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THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF BROADWAY #4
WAITING FOR THE PHONE TO RING
An achingly funny story crawled into our office the other day, having
to do with power and Olympic-sized conclusion jumps. At a black-tie banquet
event, with maybe a thousand people in attendance, a certain tuxedo-clad
gentleman was sitting across from a very plain little man. He was Asian,
and from all appearances, was likely from “(quote) the old country,” some
tiny village. Probably someone’s uncle, the man guessed, who got into
this glittery event with someone’s charity ticket. The man was eating
his bowl of soup with obvious gusto, however — without chopsticks, no
less – and doing surprisingly well.
Now, brace yourselves, because this isn’t the most politically correct
encounter in the world. But the man in the tux, very condescendingly,
leaned across the table. “You lik-ee soup-ee?” he asked. On the theory
that everyone in the world can understand English if you say things slow
enough and loud enough. The man didn’t say a word, just bobbed his head
up and down enthusiastically – “Oh, yes!” – as he took another big spoonful.
About two minutes later, the emcee for the evening got up. “I’d like to
introduce our very esteemed and honored guest speaker,” he began. He went
on to list this man’s accomplishments; he’d written many scientific books,
made a number of breakthrough discoveries. There were a good many letters
after his name: “Ph.D,” and all the rest. “And now, without further ado
. . . Dr. So-and-So.”
To our tuxedo-wearing friend’s amazement, the little man with the soup
bowl pulled free the napkin he’d tucked into his collar . . . and stood
up. Making his way up to the podium, this very unassuming visitor delivered,
in perfect, flawless English, a major address on the scientific trends
of the day. Complicated formulas, keen insights and prognostications about
the future, anecdotes about the rich and famous people who were his partners,
the brilliant minds he’d collaborated with. All in impeccable diction,
with a lot of hard eight-syllable words our blushing friend in the Armani
tux had never heard in his life.
After about an hour of speaking without notes, the man stepped back from
the microphone, to a wave of thunderous applause. Flash bulbs going off,
celebrities gathering around to shake his hand. But finally, the clapping
died down and the little man from the faraway village came back down and
took his seat at the dining table again. There was a long pause at the
table. And finally the foreigner leaned over toward our friend. Very quietly
he said to him: “You lik-ee speech-ee?”
Well, that’s what we call a major-league “oops!” And it brings to mind
the old Bible verse — you know the one — which says: “The first shall
be last, and the last shall be first.” That’s in Matthew 19.
But you know something? Speaking of banquets, and speaking of grabbing
for power, and speaking about making assumptions about who is, or who
isn’t, qualified to sit at the head table and deliver prime-time speeches
about fiber-optic, Pentium-chip trends of the 21st century, Jesus has
some counsel for us. Have you ever read His banquet advice found in Luke
chapter 14? Here it is, and I like how this is told in the new Bible paraphrase
called The Message:
“[Jesus] went on to tell a story to the guests around
the table.”
Jesus and His friends were actually enjoying a big
Sabbath feast themselves at the house of a prominent Pharisee. So this
is a banquet-story-at-a-banquet, which was just the kind of seize-the-moment
thing Jesus was gifted at doing. Let’s go on.
“Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place
of honor, He said, ‘When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the
place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited
by the host. Then he’ll come and call out in front of everybody, “You’re
in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to THIS man.” Red-faced,
you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.
When you’re invited to dinner, go and SIT at the last place. Then when
the host comes he may very well say, “Friend, come up to the front.” THAT
will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is,
if you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat
on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will wind
up becoming MORE than yourself.’”
The familiar King James reads like this:
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted.”
All of this leads us to a very practical issue regarding
good chairs at banquets, and about power in general. Here it is. So many
of the Bible stories where people ended up in power seemed to happen because
power was simply THRUST on somebody. Either God moved in His “mysterious
ways,” or events and variables simply tumbled into place. It was like
that with Joseph, who, without a bit of scheming on his part, was suddenly
prime minister of Egypt. The prophet Daniel — prime minister of Medo-Persia.
Esther — queen of the Medes and Persians. Moses — leader of Israel. David
— king. Not one of these people filed papers with the Federal Election
Commission or hired George Stephanopoulos and Roger Ailes to make killer
TV spots for their political campaigns. They didn’t run for offices; the
offices ran after them. In other words, they didn’t SEEK power.
You know, this is an issue that affects pastors right where they live.
I know many ministers who honestly feel that they should never in their
career SEEK a certain position. If a phone call comes from the conference
office offering a move, then fine. Consider it, pray about it, weigh the
variables . . . and then say yes or no as you feel God leading. But the
dream job, the perfect church, the ideal vacancy might be occurring right
down the freeway from them. They’d LOVE to have it. They’d LOVE to serve
in that new, improved arena. And yes, in a wholesome way, they would like
to have the increased influence and POWER that comes with the new territory.
With a desire to “use power to help people,” as we’ve been saying. And
yet, they don’t want to raise their hand. They want to be a draftee, not
a volunteer. So they simply wait for the phone to ring. Sometimes they
wait forever.
Let me ask: in terms of power, is this the right approach? The Bible seems
to be saying this. “DON’T look for the best chair in the ballroom. DON’T
seek the presidency; don’t look to expand your power base.” “Pride goeth
before a fall,” etc., etc.
And we seem to have this same imagery, where only presidential DRAFTS
are acceptable, but not campaigns, in that memorable Bible passage: Philippians
chapter two. Where Jesus Christ, our Example, humbles Himself, and lays
ASIDE position and power and glory, and goes to the Cross. “He made Himself
NOTHING,” the Bible tells us. He didn’t GRAB equality with God; He was
willing to be a human, a servant. And then, beginning in verse nine, the
WONDERFUL promise:
“Therefore GOD exalted Him to the highest place and
gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.”
This is absolutely huge, isn’t it? Even NOW, when Jesus
gets more glorifying, more praise, more “move up to the head seat at the
banquet” than the universe has ever witnessed, He still gives all glory
to His own Father. Interesting how Christ’s banquet advice about seating
arrangements is so hugely, so GALACTICALLY fulfilled in His own life.
And yet, friend, please notice this. Matthew chapter 21, in most Bibles,
has this subtitle: “The Triumphal Entry.” And as you read the story of
this grand procession from the village of Bethphage to downtown Jerusalem,
you discover that Jesus HIMSELF engineered this event: the donkey, the
cheering crowds, the hosannas. He DIRECTED that this headline moment should
happen, that people’s eyes and hearts would turn in His direction. Over
in John 12, where this same story — “The Triumphal Entry” — is told, Christ
says this to His disciples:
“But I, when I am lifted up from the earth” — meaning
His own crucifixion, which was just days away now — “I will draw all men
to Myself.”
Here the Lamb of God, about to be slain, is willing
for a brief moment to sit at the head table. To be noticed. To have people
sing His praises and follow after Him with palm branches. Why? Because
He wanted them to then focus on Calvary. He wanted them to be paying attention
when the “(quote) King of the Jews” was lifted up on a tree, to give His
life in place of theirs.
So is it all right to call the church conference office, offering your
services as the pastor of that bigger church? Yes, if service and washing
feet are your goals. To want to be prime minister of Egypt? Yes, if feeding
the hungry is why you want the job. Is it all right to be Grand Marshal
of the Rose Parade, or ride on the back of a donkey in a hosanna-fest
through the streets of Jerusalem? Yes, if the cross on a lonely hill is
your final destination.
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