Seat of Honor...

August 12, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:11-12.

The thought that when things are at their worse, we have nowhere to go but up is a popular idea of hope in troubled times. When we finally hit rock bottom, we feel a security that things can only get better from here on out.

This is a solid thought that has more truth to it than we often realize. Being humble is a great place to be in even if the world looks down upon it. When things are going exactly our way at the right moment there is nowhere to move upward in line. However, when we are at the back of the line, even in our impatience and frustration, there is a hope and expectation that eventually we will get ahead. That hope is a driving factor in most of what we do. “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” Romans 8:24.

We have God’s promise that those who humble themselves will be “exalted”. In our society we have seen this over and over. We route for the underdog to win, and when they do, that win feels better to us than seeing someone who frequently wins taking the prize.

Jesus told us all that honor would come from taking the lower seat for a while. “When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:7-11.

He also let us know that pride and arrogance does not get us any favors with God. “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14.

What we learn is that at some point all of us will be humbled. However, it is equally clear that it is better if we humble ourselves than if we wait for someone else to humble us. If our humility comes from someone else, we run the risk of embarrassment, judgment, and shame. If we do it on our own, we will only reap the benefit of being honored when we are told to move up in the line. The former appears as a punishment, while the latter appears as a reward.

When we struggle to get ahead in the line at the expense of others, we often discount the fact that those who waited patiently and humbled themselves will move ahead of us. Never discount the person behind you when you could end up in their position in a blink of an eye.

The reality is that working to get ahead may cause you to end up further behind.