Outline: “Lessons at the Dinner Table” Luke 14:1-14 March 1st, 2015

“Lessons at the Dinner Table”
Luke 14:1-14
March 1st, 2015

 The Setting: Jesus was invited to dinner which revealed hostile hearts (:1)
1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.

I There is tremendous value in Questions which  reveal the heart (2-3)
2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

II.  Silence can be deafening   (4a)
4a  But they remained silent.
       
III. Take advantage of Teachable moments as Jesus did in Healing this man.(4b)
4b Then he took him and healed him and sent him away.

IV. Inconsistency between belief & action should encourage us to evaluate life  (5-6)
5 And he said to them, ““Which of you,  having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they could not reply to these things.

V. Seeking worldly honor and status is ultimately futile (7-9)
7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast,  do not sit down in a place of honor,   lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,
9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.

VI. Let others Honor You (10)
10 But when you are invited, go and sit in 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 table with you.

VII. In the Kingdom of God the way up is down (11)
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”


VIII. Giving to get something back brings no reward (12)
12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.

IX Giving without expectation of return will bring ultimate reward (13-14)
13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.  For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”