Lenten Devotions - Day 12
“Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him: ‘When you give a dinner or banquet, don’t invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.’” Luke 14:12-13
What a strange way to thank a host for inviting you to a meal! Why didn’t Mary teach Jesus some decent manners? Then again, manners may be exactly what Jesus was addressing as the problem.
We follow the prescribed norms of interacting with people to make sure that we are greeted in a favorable light. We teach our children to be pleasant and ingratiating, specifically for selfish interests. If they put on a nice face and make people feel good around them, it is the most self-serving thing one can do—and you can get away with it along with everyone’s praise! You’ll get yourself invited back, and that will be one more free meal!
Well, we don’t talk about manners in those terms, but that is how it works. Politeness and courtesy are often much more about serving our own reputation and self-interest than truly serving the interests of others. Jesus would rather we serve those who need our service.
“Please” and “Thank-you” are those magical words that Barney teaches our young. They are an important lesson on the road toward understanding the importance that other people play in our lives. We begin interacting with the world in need by making a connection between our actions and the lives of those around us. Play fair. Don’t bite. Don’t hit. Be nice. As far as it goes, those are great manners to learn. The problem is when we stop with those manners we teach our children and don’t get beyond them to the harder issues of relating in love toward strangers, foreigners, those we do not deem our peers, and others in need of our abundance.
This is what Jesus is addressing. In part, he is recognizing that his host is heading in the right direction by inviting Jesus and his retinue with the full knowledge that Jesus cannot repay with a similar invitation. Yet the issue goes further on Jesus’ lips. Not only should this courtesy apply to one deemed a servant of God, and therefore to be repaid by the Almighty, it should also extend to those who are in need of the very basics of life.
It is one thing to invite a friend over to a meal. It is another to make the same invitation to those whose very presence makes us uncomfortable. It is dangerous. As we invite them into our lives, they will become more than someone to ignore. They become one whose story we are learning to hear. They become individuals for whom Christ died. They become friends who are in need. They become extensions of our own family. They become that other child in preschool with whom we are taught to share.
How far does your hospitality extend? At what point are we afraid to love strangers in need?
Look for a way to invite a stranger into your life and circles of concerns. This is what Christ has done on the cross.
“Lord, help me see others not as problems, but as friends with whom to share your blessings.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
What a strange way to thank a host for inviting you to a meal! Why didn’t Mary teach Jesus some decent manners? Then again, manners may be exactly what Jesus was addressing as the problem.
We follow the prescribed norms of interacting with people to make sure that we are greeted in a favorable light. We teach our children to be pleasant and ingratiating, specifically for selfish interests. If they put on a nice face and make people feel good around them, it is the most self-serving thing one can do—and you can get away with it along with everyone’s praise! You’ll get yourself invited back, and that will be one more free meal!
Well, we don’t talk about manners in those terms, but that is how it works. Politeness and courtesy are often much more about serving our own reputation and self-interest than truly serving the interests of others. Jesus would rather we serve those who need our service.
“Please” and “Thank-you” are those magical words that Barney teaches our young. They are an important lesson on the road toward understanding the importance that other people play in our lives. We begin interacting with the world in need by making a connection between our actions and the lives of those around us. Play fair. Don’t bite. Don’t hit. Be nice. As far as it goes, those are great manners to learn. The problem is when we stop with those manners we teach our children and don’t get beyond them to the harder issues of relating in love toward strangers, foreigners, those we do not deem our peers, and others in need of our abundance.
This is what Jesus is addressing. In part, he is recognizing that his host is heading in the right direction by inviting Jesus and his retinue with the full knowledge that Jesus cannot repay with a similar invitation. Yet the issue goes further on Jesus’ lips. Not only should this courtesy apply to one deemed a servant of God, and therefore to be repaid by the Almighty, it should also extend to those who are in need of the very basics of life.
It is one thing to invite a friend over to a meal. It is another to make the same invitation to those whose very presence makes us uncomfortable. It is dangerous. As we invite them into our lives, they will become more than someone to ignore. They become one whose story we are learning to hear. They become individuals for whom Christ died. They become friends who are in need. They become extensions of our own family. They become that other child in preschool with whom we are taught to share.
How far does your hospitality extend? At what point are we afraid to love strangers in need?
Look for a way to invite a stranger into your life and circles of concerns. This is what Christ has done on the cross.
“Lord, help me see others not as problems, but as friends with whom to share your blessings.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
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