7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms ; saying unto them,
8 When thou art bidden of anj tnan to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room ; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him ;
9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place ; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.
10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room: that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee. Friend, go up higner : then shalt thou haye worship in the presence of them that sit at
meat with thee.
11 For whosoeyer ezalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleUi himself shall be exalted.
12 Then said he also to him that bade him. When thou makest a dumer or a BupMr, eall not thy Mends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours ; lest they also bid thee again, and arecompence be made thee.
13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind :
14 And thou shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recompense thee : for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrec- tion of the just.
Let us learn from these verses the value of humility. This is a lesson which our Lord teaches in two ways. Firstly, He adyises those who are bidden to a wedding to ** sit down in the lowest room." Secondly, He backs up His advice by declaring a great principle, which frequently fell from His lips : — " Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Humility may well be called the queen of the Christian graces. To know our own sinfulness and weakness, and to feel our need of Christ, is the very beginning of saving religion. — It is a grace which has always been a distin- guishing feature in the character of the holiest saints in every age. Abraham, and Moses, and Job, and David, and Daniel, and Paul, were all eminently humble men. — ^Above all, it is a grace within the reach of ev«y true Christian. All have not money to give away. All have not time and opportunities for working directly for Christ. All have not gifts of speech, and tact, and knowledge, in order to do good in the world. But all converted men should labour to adorn the doctrine they profess by hu-
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LUKE, CHAP. xrv. VER. 7 — 14. 163
miUty. If fhey can do nothing else, fhey can strive to be humble.
Wonld we know the root and spring of humility P One word describes it. The root of humility is right knowledge. The man who really knows himself and his own heart, — who knows God and His infinite majesty and holiness, — who knows Christ, and the price at which he was redeemed, — ^that man will never be a proud man. He will count himself, like Jacob, unworthy of the least of all God's mercies. He will say of himself, like Job, " I am vile. He will cry, like Paul, "I am chief of sinners. (Gtenes. zzxii. 10. Job xl. 4. 1 Tim. i. 15.) He will think anything good enough for him. In lowliness of mind he will esteem every one else to be better than him- self. (Philipp. ii. 3.) Ignorance — ^nothing but sheer igno- rance— ^ignorance of self, of God, and of Christ, is the real secret of pride. From that miserable self-ignorance may we daily pray to be delivered ! He is the wise man who knows himself ; — and he who knows himself, will find nothing within to make him proud.
Let us learn, secondly, fix)m these verses, the duty of caring for the poor. Our Lord teaches this lesson in a peculiar manner. He tells the Pharisee who invited Him to his feast, that, when he made " a dinner or a sapper," he ought not to ''call his friends," or kinsmen, or rich neighbours. On the contrary. He says, "When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind."
The precept contained in these wotds must evidently be interpreted with considerable limitation. It is certain that our Lord did not intend to forbid men showing any
154 EXFOSnX)RT JTHOUGHTS.
hospitality to their relatires and firiends. It is oertain that He did not mean to encourage a useless and profuse expenditure of money in giving to the poor. To interpret the passage in this manner would make it contradict other plain Scriptures. Such interpretations cannot possibly be correct.
But when we have said this, we must not forget that the passage contains a deep and important lesson. We must be careful that we do not limit and qualify that lesson till we have pared it down and refined it into nothing at all. The lesson of the passage is plain and dis- tinct. The Lord Jesus would have us care for our poorer brethren, and help them according to our power. He would have us know that it is a solemn duty never to neglect the p6or, but to aid them and relieve them in their time of need.
Let the lesson of this passage sink down deeply into our hearts. " Thepoor shall never cease out of the land." (Deut. XV. 11.) A little help conferred upon the poor judiciously and in season, will often add immensely to their happiness, and take away immensely from their cares, and promote good feeling, between class and class in society. This help it is the will of Christ that all His people who have the means should be willing and ready to bestow. That stingy, calculating spirit, which leads some people to talk of " the workhouse," and condemn all charity to the poor, is exceedingly op- posed to the mind of Christ. It is not for nothing that our Lord declares that He will say to the wicked in the day of judgment, ''I was an hungered and ye gave me no meat ; — I was thirsty and ye gave me no