got to do is read in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis about Joseph.
Speaker: Then you read a few verses on down, not verses, but chapters and books on down. You get to Daniel. Read about Daniel. Joseph and Daniel both said, you know what?
Speaker: They don't like me. They don't want me and so forth, but I'm still going to humble myself and I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait for God to to bring me whatever plan he wants. And you know what? God did in both cases.
Speaker: God honored both of them. Well, let me close with one last thing. I think you would also counter what they were doing, this distorted hospitality. Because back then, people were only inviting people over who could pay them back.
Speaker: In other words, I'll invite over the people who can make me but it look better in the community or in the work or whatever. So counter, what you call that is reciprocity.
Speaker: Reciprocity. You counter reciprocity with generosity. You know what generosity means. See, the Pharisees practiced reciprocity in their hospitality, but Jesus challenged the host to invite guests out of pure generosity.
Speaker: No, they can't give you anything back. That's okay. That's okay. Look at verse 3. Look at the beginning of verse 3. Most likely the people on the guest list were attorneys, lawyers, and Pharisees. Nothing against lawyers. Okay, I know we got some in the church. So I'm not saying anything about you guys. But what I'm saying is back then, these guys were not good.
Speaker: and Verse 12 says that we need to move from normal invitations to biblical invitations. Okay? I think when extending hospitality, like is recorded for us here in verse 12, you know, where it says, he said also to the man who had invited him.
Speaker: I think Jesus was grateful to the man who invited him. I think he was glad he was included in this man's hospitality. And then he said, when you give a dinner in the future, when you give a dinner,
Speaker: He said, I encourage you to try expressing it with sincerity. So who would the guy sincerely want to be there? Well, I think he would want to be there as friends, his brothers, his relatives, his rich neighbors.
Speaker: So maybe you could just put in there the word merely or only. So he might say, when you give a dinner or banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors only.
Speaker: or merely invite them, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. And so I think what he's trying to say is, why don't you extract?
Speaker: Why don't you take out the reciprocity? Why don't you take that whole thing out? Just remove it by inviting some people that wouldn't normally be there.
Speaker: People that can't pay you back. And then verse 13 goes on to say, why don't you excel through generosity? It's not self-serving. It's Savior-serving.
Speaker: To say, I want to invite some people who can't pay me back. In case you've never learned this, there is a way that we can die to self. You know what it is? Galatians 2.20. Galatians 2.20 says that we God, if we will trust Him, that we will die to self.
Speaker: And the life that flows through us will be the Lord Jesus Christ. He can put us to death and He can help us come to life. I mean, real life. So that we care for him and for his kingdom.
Speaker: But then last of all, verse 14, I think you can get excited about eternity. Get excited about eternity. Jesus is saying, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you for you will be repaid.
Speaker: at the resurrection of the just. Sometimes our our vision is so so narrow. We're not looking far enough down the road, but we need to say, God, help me.
Speaker: Help me to look down the road at what you're wanting to do. Well, I just want to close with this reminder. That once again, the Pharisees thought they were going to trap Jesus.
Speaker: Maybe there's somebody at work. Maybe there's somebody in your extended family. Maybe there's somebody somewhere in the neighborhood or whatever. And they're looking for a way that they can just trap They're looking for a way that they can prove, see, Christians are wrong.
Speaker: They don't know what they're talking about. But just follow Jesus' example in how to turn the tables. You know, he exposed the ridiculous man-made restrictions.
Speaker: And what he said is, this is the way to overcome through truth, authenticity, through humility, and through generosity. That's the way he came to us, wasn't it?
Speaker: He told us the truth about our sins. He told us we need him. So I want to encourage you during this time of invitation, if you would say, i don't even know what you're talking about, about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Speaker: i want you to know you can have that personal relationship with him. So I want us to pray real quickly. I want to ask our musicians if they would come to lead us in a closing hymn of invitation here. We're going to sing just as I am.
Speaker: But would you say, Lord, i'm I'm just a broken man, just a broken woman. and just a broken student, a broken child. But I want to bring my brokenness to you. I want to come to you just as I am.
Speaker: That would be authenticity. Humility would be to say, you know, Lord, I need you. I'm so glad you were generous to me. Help me be kind, generous. Help me be truthful to those that are around me.
Speaker: So let's stand together. Let's pray. And then we'll have a time when you can respond. I'll stand down front. If you need someone to talk with, we can definitely begin the conversation. Lord, I thank you so much for this time to pray together.
Speaker: i pray for anyone in this room who does not have a personal conversation. relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe if they were honest, they would say that they're on the other side of the table.
Speaker: They're not playing on your team. They're playing against your team. Lord, let them know your love. Let them know that when you went to die for them on the cross, that you were demonstrating your love and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Speaker: And so, Lord, draw them to yourself. If there's anybody that's watching by live stream, that's going to listen by podcast, wherever they are, would you speak to them and convict their hearts?
Speaker: Let them know of your great love, but also tell them the truth. Tell them the truth. There is a way out of the shame. There is a way out of sin. And Jesus, you're the only way. You're the way, the truth, and the life.
Speaker: No one comes to the Father, but through you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
