“Friend, Move Up Higher”

A table spread for dinner in Armenia. 

Scripture:

Luke 14:7   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.”

Observation:

Jesus was dining at the home of the Pharisee and the guests were jostling for just the right position. Jesus’ position may have been in question. Where would a good Pharisee put a rabbi such as Jesus? He had interesting stories to tell, so you might want him right up front. At the same time, you wouldn’t want to look like you were really supporting him and his ministry, so you might put him somewhere in the middle. Meanwhile everyone else was looking for the place that would make them appear in the best light. 

In the midst of this shuffling Jesus tells them a parable. Wedding banquets were a big deal and people were seated by their status in society. A person may have thought that they had a higher status than the host imagined. If someone took their own seat, they might find themselves in an embarrassing situation. That’s why Jesus was suggesting that it’s not our place to determine our position in the kingdom of God. Instead, we are to defer to others, encouraging them to take the more prominent position. 

Jesus is refering to a proverb:

Prov. 25:6 Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence

or stand in the place of the great;

⁷ for it is better to be told, “Come up here,”

than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

When we sit at the lowest position, then we allow the host to practice hospitality. I love the phrase in this translation, “Friend, move up higher.” In this one sentence the host expresses so much intention toward the guest. When the guest refuses to humble his/herself, they refuse to allow the host to fulfill his/her role. Jesus is the ultimate example of humility and it is the Father that then exalts him. If we follow his example, we humble ourselves in all situations, and any exaltation comes through the Father. 

Application:

“Friend, move up higher.” In this gentle phrase we hear the invitation of the host to come closer. Those who thought that they were the “friends” find themselves having to move down. Neale tells us, “Every reference to inclusion carries with it a corresponding implication for exclusion” (NBBC). There are plenty who would call the Lord “friend” and would assume that they were a part of his inner circle. Speaking at the home of the Pharisee, the reference may have been to those who considered themselves religious. Imagine how embarrassed the religious people will be when the Lord reaches out to the outcast and calls them “friend,” inviting them to sit in the place of honor. The inclusion of those on the margins will be shocking to those who thought they were a part of the inner circle.

We can find ourselves on both ends of this story. There are times when we are the host and others that we are the guest. Dr. Dany Gomis and I talk about this in our new book “Color: God’s Intention for Diversity.” Hospitality means that we have to know how to act as a guest and as a host. A man named Martial writes a series of witty epigrams near the end of the first century. They give us a glimpse of Roman life. Here he has an interesting comment on hospitality:

Since I am asked to dinner … why is not the same dinner served to me as to you? You take oysters fattened in the Lucrine lake, I suck a mussel through a hole in the shell; you get mushrooms, I take hog funguses; you tackle turbot, but I brill. Golden with fat, a turtle-dove gorges you with its bloated rump; there is set before me a magpie that has died in its cage. Why do I dine without you, although Ponticus, I am dining with you? (Martial, Epigram 3.60 (LCL, 201).

In other words, sometimes we pretend to show hospitality. We act like we have invited everyone to the same table, and yet, we don’t share with them the same food. The final sentence is really a challenge, “Why do I dine without you, although [my friend, it’s supposed to look like] I’m dining with you?” Is the person really a friend? Do we treat them as a genuine friend? If so, we would share with them the finest that we have to offer. 

Either way, to be a friend is to share your very best with someone else. You offer others the best place at the table. You give your very best to the very least. Jesus humbly gave up everything so that we could gain everything. He shared his inheritance as the Son of God with us. We are to share that inheritance with everyone else. When we do, the Lord will stretch out his hand and say, “friend, move up higher.” 

Prayer:

Lord, teach me your hospitality. Amen.