Daily Devotional • November 9
A Reading from Luke 14:1-11
1 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely. 2 Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had edema. 3 And Jesus asked the experts in the law and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a Sabbath day?” 6 And they could not reply to this.
7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host, 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Meditation
Jesus is a rather risky person to invite to dinner. He sees too much, and isn’t shy about saying so. He sees our subtle jostling for status, our love for power games, and our reluctance to accept his invitation to join him in choosing the lowest place. He is, of course, not simply offering advice on good dining etiquette here — he is trying yet again to reveal the shape of the life he calls us to, which is the shape of his own life. It is a path which leads to glory along the road of humility. When we open ourselves to sharing the life of Jesus, we learn that the lowest place is also where the glory of God is revealed. The Cross was the lowest imaginable place of human suffering, the site of shameful painful torture and execution. It is also the place of victory, where the world is reborn, and sin and death are vanquished.
Humility is not degradation. We discover in the life of faith that humility is the way to glory because it is sharing Jesus’s life. Humility is no longer a threat to human dignity. Jesus is the high king of heaven, wreathed in splendor and adored by angels. In humility, he chose to come lovingly to meet his people in lowliness in Bethlehem and the lowliness of the Cross outside Jerusalem. He comes to meet his people in lowliness each day in the humble simplicity of bread and wine, flesh and blood. His life is given and poured out for us so that the exultation and joy of heaven may be ours as well. As we choose the lowest place, we are caught into the great shape of the gospel.
The Reverend Cara Greenham Hancock is a deacon serving in the Anglican Church of Australia, as a curate at the parish of St Stephen and St Mary, Mount Waverley.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Kentucky – The Episcopal Church
Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York