Social Do Over

INTRODUCTION Do you remember when you used to get together with other people? It feels like that was years ago. I always tell people that the slowest 6 weeks of my life was when our twins were born, and we were getting up at all times of the night to feed and change 2 babies. But, these last 6 or 7 weeks are a close 2nd. It feels like we last met together at Northpoint Elementary like 6 years ago. And I imagine you feel the same way about seeing many of your friends and family. It feels like it’s been forever, and I imagine you’re itching to get to see many of them again. Even if you don’t usually even have people over at your house very often, I bet many of you are desiring to have people over again…when this is all over. And today, as we continue in our study in the Book of Luke in the Bible, we’re going to read a passage about hospitality…and being social with other people. And the passage is really quite counter cultural. So much so, that this is an opportunity for all of us to have a social do over. When we return back to normal, it’s an opportunity for us to do the social part of our life…differently. To use this as a starting point of a new chapter. Let’s check out what Jesus has to say on this. We’re going to divide this passage into 3 parts…here’s the 1st part SERVE OUTSIDERS (Luke 14:1 6) – NIV One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. 5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6 And they had nothing to say. So Jesus is at the home of a prominent Pharisee. These guys are strict observers of the Old Testament…the Jewish Bible. But they have added hundreds of extra rules of their own. And they had all sorts of rules of what a good religious person could not do on the sabbath. And this is now the 3rd time in Luke that we’ve had a story of Jesus healing on the sabbath. He healed a man with a shriveled hand in Luke 6…we did a message on that called, “The Pull of Legalism” And in February we did a message on Luke 13 called “All Tied Up” where Jesus healed a woman on the sabbath who had been bent over for 18 years And now, in Luke 14, Jesus heals another person on the Sabbath and the religious leaders are indignant. We aren’t going to spend as much time on the topic of healing on the sabbath today because we’ve already taught on it twice. Instead, I want you to notice Jesus’ teachings regarding our social life. In fact, I’m going to give you 3 ways that Jesus wants us to have a social do over when this over. 3 ways to rethink how you’re getting together with people. The first comes out of the section we just read 3 Principles for a Social Do Over #1: Reprioritize Your Schedule Think about how important Jesus’ time is. He’s only on earth for 33 years. In fact, his public ministry is only going to last for 3 years. If you were Jesus, and you only had 3 years to get the Word out…how would you spend your time? This is a good question. Because you only have, what, 78 years maybe? Many of you have used up a lot of that time already. And your main mission in life is to glorify God and spread His Word… How will YOU prioritize your time? Well, we see in this passage, and about 100 other passages…that Jesus really values spending time with others. He could have been anywhere, but he purposefully chose to spend His time…at a social dinner… with people that weren’t even his friends With others who needed his help Ask yourself this question this week: When you study Jesus in the Bible, how would you say He prioritized His time? It’s fairly simple He spent time with His father…he spent time with others. And if we want to imitate Him…then our lives should look more like that This Coronavirus Season of life…is a bit like halftime. And halftime is a good time to press pause, and make some adjustments for the coming season of life And a lot of us need to REPRIORITIZE OUR SCHEDULE …because for many of us, our schedule doesn’t look all that much like Jesus’ schedule Maybe you spend a little time with your Father in heaven, but the reality is, most modern day Americans spend little to NO time with people anymore. Hospitality has all but died in the Midwest We spend our extra time on ourselves. 50 hours a week entertaining ourselves Or lots of extra hours working on our own hobbies…trying to fill ourselves up and make ourselves happy When halftime is over, and life starts up again, and you get a social do over…commit to becoming more…social…like Jesus. People need you. And you were meant to be with people…not in isolation. SIT AT THE FOOT OF THE TABLE Let’s keep reading…because there is more for us to see here when it’s time for us to start a do over to our social life (Luke 14:7 11) – NIV 7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Here is the second principle: 3 Principles for a Social Do Over #1: Reprioritize Your Schedule #2: Sit at the Foot of the Table Jesus is speaking to the guests at the party. And he notices that they are all trying to sit in the most important seat. Which, in those days would have been near the head of the table. But he warns them, this could backfire on you. If you go sit in this really important seat, and then someone even more important than you comes in… The host is going to have to awkwardly say to you, “Um, mam, sir, sorry, but you need to move down there” Those who exalt themselves will be humbled. As Christ followers, we should sit at the foot of the table. We should sit in the least important spots. This oughta characterize our daily lives as Christians When you’re out with friends… Let someone else have their preference instead of you. When you’re eating dinner with your family… And there are 4 rolls left, and one of them looks kind of funny… Eat that one. When you get to the checkout line at the same time as someone else, let them go in front of you… Those are all really simple examples, right? Ones most people probably wouldn’t even notice. But what you do in the small things, you’ll eventually do in the big things. And when you sit at the foot of the table…and you take the least important place… You not only show that you are content in all things… But you model Christ. You imitate Him. Jesus, who was really deserving of just sitting on His royal throne in heaven… Left heaven, and came down to be born in a dirty manger. He lived a life of considering others as more important than himself This is what the entire chapter of Philippians 2 is about. I urge you to read it this week And this is a different sort of social skill than what many of us are used to nowadays. Our whole lives seemed to be aimed at promoting ourselves. Whether that’s on social media Or trying hard to get noticed so you can advance in your career We live in a culture of self promotion…a culture where it’s normal, maybe even encouraged to seat yourself in the best seat so you can get noticed. But heed the words of Jesus here. If you continue to exalt yourself in front of others…God will humble you. And you’ll be walking down to the foot of the table…but everyone will be watching you. Humble yourself…and socially, keep choosing the foot of the table…and God will lift you up. Trust His way…not the culture’s way. INVITE THOSE WHO CAN’T PAY YOU BACK All right…let’s check out the third and final section now…and this is perhaps the most challenging section (Luke 7:12 14) – NIV 12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” This is a major challenge to the normal social life of the average American Christian 3 Principles for a Social Do Over #1: Reprioritize Your Schedule #2: Sit at the Foot of the Table #3: Invite Those Who Can’t Pay You Back This is not only a teaching of Jesus, but an example that He himself often lived by. And yet, I know relatively few Christians (those who call themselves imitators and followers of Christ) that live by this principle. Because this rubs hard against the grain of our sinful nature For a couple of reasons. When we get together with people…we want to get together with people who will bring joy to us People like our friends and family When you think about those who have few friends…or those who aren’t as socially adept as you… ….our first inclination is to think, “I don’t want to invite that person (from work, from my neighborhood, from my house group)…. Because…it would be work…kind of draining…not as much fun. And so, we don’t. But we also tend to avoid those who we think of as “lower on the ladder” than us because we know they can’t help us. This is exactly what Jesus is referring to when he says, “You invite your friends and rich neighbors because you expect to get repaid.” Because of the internal law of reciprocity that humans have, you know that if you help…or invite over…your rich or powerful friend…they will then feel compelled to help you out. I’ve struggled with this my whole life. You’ll think less of me when I tell you this, but that’s okay. I’m a sinner. I always notice this particular sinful inclination in my heart when I go to a pastor’s gathering or conference. Immediately, I want to seek out the guy with the larger church Or the pastor who is an influencer Or someone who could teach me And I don’t pay attention to the guy who’s the pastor of the church of 50 people. And how awful is that? It’s driven by selfishness…self advancement…self, self, self And in this passage Jesus is clearly teaching us that we need a social do over if we are going to be imitators of Him As Christians, our interactions with people can’t be driven by self promotion…they can’t be driven by self fulfillment…and they can’t be driven by self advancement. We are called to deny ourselves…and instead live for Jesus and for others. When you get a chance at a Social Do Over, let me give you a number of practical ways you could look more like Jesus What about inviting over the neighbors that no one knows? What about inviting everyone in your small group to get together…not just the ones you know best? What about calling a random relative…the one no one else calls to check in on them? You can teach your kids to even begin doing this. Is there a kid in their class who often sits alone at lunch? Have your kids invite them over to play. I get that this feels uncomfortable…but this is what Jesus would be doing… And we say all the time that we want to “be like Christ” And listen…if you walk this out. You’ll find what Jesus says to be true…it’s better to give than to receive” It really is. It’s what God made you for. And if we’re going to do this…we have to go back to the Gospel. The Good News of Jesus dying for us Our morals (how we act) can’t be rooted in “doing the right thing,” but must be rooted in the Gospel. Think about this: If all of your social life interactions are based on some sort of advice column about social interaction… Or, if they’re based in what most of us subconsciously base them in…a system of reciprocity… In other words, we hang out with people because of what they can give us and how they can pay us back and help us along…. IF that’s true (which it is for 90% of us), you have got to ask…what if God would have treated us that way? What if God would have said, “I will give back to you what you deserve…I will pay back to you what you have given to me…?” What would you have gotten? Nothing. Just Hell. And yet, think about how Jesus, the Son of God, the perfect one looked at you… You, to Jesus, are the social outcast. The one who keeps screwing up… On your own, you don’t add all that much to the equation. And yet, He invites you in and loves you anyway. The Bible even shockingly says that Jesus calls you FRIEND. And so, when we get a chance for a social do over, and we get to hang out with people again… I pray we do it differently. I pray we do it with humility And I pray we see people as Jesus sees them Let me pray for just that. Copyright: David Sorn Renovation Church in Blaine, MN You may use this material all you like! We only ask that you do not charge a fee and that you quote the source and not say it is your own.