Humility & Great Gifts

---REPOST FROM XANGA NOVEMBER 2010---

Parable of the Lowest Seat [link: Luke 14:1-14]
it is better to start off low and get honored ('friend, move up to a better place.' - honor) than to go downwards ('give this man your seat' - humiliation).
The PROMISE: he who humbles himself will be exalted.
don't invite those who will likely repay you, invite those who won't be able to.
then you don't have to worry about whether you have any hidden motivations - you will be pure.
Parable of the Great Banquet [link: Luke 14:15-28]
most people know this parable really well.
they know that God wants to invite everyone.
they know that God first invited Israel, and eventually the Gentiles, including the outcasts.
cool.
but who paid attention to the servant who got everyone? i certainly didn't until I asked the Lord to teach me something new.
twas a good idea to do that, btw ;]
The servant is mentioned a couple times. He does the task the master orders him and then comes back with a report. Faithful guy. but his faithfulness isn't EXACTLY what we want to focus on. It's a little more specific.
v.22 says the servant reported, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'
what does this even tell us about the servant??
the servant isn't just doing the task he was assigned to, but is going beyond. interesting.. kinda/not rly.
the interesting part is WHY he is going beyond.
This servant has completely aligned his will with his master's. This is how he knows what the master wants to know (specifically that the amount of space allotted for the banquet hasn't been filled). He knows, and commits himself, to serving the master in every way possible, including the unexpressed ones.
This servant has adopted the goal of his master and lived by it. He has given us a perfect example of what a Christian should be like.
Our goal, as a Christian, is to fulfill every pleasure and sentiment of our Lord. we exist to serve and glorify Him, just like the servant.
We go through the tiring tasks of invitation and persuasion, begging all sorts of people to come celebrate at the banquet.
We tire ourselves out for the sake of our Master, and THEN do more than what we are commanded to.
We should go above and beyond to serve God as a Christian.
the problem isn't getting from doubt to confirmation.    the problem is getting from confirmation to radical desire.
the problem isn't trying to go from half full to full.         the problem is going from full to overflowing.

The 'Cost' of Being a Disciple [link: Luke 14:25-33]
if you try to build a tower without considering the cost, you might only be able to build half a tower =/
if you try to go to war without considering the size of your armies, you might lose the war! =o
"in the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

(now you think you're going to read this same thing that has ALWAYS been emphasized.. you must give up EVERYTHING, you must suffer and take up) (your cross etc. etc.)
(no. my goal is not to say the same stuff that you've already got down concretely. that's just pointless. I want to shed new light (at least for me))
(Trust me, I've been in church a long time and have heard LOTS OF sermons. I have a basic idea of what everyone knows and what they don't know.)

so why am i emphasizing everything?

the point I want to make is this: your old understanding obtained by glancing over this verse b/c it's familiar doesn't apply here.
how in the world can 'going to war and possibly losing' have anything to do with 'sacrificing everything he owns for the sake of Christ'. it doesn't.
THE SAME WAY means these things are similar.

here we go... these two phrases, made general, are actually the same thing:
"if you don't PREPARE, you're gonna get a bad result."
so it all has to do with preparation.
but what are we going to be preparing for??
Why would we need to "give up everything" in order to be a disciple?
because the gift that a disciple receives is just that large!
unless your prepare and make a lot of room to receive it, you won't have enough room for it all: {eternal life, new beginning, new life, freedom, no guilt, confidence, identity as a KING rather than a piece of dirt, etc.}