Humility

Now He told a parable to those who were invited when He noticed how they were selecting the places of honour, saying to them: "When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not recline on the chief seat in the place of honour, lest a more distinguished person than you has been invited by him.

And He who has invited both of you will come to you and say, "Let this man have the place you have taken.' Then, with humiliation and a guilty sense of improprietary, you will begin to take the lower place.

But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host comes in, he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at table "

Jesus was teaching a few things here:

 Humility and the benefits of it

Strategy

I had always assumed that Jesus was admonishing the Pharisees, silly Pharisees, who were always looking at ways to condemn Him and failing to accept His beauty at face value. Yes Jesus was talking about the importance of humility. We should not push ourselves forward, but rather, let others.

This is a challenge. When excited about a new project, I have, in the past, bubbled out all my information at one sitting. Yet, who wants to know? Why not let others ask.

Sitting at the dining table does have its challenges, in someone else's house. As I have been away and stayed in three houses, they all had different house rules and different tables. One was round, one square and one rectangular. Yet, invariably the man of the house has a set place and discerning it takes effort. By honouring the head you make friends, not enemies. Round tables are harder, yet I discovered that the man sat at a regular spot.

At a wedding we mostly, now, have placemats. We are told where to sit, there are no options. Yet the lesson still carries weight. What was Jesus saying? Don't be proud, humble yourself and you will be exalted.

The strategy comes in when others see you lifted up from a humble beginning and seated at a higher place. This is smart thinking.