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1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:1, 7-14 New International Version Bible)
A gracious Good Morning to you, dear Friend (or afternoon, evening, night, whenever you read this!). I'm so glad you are joining us as we spend some time with God and His precious word. May the fullness of life boost your spirit and may that bless you in your service to others; we live in a world filled with need and many voids that only God can fill with God using us. Pray for one another, pray for the needs shared with you, and pray for the needs of the world, especially peace in those parts where there is conflict and war.
When our oldest grandson was about six or so years old, any invitation that was offered to him which might involve his leaving his room, was met with "I'd rather stay in my home, and eat chicken." I may not voice it out loud but there have been plenty of occasions where I have felt the same way, mostly due to my shyness and my need to not be out and about. Yet, I am thankful that during my career as a minister I had many opportunities to dine in some elegant places where I was amazed and delighted to have been invited! I confess I had never sat at a table with more than one fork until invited to special events, and I thank God for gracious, understanding tablemates, who guided me and blessed me with the do's and don'ts. It is important to note that some of Jesus' most powerful teachings and blessings came at the table. In this occasion, Jesus had been invited to the home of a prominent Pharisee, and was being carefully watched by all; both His followers and His opponents. As Jesus enters the dining room, He watches the way guests chose the places where they would sit, with the places of honor being the most desired places, and so Jesus shares this parable; When you get invited to a wedding feast, do not assume yours is the place of honor, because someone more distinguished than you may be invited and he or she will get the place of honor. Jesus says, "There is nothing more embarrassing that the host to come to you and say, 'Give this seat to this person.' For that will humiliate you and you still have to move to the least important place. Jesus said, 'It's better to be in the lowest place and allow the host to come and move you to to the seat of honor; then you will be honored in front of those there.' And then Jesus speaks to all people there, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Jesus always seeks to elevate our sphere of thinking. The mode of I invite you, then you invite me, is an ancient one, and one that we have accepted and adopted here in our country. We know that soon we have our own built-in circle of friends and relatives that we invite, expecting they invite us back, and they usually do. Jesus knew that those within the sound of His voice needed to hear this new thing. Who would naturally think to invite those outside the sphere or circle of friends? And who would have thought to invite those on Jesus' list? The poor? Those without jobs, or homes? In my house? The crippled? My home is not ADA compatible. The lame? Who will carry them into my house? The blind? Will my insurance cover any accident they might have? We could continue the discussion, but we need to listen to Jesus. He says that these people on His list will not be able to repay us, we will be repaid by God, on that special day when the righteous are resurrected. This is next world teaching from the Lord of the Universe. The truth is that when that day comes, all of the righteous will be invited to sit at the banquet table and enjoy the meal prepared for all by the Lord Himself. No one, who is righteous, will be excluded. The ones who might be excluded are those who here on earth did the excluding. The poor, the lame, the crippled, and the blind, by earthly standards, are seen as the unacceptable and uninvitable by some, and this is unacceptable to God; for God looks beyond what others look to limit contact or involvement with those not in our circles; Jesus says, "See them. Invite them. Learn to love them, for they matter to God, just as we matter to God.
PRAYER: Loving Father, help us look beyond what we have been taught either by well-meaning loved ones, or self-taught out of fear, and lead us to Your thinking of loving and accepting all. May our efforts here now prepare us for the world yet to come. May Your kingdom truly be the one that helps us understand and accept those who need our love; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Grow your heart and mind to include others, especially those who seem "outside" our realms.
Receive my love and thanks for reading and/or listening to ConCafe.
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
