NOT THE HIGH-WAY, THE LOW-WAY

Luke 14:7-10; cf. Proverbs 25:6-7a, Matthew 23:6

THE SCENARIO HubriS entered the banquet and sat down at the head of the table. Then the lord of the banquet said to HubriS, excuse me friend, but please tell me, how is that you sit here amongst the honored guests? And HubriS replied, my lord, can you not see? It is I! And was I not invited?! Indeed, you were, said the lord of the banquet. Go, find your place down at the end of the table and enjoy the banquet there, friend, for these seats are reserved for my honored guests.

In the outworking of this scenario please consider the following:

Sensitivity Points under Consideration

1. No way, the Low Way, so Some.

2. My Appraisal of Self.

3. My Expectations.

4. My Conversation.

5. My Personal Presence.

6. Where is HubriS?

7. Let Us Change the Landscape.

Figure 1. Homeward Bound on the Low Way.

1. Many would say, no way, the low-way; I’ll take the high-way. This is fine if it pertains to the pursuit of excellence, the quintessence of which is holiness (“Be Holy”). Indeed, take the high-way in things like attaining to the ways of God in and through Jesus Christ, shepherding the Flock and, say, accountability, education, marriage, parenting, personal output, stewardship, wage-earning, and so forth. Take the high-way here, in the spirit of Philippians 4:8, “Whatever is True, Honorable, Just…”.

2. My appraisal of self. It all starts here. The high-way, or the low-way, follows from one’s appraisal of self. “…I belong at the head of the table…”. “…I do not belong at the head of the table…”. Which is it for you dear Christian friend? Hopefully for you and for me it is: “…I belong where Jesus Christ puts me…”. By-and-by shall come the high-way. Philippians 2:5-11 points out, among myriad other blessed things, that Jesus took the low-way that was appointed for Him, and for it was rewarded with the high-way. We, as Jesus our Lord, are appointed to the low-way in this life. By-and-by shall come the high-way (way, way up there by the way!).

3 My Expectations. Fantasies of glory in this life? Not good, because it was the last thing the King of Glory Jesus had on His mind for Himself when He walked about down here (imagine that). Our Lord’s Glory down here in His day was the exceedingly burdened walk of a Cross. And so please notice: a disciple counts this cost before getting on board. The low-way has in view the glory of God, first and foremost, and the glory of others second, and then, maybe, comes self, if at all. Why would a “Christian” have expectations of glory down here coming from a Godless secular system whose valuations per se, and particularly its valuations of glory, are odious, to say the least, to God (Luke 16:15)? Catch the Greek BDELUGMA utilized in Luke 16:15, a word which is oftentimes uttered in the context of idolatry in the Bible—small wonder here (self-aggrandizement is idolatry). The good, and certainly sober, expectation for a Christian is the exceedingly burdened low-way walk of a Cross (here we need to remember Matthew 7:13-14).

4. My conversation. The things that proceed from the mouth issue from the heart (“James Chapter Three Commentary”). Our words say a lot about us. They talk their own talk if you will. Things, anything, can be put just so, either humbly—the low-way—or brute-arrogant—the high-way. “…If God be for me and blesses me I will do thus and so…”. This is low-way-speak. “…I’m going to do thus and so, and nothing or nobody can do it better let alone hinder me…”. This is high-way speak. “…I’m going to do thus and so and give it my all, my God-given very best, and I pray that God helps me…”. More low-way speak. “…Get out of my way so-and-so I’m coming through…”. More high-way speak. “…Here, let me move over a bit so you can get through friend…”. Low-way speak. And, in the other direction, the low-way is teachable, and ready to do what one is told to do, assuming righteous words are coming in our direction. Well, are we low-way or high-way talkers dear Christian friend? Have you thought about that lately? Please cite one verse of Scripture where Jesus took the high-way with His words—the point is, you will not find any such verses. Please cite one verse of Scripture where Jesus took the low-way with His words (you will find plenty). Our words betray our heart here dear Christian friend: if you and I are low-way talkers, it is certain we are low-way walkers like unto the One whom we serve (this service, and service per se, is the blessed low-way).

5. My personal presence. Let’s talk about earrings for a moment. Why do some males wear earrings? Is that a high-way statement (HubriS-like) or a low-way statement? Speaking of jewelry, what sort of “diamonds” do you (and I) flaunt dear Christian friend? And by the way in this context, we always thought that “pony tails” were for females? What kind of a statement is that by a male? And what are we to say of tattoos right here? But O let us be careful to not be judgmental and/or bitterly critical. If these just mentioned wish to take the high-way, fine; let us take the low-way with respect to our personal presence, and let it be at that. We cite these examples just to nail down a point, no more.

6. Will there be those who think they should occupy and will in fact claim a seat of honor at that great Banquet in Heaven (“The Fourth Cup”), like unto our scenario character HubriS? No way for such as these who take the high-way. And why? HubriS…, invited (here is a view into the heart of God), rejects the Lord of that great Banquet in Heaven, and thus will not be found there (“A Letter of Invitation”-of necessity, HubriS rejects, and sneers at this invitation). Where then is HubriS? HubriS will be found treading the sore lowest of ways for a long, long time. Jehovah God is never mocked, not even a little bit.

7. Dearest Christian friend, would you agree that Jehovah’s Godly low-way is badly missing in the interests and operations and standards of this Godless modern age, an age that is exceedingly infatuated with, that wearies itself, to service the high-way interests and operations and standards of that unclean thing Satan? With God’s help and guidance let us do our part to change that, for His Glory. Maybe we can focus on points 2-5 above as sort of our contributions in this for starters as the Lord sees fit to place us into those sorts of scenarios day-by-day whereby we can demonstrate His elegant and holy and exceedingly superior interests and operations and standards. Please teach us Lord and help us day-by-day to do this entirely for your glory.

Praised be thy Name King of Glory Jesus, amen.