from Dining with Jesus

One Sabbath, when he went in to eat at the house of one of the leading Pharisees, they were watching him closely. There in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid. In response, Jesus asked the law experts and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they kept silent. He took the man, healed him, and sent him away. And to them, he said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” They could find no answer to these things.

He told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they would choose the best places for themselves: “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t recline at the best place, because a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by your host. The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.

“But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Then he told him: “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

“But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’

“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’

“And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’

“So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’

“‘Master,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’

“Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’”  Luke 14:1-24

In 1985 I became the pastor of a wonderful church in a beautiful section of Atlanta. The church was full of CEOs, CFOs, professionals and notables. We had three former Miss Georgia’s in the congregation, we had a Peach Bowl Queen, we had a bunch of former professional athletes, and one or two current athletes. We had some impressive folk come into that church. I liked to think they were “my kind of people.” I mean they looked good! I once told them, “You’re as good looking a congregation as money can buy.” It’s wonderful to be around folks like that, isn’t it? It makes us feel like we’re somebody special. “If I’m hanging out with those kind of folks, I must be kind of one of those folks myself… maybe… some of the time. Either that or they just haven’t figured out yet that I don’t fit in.”

My third Sunday there they gave a dessert in my honor to welcome me as their new pastor. The gymnasium was decorated nicely and there was a feast of delicious foods to choose from. The fellowship was cordial. Smiles and laughter were plentiful. Children ran around and returned to the serving table for more desserts. At the end of the evening, there was a fair amount of trash that had dropped here and there on the floor, napkins and bits of food and so forth. For most this was no problem. Everyone knew that the janitorial staff would be in early Monday morning to clean. One person didn’t want to wait.

The founder and CEO of what was, at that time, the largest privately owned pharmaceutical company in North America, went into the kitchen, got a plastic trash bag and began going around cheerfully and inconspicuously picking up the trash and putting it in the bag. I was fascinated! This man was perhaps the wealthiest man in the church. What was he doing cleaning up everyone’s mess?

But you see, that man had a servant’s heart and he saw the need. Instead of thinking somebody needs to clean up this mess, he just started cleaning up the mess. Do you know what I would have done? After everyone left, I would have said, “Somebody needs to clean up this mess. Isn’t it a shame that so many people were careless and instead of putting things in the trash can, they just dropped things on the floor left them there.” I would have decried the problem. Preachers are often proficient at pointing out what others do that is wrong.

The CEO was different. He saw the problem and became the solution. And Jesus says, “He got it. He understood.” If you try to exalt yourself, you’re going to be humbled. But if you will humble yourself, you will be exalted.” And when? Not necessarily in this life. Jesus is encouraging folks to look toward the resurrection. But in a very real way this man was like Jesus. Jesus took a towel and washed the disciples feet. He said that is the way we are to live. That is the way we display His love. We must be willing to do the jobs no one is eager to do. Jesus, in fact, cleaned up our mess by taking the wrath we deserve.

And so, Jesus tells another story. He says, when you give a luncheon or dinner, don’t invite people who can pay you back. Because you know what could happen? They may pay you back. If they pay you back, you gain nothing. Isn’t that what we usually do at holiday time? We give presents to people who give presents to us. We wrack our brains, “What can I get for so and so this year?” What if instead, we did what Jesus actually said He would want us to do, and we give to people who can’t pay us back? Here, Jesus uses the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind as examples. Serve them, and you will be blessed.

Starting in verse 21, Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Bring the people who ordinarily would not be invited, the people who ordinarily would not be on the guest list, people who can’t pay you back. Invite them and you will be repaid at the resurrection. The reason we’re to invite these folks is precisely because, as the Old Testament tells us, “He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord.” You are lending to God when you give to people who can’t repay. And God not only promises rewards for such conduct, Jesus says what we do for the least of his brothers He counts as having been done for Him. After what He has done for us, we should be eager to express our gratitude to Him! We should be looking for opportunities to do things for people who can’t pay us back.