But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.
– Luke 14:13-14a, ESV
Text: Luke 14:7-24
In His own words from Luke 14:
“But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place.”
“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.”
“Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”
“Go out to the highways and hedges and compel the people to come in, that my house may be filled.”
There is a bigger picture here. We can easily get caught up in “who should I invite to my party?” and “I hope they invite me to their party!” and fail to remember the enormous opportunity—and frankly, the calling, that we have been given to look up from our contact lists and reciprocal relationships and simply ask: Who can I love today who may have nothing to offer me in return?
We find throughout the New Testament that Jesus spent a good bit of time with the people we tend to avoid. If Jesus threw a dinner party, topping the guest list would be those with nothing to repay Him.
“Let’s model the Great Inviter, match our intentions with His, and swing wide open the doors of our hearts and homes”… to not only those who are like us but also to those who are not. This is the way of the Kingdom. This is hospitality.