Dinner with Jesus

The lectionary scripture for this coming Sunday that I'm speaking on is Luke 14.1, 7-14. In the verse we see that Jesus and his crew have been invited over to a leader of the Pharisees' house for dinner. Jesus takes special notice of how everyone shuffles in and sits down and decides to give them a bit of advice. He tells them that if they are invited to a guest's house for dinner and they sit at the place of honor, it will be awfully embarrassing for them to get asked to slide down so people more honorable can have a seat (I wonder where he sat when he came in). Instead, he recommends that people sit at the lowest seat of honor; when the host comes in, he (or she in a modern situation) will invite them up the line and they'll be recognized in front of everyone. While this may seem like a self-serving thing ("I'm gonna act all humble and then be rewarded for it!"), Jesus is actually talking about serving others now to receive the honor in the next life.


Jesus then goes on with some direction for those who host people.


He basically throws out there that, if you're going to host, don't do it hoping that your friends are going to invite you over to their place. Host the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and do it because it's the right thing to do. He takes the first lesson for the guests (live humbly and you will be exalted) and tells them how (invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind) and why (and you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous) to do it.


A lot of people try to make excuses as to what this might actually mean. Some people don't think this applies to today. Some people think this only applies to literally having people over for a bite to eat (which would still be remarkable if people really applied the literal interpretation to practice - and I don't do this personally, so this is a self-critique to be sure). The latest I've heard is that this is impossible to do in the US because, well, we don't actually have real poor people in the states. (Are you serious!?)


However, if you really, truly read through Luke-Acts, it is clear. The Jesus of Luke and the work of the apostles in Acts is directly pointing to Jesus and the subsequent movement as advocates for social justice and ministry to the literal poor (compare Luke 6.20 to Matthew's easier to swallow 5.3).


If we look at what Jesus is talking about both metaphorically and literally, we begin to piece this together. We recognize that there is a certain level of humility that we must live by; we should not think that, because of our position in our company, family, or society that we should assume the top honors are for us. We find this message over and over again (the rich young ruler, judgment of the nations, prodigal son's brother, etc.), and yet we seem to ignore it. While Jesus talks about reaching out to the literal poor, crippled, lame and blind, we can understand this as a call to serve the metaphorical poor (as in poor in spirit from Matthew), crippled, lame and blind. However, we cannot separate the two, nor can we ask for glory if we are those with serving those without.


And so, I challenge myself (as well as anyone who might be reading this) to live more faithfully to Jesus' words in this scripture. I begin this afternoon, volunteering with friends at the local Ronald McDonald House in Lansing, MI and continue on Saturday, stuffing backpacks with school supplies for children of families who cannot afford it with Operation Kid Equip in Troy, MI. I share these things not to boast or build myself up, but for two purposes: accountability - practicing what it was that I "preach", and idea-sharing - if you are looking for ways to really get involved in this ministry that Jesus calls all of us to, these are ways to start.