But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just

 

 Then He also said to those who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'" 

 

- Luke 14:12-24 

 

On Saturday, we read that, as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  

 

 Then He also said to those who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  My study Bible comments that this instruction given by Christ is based on the manner in which God treats us, although not one of us could possibly repay God (see Luke 6:30-36).  You shall be repaid:  see the words of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34-35.  The teachings here couple with the verses just preceding, from Saturday's reading (see above); in the words of my study Bible, Christ teaches, in imitation of Himself, perfect humility to guests, and boundless charity to hosts.

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"   My study Bible comments that this man unwittingly declares the ultimate beatitude.  The truth behind his words can come only through understanding the bread to be eternal communion with God.

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'"  My study Bible explains that the parable Christ teaches here operates on two levels, which illustrate both the first and second coming of Christ.  He is the servant sent to gather many.  Supper indicates evening, the end of the age, which has been a common theme over the course of recent readings.  The people invited are first the Jews, and then all humankind.  

"But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'"  According to patristic commentary, these three excuses have both a literal meaning and spiritual meanings.  In the literal sense, that many are too attached to worldly cares to accept the Kingdom of God (see verse 26, Luke 18:29).  St. Ambrose sees the three excuses of I cannot come as representing the Gentile, the Jew, and the heretic.  The Gentile's devotion to earthly wealth is represented by the piece of ground, the Jew's enslavement to the five books of the Law by the five yoke of oxen, and the heretic's espousal of error by the man refusing on account of his wife.  Theophylact more generally associates the excuses with people who are devoted to earthly matters, to things which pertain to the five senses, and to all the pleasures of the flesh.  Taken all together, the excuses remind us of the things which do not nurture the seed of the Sower, do not constitute the good ground in the parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-15).  

"So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"  My study Bible comments that those in the streets and lanes indicate first the Gentiles who accepted Christ after He was rejected by the Jews who did not have faith in Him; and second, those outside the Church who replaced those within who have rejected their own baptism.

 At first glance the different subjects in today's reading, although ostensibly related in that they concern a supper given for many guests, seem to contradict one another.  On the one hand, Jesus speaks of giving a dinner or a supper, and the gracious way one must treat guests.   His emphasis is on charity, in the sense that He advises the people with Him not to invite those friends, relatives, and rich neighbors who can "pay one back" in kind, but rather those who, for whatever reason, cannot afford to pay back.  In this way, through this kind of almsgiving or compassion, we rather store "treasure in heaven" (Luke 12:33, 18:22), "for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  But the image in the second story of a great supper gives us a less comforting picture about the refusal of hospitality, of graciousness rebuffed.  Clearly it's meant to be a response to the remark, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  But as we have had occasion to remark so frequently in recent readings as Jesus has begun to shift His sight to the Cross, this time the image is one that teaches us what it is to rebuff the graciousness of God, the offer of a place in God's kingdom.  The focus is on all the ways we put off thinking about "the resurrection of the just," and the process of moving toward the fullness of God's kingdom.  The emphasis again seems to be upon us to consider the time, that we do not have an infinite amount of time in our lives to put off the work of our faith, of doing the things God would like us to do.  That is, to consider what it is to practice compassion, to give alms in any way we can through such kindnesses or charitable behaviors we can.   This amounts to a way of thinking in which we take on a mindset that is less focused so much on what we think we need to do or to be in a worldly or earthly sense, and more focused on what it is that pleases God, on heeding that place within us that calls us toward this identity in the Kingdom.  Who are we when we stand before God? Do we seek a communion with Christ in our hearts?  Is there an adjustment we need to make in terms of how much time we think we have for God and God's call in our lives, how much energy we have for projects that call to the heart, how much extra space we can make for giving on even a small level?  This orientation toward gracious behavior can be as simple as a kindness shared with another person in a chance encounter, or something as costly as a smile at the right time, even the smallest supportive gesture to someone who needs it.  The common denominator, if we look for it in each of Jesus' teachings here in today's reading, seems to be humility.  It takes a kind of humility to realize that even those with the least among us are rich in blessings that they can share with others.  There's an old saying I can recall a friend's mother quoting:  "Good manners don't cost anything."  A little extra time or consideration, a charitable action (especially when it is unknown to the public), a hug at the right time or friendly greeting -- even a great, grand gesture of a large contribution to a worthwhile cause -- each of these things done with humility becomes a treasure in God's sight, an image that adds to our luster with God's love, for we are doing what is pleasing to our Lord, we are reflecting the person we're created to be,  God's image.  But it is humility that is the key, because the blessing from God comes from the humility of pleasing God.   There is a prayer written into the St. John Chrysostom liturgy in which we find a plea inspired by God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3.   In the closing prayer, we begin pray to God, "You bless those who bless you."  We should consider that we bless the Lord by being humble to the Lord, welcoming God's gracious will into our lives, sharing the supper to which we're invited, and doing so through charitable acts and kindnesses of our own.  It takes humility to recognize such blessings as we have to share, and how truly rich we are in the things we can share with others through the grace of God.  Let us take Christ's words to heart, remembering that this is, even in humility, part of the glory of God and God's kingdom with which we are blessed and in which we can share and share with others.