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.

 

 

 

 

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"

 

 Then He also said to him 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 him 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 tells us that this instruction by Jesus is based on the manner in which God treats us -- although not any of us could possibly repay God (see 6:30-36).  On Christ's words that "you shall be repaid," see 10:34-35, in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

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!"    This is the ultimate beatitude, according to my study bible, unwittingly declared by this man.   The truth in his words comes when we understand that the bread is 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 Jesus begins here operates on two levels, which illustrate both the first and the second coming of Christ.  He is the servant who is sent to gather many.   Supper indicates evening, which is the end of the age.  The people who are invited to this metaphorical great supper are first the Jews, then all mankind.  

"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.' "  My study bible comments that the patristic Fathers see the three excuses as having both a literal meaning and also spiritual meanings.  First of all, the literal meaning -- that many are too attached to worldly cares to accept the Kingdom of God can also be here in verse 26, and also 18:29.   As for spiritual meanings, 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 enslavement of the Jews to the five books of the Law in the five yoke of oxen, and the espousal of error by the heretic through the man refusing on account of his wife. 

"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.'"  The people in the streets and lanes can be seen symbolically as first, the Gentiles who accepted Christ after the faithless Jews reject Him, my study bible says.  And second, those outside the Church who will replace those within who reject their own baptism.

Jesus' parable assures us of two things, and seems to do so absolutely.  First, that regardless of how many fail to accept the invitation to the feast of communion in the kingdom of God, there will be more invitations sent out to yet more who were not previously reached with invitations in the past.  In addition, none among the "preferred" or elect group who originally received invitation will be admitted to this feast.   Moreover, those in the streets and lanes of the city, who are the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind, are those who are outsiders.  They are all those who are in some sense "less than."   Furthermore, the room available at this great feast or banquet can always accommodate more.  So  those in the highways and hedges, who may be compelled to come in, are even more on the outskirts of what has been understood as the acceptable limits of the Kingdom, those eligible by reason of closeness and previous or past association or kinship of any kind.  The highways in Christ's time connected the whole of the Roman Empire and beyond.  There is a sense to the parable of an ongoing outreach, a search, in which action is continually happening in both directions:  those who refuse the invitation will be barred, while invitations will continually go to outsiders, the "less than," even those who know nothing of the Kingdom beforehand and so are not previously familiar with the One who issues the invitations.  I am particularly intrigued by the naming of "the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind," because it indicates that those invited in are all those who are in need of healing in one way and another.  It might even suggest to us Christ's specific words regarding Himself as Physician:  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Luke 5:31).  He said these words when criticized for being at a dinner in the home of a tax collector, with other tax collectors and sinners present.  And he added another image:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  This image of the necessarily expanding new wineskins give us a parallel understanding of all those outsiders, including those in need of a Physician, who will be admitted into the Kingdom, for whom there is always "more room."  When things look bleak and impossible, let us keep in mind Jesus' saying about those poor, maimed, lame, and blind -- and all those who are way on the outskirts of what we think of as the insiders and the connected.  For they are all the children of God invited to this banquet by Christ.  It is those among them who accept this invitation as they are called into the Kingdom, and who will meet at the resurrection of the just.

None of those men who were invited shall taste my supper

 Then He also said to him 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 will 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 it happened, as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that 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 him 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 will 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."    Here is a continuation from the previous reading (above).  Jesus' previous words were instructions about being a guest; here He shifts to the duties of a host.  Of course, while the words are teachings on "gentle" behavior, they are also instructions and even chastisement to His dinner companions regarding the true life of the godly.  My study bible says that "this instruction is based on the manner in which God treats us, even though not one of us could possibly repay Him (see 6:30-36).  You shall be repaid:  See 10:34-35."  Let us remember that while the example is based on money or largesse, we also consider every gift we have when we think of giving.  A smile, a kind act, a prayer, the sharing of a talent, spending time with someone -- all of these may work in the same ways to create community.

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 suggests that this man is unwittingly declaring 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.'"  Jesus sets the tone for a new parable, about the Kingdom.  My study bible says that the parable works on two levels, illustrating both the first and second coming of Christ, who is this servant sent to gather many.  Supper indicates evening, the end of the age.  The people invited here are first the Jews, and then all mankind.

"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.' "  These three excuses have been seen traditionally by the Fathers as having both a literal meaning -- that many are too attached to worldly considerations to accept the Kingdom of God (see also 18:29), and also spiritual meanings.  My study bible says that "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 devoted to earthly matters, to things pertaining to the five senses, and to all pleasures of the flesh."

"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 says that those who are in the streets and lanes are (1)  the Gentiles who accepted Christ after He was rejected by those Jews who had no faith in Him, and (2) those outside the Church who replace those within who have rejected their own baptism. Clearly, the call goes out to all the world.  The "highways and hedges" indicate every last one.  We note finally the invitees are those who are outsiders because they are in some way suffering and afflicted (the poor, maimed, lame, blind), and those who are strangers (those in the highways and hedges).

I once read a novel by the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, titled "Things Fall Apart."   To render the book's subject in a very hasty way, it is about the traditional religion and culture in an Ibo village in Nigeria, the coming of the Christian church via missionaries,  and the colonial influence that has its effect on all relationships thereafter, including in the Church.  There is plenty of criticism to go around.  But reading closely, Achebe's story tells us -- at least to my mind -- precisely the essential point of Christ's parable here about those who are invited to the Supper.  It also touches upon the themes we read in Saturday's reading, in which Jesus preached parables using the subject of  hospitality.  In the end, in Achebe's book, despite whatever bad influences were wrought by politics and power, the message of Christ was clear to those who were the outcast in the old religion or tradition.  At Christ's table, everybody is invited.  But as we see in today's parable of the great supper, those who are particularly invited in the end are the afflicted and outcast:  the poor, maim, lame, blind, and the stranger.   It's a message that we can't afford to forget.  It is the ultimate message of mercy, and there is more to it as well.  We see in this action the great justice of God, wherein, as in Mary's canticle, God has "lifted up the lowly."   This song of Mary is in Luke's chapter 1, and it sets a tone for the whole of the meaning of the Gospel, and the reality given to the world by the life and ministry of Jesus:  that God's justice is mercy.  But to know this mercy, and to value the gift requires of us a particular kind of insight, knowledge, discernment.  It is still a revolutionary kind of concept.  John the Baptist (also called Forerunner) sends the same message as Mary's song, when as herald he quotes from Isaiah, to "prepare the way of the Lord; and make His paths straight."  In the image he gives, we see a similar understanding:   "Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."  With a geographical sort of metaphor, we see God's justice that is mercy itself.  The arrogant are cast down, and the humble lifted, every valley filled and every mountain and hill brought low.  In this Great Supper of reckoning, so much depends on where mercy finds mercy.  It's not just a simple understanding of haves and have-nots.  This is not, despite the analogies, a simple equation based on worldly, material, monetary understanding.  Jesus has also taught us in the Beatitudes:  "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  To lose out in this Kingdom, at this Great Supper, it is a consideration of the quality of mercy, and its absence.   What are we more concerned with?  How do we treat those we consider "less-than?"  Those who can't pay us back, aren't of a social status we care about in our "group?"  Those who can't get us ahead in some way?  These considerations affect all classes of people everywhere.  Let us remember that we all have our "poor and maim and lame and blind" and those outsiders who are in the "highways and hedges."  This reality overshadows every group, every little community, every social structure, and it is meant for consideration by each of us individually.  It isn't simply a "macro" picture of country, and it's not just about money, because money can be given without ever touching the heart.  It is about who we are, in our own interior, and how we come to grips with this command for mercy and practice it in our own lives, among those whom we consider "not important."  Furthermore let us understand the ingratitude of those who refuse the invitation!  Where there is no value given to mercy -- a gift -- there is a justice in its ultimate refusal.  It is Jesus who also taught us not to cast our pearls before swine.  Let us all remember God's grace, this great gift that is offered freely -- and remember to be godly likewise.  It is also Luke the Evangelist who gave us the question, "Who is my neighbor?"