The Last Seat
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaks in this lecture about the virtue of humility through the concept of “The Last Seat,” explaining that it does not mean a physical place, but rather a state of the heart in which a person sees himself as less than everyone else and prefers others over himself.
Main Idea
The last seat is an inner feeling of humility and unworthiness, where a person does not seek honor, first places, or earthly glory, but willingly places himself in the last ranks, leaving God to exalt him at the proper time.
Spiritual and Educational Dimension
- A humble person sees others as better than himself and places them before himself.
- God exalts the one who places himself in the last seat, while the one who exalts himself will be humbled.
- Seeking honor and earthly glory deprives a person of the true fruits of humility.
- The saints lived in hiddenness and refused titles and positions, so God exalted and honored them.
- The Holy Bible presents many examples of humility such as the Virgin Mary, Abraham, David the Prophet, the tax collector, and the prodigal son.
- True humility appears in service, love for others, and avoiding competition for the first places.
- A person’s knowledge of his weaknesses and sins leads him to a sense of unworthiness and to loving the last seat.
- Love makes a person prefer others over himself, while selfishness drives him to seek advancement and honor.
- The believer is called to seek heavenly glory rather than earthly glory, and to do good in secret while waiting for God’s reward.
- The spiritual goal is for a person to have a place in the bosom of God and in the fellowship of the saints, not to gain status or fame among people.
General Message
The path to true greatness in the spiritual life is humility, fleeing from vain glory, and accepting the last seat with love, because God knows the true value of a person and grants him his proper place in eternity.
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