DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
St. Luke 14:1-11
(1/26) For
Sat of the 35th Week after Pentecost (Sat of the 30th
Week)
Vainglory:
St. Luke 14:1-11, especially vs. 7: “So
He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the
best places….” This
sentence appears to be a simple description, but, truly, it ought to arrest
your heart and mind. The text says
that our Lord “notes how” we choose - not merely “what”
we choose, but “how.”
Absorb this reality, soberly.
The point is “...God sees not as a man looks; for man looks at the
outward appearance, but God looks at the heart” (1 Kings 16:7 LXX). Yes, your Lord
and God “sees” the preferences of dinner guests. He also “notes” them - marks
how choices are made in the guests’ hearts. In the original, the verb translated
“note” suggests intentional focusing on a sight, which highlights
the double meaning of note or mark.
Christ our God sees within you, He takes into account motives,
intentions, desires - everything.
The
factors in your choosing - the processes you go through in decision-making, the
motivations that prompt you, the hidden wrestling and urges, both the noble and
the corrupt ones - are laid bare before the Lord Jesus’ gaze. Other people may guess at what has taken
place within us, but the Lord knows; He misses nothing, inwardly or outwardly.
Vainglory
was the passion driving those dinner guests who sat with the Lord Jesus at the
Sabbath meal.
Yes, the
Lord knows our inner thoughts. He
knows how subject we are to vainglory.
Is there a prospect of “a good defense before the dread Judgment
Seat of Christ” for us or is it hopelessly beyond our grasp? Not necessarily. Read St. Luke 14:8-11, a parable and a
prescription from the Lord. It has
good news: joined to Him, we may overcome vainglory.
First,
we must be deliberate and face the demon of vainglory. When this fiend suggests that “the
best” is rightfully ours (vs. 8), do as
When we
think that we have done well to choose a lower seat and “merit” the
Lord’s approval, we must rebuke this thought. It also is a demonic suggestion. Confront it with our debt to
Christ. There is no merit in our
choice, but only compassion and kindness flowing to us from God Who wishes us
to “be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim.
3:17).
Second,
if we are “shamed into taking the lowest place,” whether because of
our brazenness or through no fault of our own, give thanks to God Who has again
provided us with a reminder of blessed humility. He has pointed to our origin; for the
term “humility” comes directly from “humus,” earth,
dirt. That is part of our nature as
God created us. By His grace, however,
we “are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26),
and having tasted “the glory that is above,” as
O
Christ, All Glorious, Thou hast assumed humiliation and exalted the human race
with illumination and immortality: Enlighten Thou me in all humility and save
me from vainglory.
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