"Your host Jesus comes to you and say, 'Friend, move up higher!'" Trinity 17 2025

12. October 2025
Trinity 17
Luke 14:1-11

But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk 14:10–11).

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Up is down. Down is up. That’s not a clever riddle. That’s how the kingdom of God works. If you keep climbing, you’ll fall. If you bow low, you’ll be lifted high. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus is at dinner, not at some dive bar or hole in the wall. He’s eating in a prominent Pharisee’s house. Everyone’s dressed up, watching each other, and measuring one another. They’re jockeying for position. You can hear the scraping of chairs and feel the tension: “Who’s most important? Who gets the seat of honor?”

And Jesus sits there—watching. Then He speaks. “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Those words hit like a hammer. They tear through the room. This isn’t about table manners. This is about the kingdom. This is about how God runs His house.

Jesus tells them a story. “When you’re invited to a wedding feast, don’t march up to the head of the table. Don’t take the place of honor. Sit low. Because if you take the high seat, and someone more important comes in, the host will say, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and you’ll walk away red-faced, to the back, by the kitchen, with the busboys.”

But if you sit low—if you take the humble seat—then the host will come to you and say, “Friend, move up higher.” And everyone will see—you didn’t have to climb. You waited to be called. You trusted the host to honor you.

That’s what the kingdom of God is like. It’s a feast. It’s joy. It’s laughter and light. And you are invited. But you don’t get in by swagger. You don’t get in by pride. You don’t get in by pretending you’re better than you are. You get in by grace. You come as a beggar. You come with nothing but empty hands and a hungry heart.

That’s why Jesus tells this story. Because He knows what’s in us. He knows how badly we want to be seen. He knows how much we crave approval. We want people to notice us, to respect us, to say, “Wow, what a faithful person!” We want a front-row seat in the kingdom. But God’s kingdom doesn’t work that way. You can’t push your way in. You can’t pay your way in. You can’t prove your way in. You can only die your way in.

That’s what Jesus did. He didn’t grab for power. He didn’t take the throne by force. He came down. He took the lowest seat. He knelt to wash feet. He carried the cross. He was lifted up—but not to glory — to death. The Son of God took the lowest place. And because of that, the Father lifted Him to the highest. That’s the Great Reversal. The King of heaven humbles Himself to serve. The Lord of all creation dies for His creatures. The sinless One bears our sin. The exalted One is shamed, so the shamed ones might be exalted.

And that’s our story too. We come to His feast as the unworthy. We are brought low, humbled, even humiliated. We confess our sins. We admit what we are—failures, pretenders, sinners. We bring nothing to the table except our need for mercy. And then He says to us, “Friend, move up higher.” He forgives us our sins. He seats us with the saints. He gives us His righteousness. He lifts us from death to life.

That’s what happens here—at this altar, at His Supper. The Host says, “Come, all you who are weary, all you who are burdened. Come, you who are guilty and ashamed. Come, you who know you don’t deserve it.” And He feeds you with Himself. He gives you forgiveness. He gives you His life. He raises you up.

Imagine a banner over this altar that reads: “For Sinners Only.” Do you qualify? Then come. Don’t think you qualify? Even better. Because this meal isn’t for the proud. It’s not for the perfect. It’s for the humbled, the hungry, the repentant, the real. This is what humility looks like. It’s not weakness. It’s truth. It’s seeing yourself as you are—and seeing Christ as He is. It’s dropping the mask, even having the mask torn off. It’s letting go of control, or losing it. It’s saying, “I don’t have to be first. If I’m honest, I’m not even the last. I don’t deserve to be here at all. But I want to be found.”

And hear this clearly: You don’t have to make a name for yourself. You don’t have to build your own reputation. You don’t have to chase affirmation. You don’t need to be the big-name Christian or congregation. Because you already have a name—given to you in baptism. You already have a seat—set by grace. You already have honor—because Christ has called you “friend.”

So stop trying to earn what’s already yours. Stop fighting for a better seat. Stop comparing yourself to others. Sit low. Sit still. Trust the Host. When the time is right, He’ll call your name. He’ll lift you up. He’ll say, “Friend, move up higher.” Or as the Psalmist has us sing: “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy” (Ps 43:3–4).

The world tells you to fight your way up. Jesus tells you to kneel your way down. The world says, “You deserve better.” Jesus says, “You deserve death—but I give you life.” The world says, “Assert yourself.” Jesus says, “Deny yourself.” The world says, “Climb.” Jesus says, “Descend.”

“All of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pe 5:5–7).

And here’s the promise: Those who go down with Him will rise with Him. Those who die with Him
will live with Him. Those who humble themselves (or even are humbled under the mighty hand of God) will be exalted in His kingdom. So take heart. You are not forgotten. You are not invisible. You are not nothing. You are loved. You are chosen. You are raised. You are the one the Host sees, and calls by name, and says, “Friend, move up higher.”

Up is down. Down is up. In the kingdom of God, that’s just the way things are. And one day, when the feast begins and the doors of heaven open wide, you’ll hear that same voice, calling you again, “Friend, move up higher.” And you will. Because the cross always leads to resurrection, humility always leads to glory, and the One who went down into death for you will raise you up forever.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin