The First Casualty is Pride ...

How does one minister to the rich and the powerful?  This seems a rare question discussed in the modern church of today.  Most all the emphasis today is upon the poor, the desperate, or perhaps the middle class if such a thing still exists.  A crashing economy, and an active pandemic, manufacture many more poor than anything else these days.  And it is certain that Jesus seems to have much more interaction with the poor throughout scripture than He does with the rich.  But that may well be because the poor recognized their need of Jesus, far more often than the rich did.  Still, the rich and powerful had need of Jesus, perhaps even more so because they did not often recognize that need.  And Jesus did not come to save just one type of person.  Jesus came to save everyone.  He loved everyone.  Jesus knew the difficulties of being poor, and He recognized the burden of carrying wealth.  Poverty exposes need.  Wealth covers it up.  Yet the same need exists.  So when the rich and powerful made attempts at including Jesus in their social circles, Jesus did not run away.  Nor did He scold them for an invitation.  Instead He gladly accepted it and went into their homes when invited.  You might think that out of character for Someone who ministers so often to the poor.  But that is whole point, His character was same towards both rich and poor, He loves them and us like only our Creator God could love us.

Jesus was the perfect picture of humility.  Such a stark contrast to hearts of mankind.  We think of ourselves as rich or powerful when we measure against those we know, or have heard about.  We like to “take pride” in our homes, or our careers, or our families.  We lift ourselves up.  But it is vanity.  It is false pride and arrogance.  Jesus, by contrast, is the God of Creation, the God of Life, the God of the Universe.  There is no position across time and space which would be more exalted.  Yet He carried Himself in our world, and in His ministry to us, as the chief servant of everyone.  He carried Himself this way, He did not push you away because you didn’t.  Jesus did not require the poor to confess their worthlessness before He would stoop down to minister to them.  No, Jesus saw the poor as the invaluable treasure they are, each person of infinite value to Himself.  And so He treated us as kings, when we should be nothing.  The same was true of the rich.  Jesus treated them with the same love.  He did not require the rich to abase themselves first, before He would minister to them.  Instead He showed us all, how we should live, love, and treat each other.  His sermon was His living example.  Are we willing to follow that approach?

Luke tells us of an incident around ministry to the rich and powerful in his gospel letter in chapter 14.  This incident begins with a Sabbath feast to which Jesus has been invited.  Picking up in verse 1 it begins … “And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. [verse 2] And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.”  Jesus had been invited to one of the chief Pharisees for a Sabbath feast.  And He went.  These men were far from fans of Jesus.  Rather this invitation may well have been to spy on Jesus, to watch Him up close and find some occasion to trip Jesus up with law.  Ironic that foolish men would even attempt to trip up the Lawgiver with His own laws, but such is what happens when vanity rules the heart, instead of love for others.  And whether by chance coincidence, or through a setup of conspiracy, along the way to the feast there is a poor man afflicted with dropsy.

Consider for a minute what you might do in the same circumstance?  You know these rulers are not fans.  You know they believe that healing on Sabbath is a big break in the rules Moses handed down.  If you heal the man, you will decidedly cause mayhem with the folks you are trying to minister to.  So do you delay the healing perhaps?  Maybe have the disciples find out this man’s home address and come back to him as soon as the sun goes down.  Or perhaps minister to the man orally right there and then, but have his healing take effect as soon as the sun goes down.  Either of those options is exactly what the rich and powerful would prefer.  In fact, they always state exactly that kind of approach.  You can heal all you want, just wait till after Sabbath.  And what is so wrong with that?  Only one thing.  It cares more for the “rules” of Sabbath observance than it does for the victim who needs healing.  In fact, it twists the ideas of Sabbath observance to be performed without deep love for each other.  And how can the Sabbath be observed, if we do not love?  Short answer, it can’t.  Jesus knows this.  And Jesus will not change “who” He is, or how He loves, because we do not hold the right view of doctrinal beliefs.

So Luke continues in verse 3 saying … “And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? [verse 4] And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; [verse 5] And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? [verse 6] And they could not answer him again to these things.”  Jesus hits them (and us) where we live.  Whether for pity, or greed, or fear, these men would have helped their animals in distress upon the Sabbath.  They would not wish them to wait until sundown, and prolong their suffering, they would take action to end that suffering right there and right then.  Perhaps because more of us feel more sympathy for a wounded pet, than a wounded soul.  But the of our Lord cannot be contained.  He loves us too much, to see us wait until sundown, before He relieves that suffering.  Jesus heals, right then, and right there because this is where our need is.  Jesus is keen to meet our needs right as He encounters them, as we bring them to Him, as we let Him heal us.  The man was healed.  And the nature of love of Jesus was revealed to that man, to all those in attendance.  And if it were possible, an error in how we observe the law would have been corrected.  But vanity likely prolonged the error, despite the revelation of Truth given them (and perhaps us).

The invitation to the feast was not rescinded because of this incident, and they traveled on to arrive at the Pharisee’s home.  In those days, many homes had open courtyards in the center of the home, and rooms on the lower floor that surrounded them.  Of course, the rooms on the second floor, or upper floor, also surrounded those courtyards but because they were elevated, they had a much better view of center gardens and decorations below, as well as the city or countryside facing outwards.  So over time, the upper floors became the rooms of prominence and tended to be reserved for the most important invitees to a feast of any kind.  Vanity being what it is, being placed in one of the upper rooms would enforce the idea that “you” were an important guest, an important person generally.  This was especially true as the space in any home was always limited, so not everyone could be placed in the upper rooms, there were always folks who had to be placed on the first floor.  They were less important guests, less important people in general.  And as this procession with Jesus arrives at the home of the chief Pharisee, Jesus takes note of the people all heading up to the upper rooms before they fill up.  Each man believing, that he is important, regardless of what the owner of the home thinks, or what other thinks.

Jesus continues in verse 7 saying … “And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, [verse 8] When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; [verse 9] And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. [verse 10] But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. [verse 11] For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”  Jesus offers practical advice to everyone.  Put yourself in the lowest rooms by choice, of free will, and with no expectations.  Be happy there, as you should be happy to attend any feast as a guest in another’s home.  If such is the occasion that the owner of the home did not intend you to be seated there, let them come to you, and bring you up to where they intended.  Putting yourself in the prominent place, could lead to you being forcibly placed in lower floors, with a good degree of shame in the process.  Our vanity will lead to our humiliation.  But our humility may well lead to our exaltation.  We should not fain humility in order to be exalted, we should be happy in the state of our humility.  For it is only in a state of humility, that we are truly able to minister to others.  And it is that ministry, which should be our goal.  For us to be effective ministers, pride must be the first casualty.

But the lessons Jesus wished to convey were not only for those invited to attend, but for those blessed enough to be able to host such a wonderful Sabbath feast.  Jesus continues in verse 12 saying … “Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. [verse 13] But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: [verse 14] And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”  So often, we give with silent expectation that our giving will be rewarded back to us again.  I send you a Christmas gift, I figure you will send me one in return.  Who wants to be “that guy” who never returns a gift or gesture like that?  Usually in fact, if you have someone who you send a card to every year, or a gift of some type, and that gift or card is never returned in kind.  You stop sending them.  Why?  Because you think the recipient did not appreciate it (you may not know that) – more likely because you never get anything back.  How often do you loan money to someone who never pays you back before you make it practice not to loan money anymore?  This kind of thinking pervades our social fabric until it is so woven into who we are, we do not even notice it is there.  This was true in the days of Jesus as well.

So Jesus asks us to break from our normal behavior and try something new.  Jesus asks us to give to people we absolutely know cannot ever pay us back.  People we know are too poor, or too sick, or to lonely to ever make a difference in our lives.  The “unimportant” people.  Look at that list of who to avoid for starters.  No friends, no family, no rich folks – people we would all tacitly expect to reward our giving in some way.  No, the new feast is not supposed to be for them.  But instead for the poor, the maimed or crippled or disabled, the blind – people who in those days would likely be beggars by profession as no other professions were left to them.  These “homeless” folks did not have means to repay you even if they wanted to.  They did not have upper rooms, or lower rooms, or food for feasts.  They struggled to live everyday.  Jesus asks us to give to them freely, and be happy in the giving, with zero expectation of reward.

And what is the recompense at the resurrection of the just (by the way, another subtle reminder to the Sadducees that they had this doctrine wrong)?  When your heart is fully and finally remade by Jesus at that resurrection.  You will finally love others, like Jesus loves other, and perfectly.  When your heart is filled with only that kind of love, what you have given here, freely and without expectation, will be the only truly happy memories you carry with you into the next world.  When you realize what effect you may have had on those in need, while they were yet in need, nothing else will mean as much to you.  Your reward will not come in gold, or diamonds, or recognition to feed a vanity that no longer exists.  But your reward will be more precious to you than all of those things, as it will live on in your heart forever.  One less thing to have to wipe tears away from, and one more thing akin to the love that lasts forever.

If we are to minister to the rich, let us begin by striving for the humility of Jesus in our hearts.  Let pride be our first casualty and not demand that of those we try to serve.  Let His love reflect through us.  We need not change “who” we are to be accepted by the rich.  We need only allow Jesus to change “who” we are that we might share in His ministry to everyone.  Let our transformation become sermon by example.  For rich and poor are drawn to the selfless love of Jesus, and if that love is reflected through you, you will become a beacon to point them to His great light of love.  Those will be memories you carry into the next world that will forever warm your heart.  His grace, through you.