Best Seat in the House

Oh, we all love the recliner, right? We love to come home from a hard day at work and sit down and recline in the recliner. I don't think a better invention has been made, except for the massaging recliner. Man, sit in that thing for an hour and you'll probably go to sleep. Gentle kneeding on the sore places in your back and perhaps some heat to soothe your tired body. Ahhh, so nice.

On the flipside of this coin, we have the old, wooden, splintery, creaky chair. Sounds comfortable, right? Small pieces of wood sticking into your arms when you rest them on the armrests, a seat that places odd pressures on your back, and legs that don't quite meet the floor in the same places (so that you get the amazing teeter-totter effect). Which seat would we choose to sit in? Would we choose the nice, comfortable, soothing recliner, or would we choose the creaky, old, busted, splintery, teeter-seater?

Yes, that's a rhetorical question. I know that all of you would choose the recliner over the teeter-seater. But these two chairs made me think of one of Jesus's parables. In Luke 14:7, Jesus sees the guests at a dinner choosing the "places of honor" at the table. In other words, these people were going for the massaging, heated, recliner and leaving the teeter-seater for someone else. Upon seeing this, Jesus teaches them to sit in the less-respected seats first, so that the one who is hosting the dinner comes and tells them to move up, rather than coming to evict them from the best seat to place them in the worst seat. Jesus is teaching more than just where to sit at the table here, He is providing a concept that can be applied to many different situations across all time.

What truly struck me when I read through this parable again was that Jesus lived this parable with His entire life. He is the best example of a humble servant, who gives all He has to others, that we have. He took the lowest seat, and everything that went with it. He suffered shame, ridicule, torture, betrayal, and finally, the most agonizing death that man has ever conceived. Jesus deserved the best seat, and could have rightfully taken it, but instead he went for the lowest seat. Once Jesus sat in that seat for the 33 years he spent on this earth, God came to Him and said, "Friend, move up higher". Jesus has been moved up to the best seat, He now sits at the right hand of God Himself, waiting for the day when He will come back to take His bride, the church, back with Him for all eternity.

With the life of Jesus as our example, we can truly see our place in this world. We are to put others above ourselves, and take the lowest seat. Every one of us should be a servant to each other, and should follow the example of Christ, a selfless servant who put the entirety of humanity before Himself. It is our duty as Christians, followers of Christ, to place the needs of others above our own. In this way, we can all imitate Christ. Although the recliner is nice, let's sit in the teeter-seater until the end of our days, when God will say to us, "Friend, move up higher".

Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.