The Reverse Commute

Luke 14:1, 7-14:

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Blog:

It’s easy to follow the crowd of public opinion and just do what everyone else is doing.  All of us do it at one time or another and it’s generally a very comfortable place to be (on the “surface”).  It can feel great to be at the “front of the line” or “ahead of the pack” – or in a virtual pole position in the “rat race” of life.  We typically don’t think that we know too many people who openly, blatantly choose last place.  But you’d be surprised how many people we actually do know who do choose last place – if we look at the world through the Eyes of Jesus Christ.  The people that hold the doors open for others to enter in first, that give up their chair/seat so that someone else can sit, that host a Holiday and/or a meal in their homes, that get up in the middle of the night while “running on fumes” to nurse a crying infant, that get up at 5 AM to go to work to feed their Family, etc.  Everyday, ordinary heroes are those of us who exist in the daily grind of life – and they’re everywhere if we’re really looking (including in the mirror).  As Jesus said, the gate to Heaven is “narrow” and only a “few” find it (Matthew 7:14).  These are the “reverse commuters” who travel the highways of life in the other direction of the rush-hour traffic.  While the “reverse commute” can be a bit “lonely” at times, the “commute” is full of an inner peace that we can only experience by following God’s Commands along our journeys.  So, let’s be sure to turn away from the directions of the world and reverse commute via God’s Positioning Service (GPS) while migrating our ways back (under His Direction) to the Heavenly Kingdom that awaits those who finish last.