Luke 14:1, 7-14 (NRSV)
Read Luke 14:1, 7-14 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 14On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.
Verse 7When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. Verse 8"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; Verse 9and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, 'Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. Verse 10But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. Verse 11For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Verse 12He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. Verse 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Verse 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Devotion
When Jesus reveals what the kingdom of God is like through parables, it is never what we, or the world, expect. We seem to be trapped in a world where only the strongest and most cunning survive. We are trapped in a place where self-exaltation is more than just vanity, it is a necessity. And in the end, our world becomes smaller. Yet the kingdom of God that Jesus ushers forth calls us to humility and gracious hospitality to the poor and broken. Jesus takes our perception of the world and flips it on its head. He challenges how we see the world. Our lives are either more about us or about being open to the love of God already at work all around us. We are living in the midst of resurrection and we need eyes of faith to see it, eyes that can only be given to us by Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Gracious God of invitation and blessing, the kingdom that your Son, Jesus Christ, inaugurates turns our way of seeing the world upside down. We pray that you will give us eyes to see and ears to hear of your love which is opening a new world right before us. In your holy and precious name we pray. Amen.