Luke 14:1, 7-14
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke Sunday, August 31, 2025
“Whoever Humbles Himself Will Be Exalted”
Nearly 100 years ago, C.S. Lewis wrote about the sin of pride or conceit: “There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.” In other words, the more proud we are, the more upset we get when someone else seems too proud. We don’t for a second consider that we are prideful or conceited ourselves. Lewis writes several pages on this topic before concluding with a similar thought. He finishes the chapter this way: “If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”
It makes you think, doesn’t it?
In fact, not only does it make us think, it probably also makes us feel a little embarrassed, or a little guilty. It makes us realize that stopping to think about pride almost certainly uncovers some pride in our own hearts and in our own lives. If you think, “I’m never conceited,” doesn’t that say something about just how conceited you are? It doesn’t just make us think. It makes us hurt.
What Lewis discussed almost 100 years ago, Jesus taught around 2,000 years ago. Today’s Gospel, from Luke chapter 14, begins, “One Sabbath day, when Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat bread, they were watching him closely.” Maybe you know enough about the life of Jesus to understand why the Pharisees watched him so closely. Perhaps some were still curious about Jesus and thought it was worth seeing what he might say or do. Some may have thought of Jesus as a teacher worth listening to, so they were ready in case he started teaching them. But the most common reaction Pharisees had to Jesus was to doubt him and to be angry with him and to want to challenge or undermine him. Over and over again they asked questions they hoped he couldn’t answer or waited and watched for him to do something that could get himself in trouble. They wanted to pounce whenever that would happen.
It turns out that as these Pharisees were watching Jesus, Jesus was watching them. The owner of the house was hosting a dinner party, and Jesus watched as people arrived how they tried to sit in the best places. Roughly speaking, this meant that they wanted to be as close to the host as possible. The most highly honored guests would be seated the closest to the host. It kind of makes sense, even if this isn’t necessarily the way we would view it through our own cultural lenses. When you find a spot at a church dinner in the Fellowship Hall, you probably don’t think “What seat is the most honored?” You probably would think more about where is there an open spot. Is there a seat near a friend, or at least someone who looks friendly? Do I want to be near an exit just in case? Do I want to be near a window to watch for someone coming late? Whatever specifics go into our choice, our culture isn’t really built on the idea of honor and shame as a significant factor.
It was different in the time and part of the world when and where Jesus lived. That culture was steeped in the idea that some things bring honor and others bring shame. People were more in tune to the concept of their standing in regard to these things. And there were seats at the dinner that indicated higher honor. Why wouldn’t you want to be at one of those seats? Why wouldn’t you want to be as close to the highest honor as possible? What Jesus saw made complete sense. In fact, maybe it made too much sense.
It made too much sense because it fit with sinful human reasoning. Jesus had a different idea in mind. He had a different emphasis. He had a lesson for those Pharisees and for us. So he started telling stories about how things could have played out. What if you take one of the most honorable seats, and someone more distinguished, more honored, shows up. Here comes the host, and he has to say, “Sorry, you are going to have to move.” Guess where you need to go. Whatever seat is left. It won’t be a seat of high honor, it will be the leftovers. It will be the lowest position. Being sent there would be much worse than just sitting in that place in the first place, because the focus would have been on you having you move down.
Here’s a better idea, says Jesus. Go and take the lowest spot. And if that is not the place that makes sense for you, your host will sort that out, too. Only in this case, he’s going to take you, publicly, in front of the others, and say, “Come. Take a better spot.” In the one scenario, you exalt yourself, and you are humbled. In the
other, you humble yourself and are exalted. And Jesus even speaks in absolute terms, “EVERYONE who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
And this is a problem for us, just as it was for those Pharisees. We deserve to be humbled. We generally and consistently think more of ourselves than we ought to. We have expectations for others that we don’t even consider applying to ourselves. In the terms of Jesus’ illustrations, we want the best seats and think that we probably deserve them at least more than some do. And we can’t fake our way through humility, act and pretend as though we are comfortable taking the lower seats and waiting for our host to elevate us to a higher position. Jesus is not asking us to act as though we are humble, he is asking us to be humble. It's no wonder these words are part of our series on wounds. This hurts: to really come face-to-face with our attitude toward ourselves and others. Just think of the men that Jesus was watching as he said these words. He was describing what they had just been doing. He was talking about their choices and their actions. And they could tell that he had understood their hearts. And we should know that he sees our actions and understands our hearts.
So let’s understand his heart. He loved the Pharisees. He loves us. He loves the world. His actions back that up. As true God and perfect man, Jesus deserved to be exalted above all things. But he humbled himself to take the place of the lowliest sinner, the lowliest criminal, the lowliest convict. He humbled himself to the most gruesome death. He humbled himself to the places we deserved to go, to the seats we deserved to sit in. And he invites us to follow his example. Love others enough to put them ahead of you even if it means suffering and sorrow and pain.
What Jesus has done is much more than just an example. Jesus humbled himself not only for us and out of love for us but in our place. He humbled himself to forgive our lack of humility. He humbled himself to forgive our conceit and pride. He humbled himself and then was exalted. He rose from the dead and proclaimed his victory by descending to the prison cell of Satan who thought he could be Jesus’ adversary. Christ’s descent into hell proved and celebrated his victory over the power of the devil. And more exaltation: Jesus has ascended to the highest place to care for his people.
So here’s what humility really looks like. It looks like dismissing any notion we have that we could help ourselves or save ourselves. Humility looks like depending on Jesus for everything. It means that we confess, “I am a sinner. There is nothing good in me. I deserve the lowest position. I deserve punishment and death and hell.”
And Jesus says, “Friend, move up to a higher place.” Jesus says, “Come into the inheritance prepared for you. Live for me now and live with me forever.”
And that honor changes our lives. That confidence in Christ’s forgiveness and love enables us to live new lives that serve and honor others. Jesus follows up his instructions about taking the lower places by talking about invitations. Jesus had been invited to a dinner party. Was his host expecting something? Was he hoping to get something out of it? Did that man invite other prominent and notable people because they would be able to someday return the favor? Was he giving to others in order to get something for himself? In whatever way we might be like that, Jesus says, “Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” Give out of thankfulness to God with a cheerful hear, not even thinking about a potential reward. Give in the way that God gave to you. Serve in the way that Jesus served you.
You have a resurrection in store. You will be exalted beyond what you can imagine. You are righteous, because your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has made you righteous. There is no room for pride or conceit. Thankful humility is the only proper response.
C.S. Lewis asked us to consider how we respond when we think someone is being prideful. Here’s what he says about humility: “If you meet a really humble man . . . he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. . . He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.” God grant that we would all live in such humility and depend on Jesus to exalt us in his own time.
The Text: Luke 14:1, 7–14 (EHV)
14 One Sabbath day, when Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat bread, they were watching him closely.
7When he noticed how they were selecting the places of honor, he told the invited guests a parable.
8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline in the place of honor, or perhaps someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him. 9The one who invited both of you may come and tell you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.
10“But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a higher place.’ Then you will have honor in the presence of all who are reclining at the table with you.
11“Yes, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
12He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or rich neighbors, so that perhaps they may also return the favor and pay you back.
13“But when you make a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. Certainly, you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”