TD Jakes - Fighting for Position Vs. Waiting for Promotion
It says that Jesus noticed how they were fighting for the best seats. So this tells me that while they are watching Jesus, Jesus is watching them. He is observing them, and while he watches them, he notices them rushing to get the high seat. Now, the high seat, in case you don’t know, is the seat closest to the host. Whenever you go to a dinner table, whoever sits on the right or left of the host is a sign of power and influence. They wanted to be seen as powerful people, and they were fighting to sit at the head of the table as close as they could to the host. And Jesus is just sitting back.
Wait a minute—if anybody had the right to sit at that table and in that seat of the highest honor, it should have been Jesus. Nobody in there was as good as Jesus, and yet there are people fighting to get into a position where even Jesus himself is just sitting back. He’s just sitting back, watching them. If he wore glasses, he would be looking like this. You know how you look sometimes—you don’t say anything; you’re just thinking to yourself. There’s nobody to talk to, no friend with him to whisper in his ear, no Peter, James, and John—none of his circle, none of his boys. Look at Jesus; how strong he is that he enters a room full of enemies without bringing any backup with him because he’s fine all by himself. He doesn’t need the disciples to support him; he doesn’t need his inner circle to have his back; he doesn’t need his best friend to cover him. He says, «I’m God enough that if I get myself into it, I can get myself out of it.»
He walked into the room and sat down by himself, and they are watching him as if they have the power to decide whether he is right or not. He is watching them. To all of you who are trying to decide whether Christianity is relevant or not—to all of you who are trying to determine if there’s any room in contemporary society for the church today—to all of you trying to decide in a post-modern society if the church is still relevant—while you sit there with your pharisaical selves trying to evaluate whether the church has any relevance, you are looking at it, but it is also looking at you, watching you fight for power and position, watching you be judgmental and critical, watching you being self-righteous, and watching you tear down others in the name of being right, better, superior, and smarter. And Jesus is watching them, and all of a sudden, at the table, he starts talking.
Now the atmosphere is changing because Jesus says a certain man was having a wedding. Now, bear in mind, he is not at a wedding; he’s at a dinner, but his story is about a wedding supper. He says when you go where you are invited to a wedding, the first thing I want to start with is that being invited is a privilege. I want to speak to all the arrogant people who get offended because you didn’t get the best seat, you didn’t sit up front, and nobody called your name on the program, or did this or that. The very fact that you’re invited is an honor; you’ve been invited to the wedding. He said, but when you are invited to the wedding, don’t be so self-aggrandizing, don’t be so self-enthroned, don’t be so egoistic, don’t be so egotistical, and don’t be so self-promoting. Don’t be so aggressive, and don’t be so assertive that you push yourself in beyond where you need to be.
Jesus says the wisest thing to do when you come into a great house is not to push yourself into a realm where you set yourself up to be embarrassed. He says because someone with more honor could come in, and the host who invited you may then have to walk up to you with them and say, «Excuse me, do you mind sitting over here? The governor or so-and-so has come,» and you will then have to get up, pack your stuff, and endure the embarrassment of everyone watching you move. It is not wise to puff yourself up and inflate yourself to impress people who really don’t matter. It is much wiser for you not to inflate your image trying to impress people that don’t matter, because then all they can feel is disappointment when you come down.
Instead, Jesus says that when you enter a situation you have been invited into—you know God is preparing you for a new realm, a new audience, a new stage, a new place—this is not something you can handle like you handled that. Just because you were big stuff over here doesn’t mean you’ll be big stuff over there. God is getting ready to take you to a whole other level and is trying to train you on how you’re supposed to act when you walk into the room. He says don’t walk into the room and try to push yourself up close to the top; it is far better to take the back seat. He says because if you take the back seat—you open yourself to the possibility of promotion. Good God of mercy! When you humble yourself, you become a candidate for promotion. Hallelujah!
If you just lower the noise and your name and the bragging about yourself—some of you have your entire resume on Instagram—if you just tone it down, you can’t be all of that. «I’m an architect, I’m a hairdresser, I’m an artist, I’m a designer, and I also study political science, and I do tax returns.» Shut up! That’s too much! Lower your seat; bring yourself down. Let people be surprised that you know more than they expect rather than disappointed that you said more than you knew. Oh, y’all aren’t going to talk to me today! So Jesus says, «I want you to take the back seat so that when the host comes in, he can say to you, 'Oh no, I don’t want you back there. I want you to come up here.'»
The Holy Ghost told me to tell you to get ready for promotion! Get ready for promotion! To all of you who have humbled yourselves, get ready for promotion. For all of you who’ve been in the back seat watching everyone rushing past you and you wonder if God has forgotten you, this message is for you. God has not forgotten you! To all of you who feel cast aside, and they never asked you to sing, or say anything, or do anything—if you think you’ve got more inside you than your circumstances reflect—this one is for you. The Holy Ghost said promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, testimony, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion!
God is getting ready to give you promotion, and he’s trying to show you how to handle it because you’re about to walk into a room that’s going to open up a door for promotion. I feel the Holy Ghost speaking in this place today. He says promotion, promotion, promotion, and you’re saying, «Oh God, it can’t be a promotion right now; I’m in a pandemic.» God doesn’t care about a pandemic! If God gets ready to promote you, He’ll promote you in spite of a pandemic. He’ll raise you despite the storm; He’ll lift you while others are falling. A thousand may fall at your right side, and ten thousand at your left, but if God is ready to lift you up, He knows how to elevate you. Oh, slap somebody! Look at someone! Scream, «I’m coming up!»