This article was made at the request of the Danish Christian newspaper Udfordringen and is inspired by TGC Nordens recent Real Joy Conference. To read the original article in Danish, please visit here.
If this article sparks an interest in the subject of joy in the Lord, the author highly recommends you check out The Dangerous Duty of Delight by John Piper, recently translated to Danish, Swedish, and Finnish.
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 are 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, 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. But when you are invited, go and sit in 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 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. 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. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Luke 14:7-14
Take the Lowest Place
At first glance, one might be tempted to think that this passage invites us to suffer loss for Jesus’ sake. After all, we are told to take the lowest seat and to invite to our table those who are considered nothing in the eyes of the world. But nothing could be further from the truth. This text actually shows us how we can experience true joy in God.
First, we are encouraged to humility—we are to take the lowest place. But why?
I believe there are several answers. The one who takes the best seat without right has a proud heart and thinks more highly of himself than he ought. The proud are self-sufficient and self-satisfied, in spite of obvious flaws of character, and therefore the proud are humbled by God.
But what if you do have the right to the place of honor—why not take it then?
Since we do not know our hearts as we ought, we cannot truly know if we deserve the best places. The sin present in all people suggests that we do not. But let us suppose that one could lay claim to the place of honor—why not simply take it?
The answer is simple. If you exalt and honor yourself, there is no room left for God to do it. If you receive honor from others, then you have already received your reward. Yet the joy of being honored by people is infinitely poorer than the joy of being honored by God. That is why Jesus urges us: humble yourself, and God will exalt you. In doing so, you are not denying yourself—you are choosing what is truly best for yourself, since the honor that comes from God far surpasses any honor you can give yourself.
Seek the Greater Reward
We see the same principle when Jesus speaks to the host. If you invite people to your table with the hidden motive that they will repay you, then you have already received your reward. You have gained their recognition, their favor, or perhaps stored up a future favor in return. But what a poor reward this is compared with the reward God will give us!
The danger of seeking a human reward is present in every good deed—unless you do good to those who cannot give anything back. That is why you should give to those who cannot repay you, and in this way ensure that you receive your reward from God alone.
Thus the text does not only call us to humility and good works—Jesus calls us to choose the greatest treasure! We are to do what is, in the deepest sense, in our own best interest. When you live humbly and do good, you are not acting against your own interest—on the contrary, you are receiving the greatest reward imaginable. In this way you choose both yourself and others, finding your deepest joy in God and discovering how priceless his treasure truly is!
The alternative is to receive reward from people—and to risk being humbled by God. The choice is yours.
