Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (G)

Luke 14:1-24

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. ² And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. ⁵ And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” ⁶ And they could not reply to these things.

⁷ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in 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 table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² He said also to the man who had invited him, “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. ¹³ But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

¹⁵ When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” ¹⁶ But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. ¹⁷ And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ ²⁰ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ²² And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”

Alternative: Luke 14:12-24

Who do you invite to your party? Who do you invite to come see your sporting event? Who do you invite to come join you at church? Most of the time it is close friends, people who have previously invited us, or family. But these people will repay us. What about inviting other people? Do you even think to ask an enemy, or despised neighbor to join you?

I think about the black sheep of the family, or outcast. Is the entire point here simply to invite strangers or people we would not usually think of to invite? Is this only about getting us outside our comfort box? I think this can speak to who we think belongs in the group. There are certain people that you might look at as a little strange or weird, do you really want these people at your party. Often times we feel like the popular people are better for some reason, when they are really just overbearing silver spoon stupid people (that is not very nice).

Look at the people who take the seats of prominence, and ask if you really think they should sit there. Look at the people encharge, and ask what makes them better than someone else. Maybe we should lift the humble person up. Jesus, our King, humbled himself, and laid down his life for you. He is alive. Are there others who have done a similar thing that you can respect and honor. Maybe they are even treated like outcasts, or lame, or blind, or deaf, and you can help them.

But I know that I have over looked truly needy people. I know that have been scammed. I also know that I need to help invite those who are sinners to the banquet. Jesus invited me, and I am a sinner. I need his forgiveness and so do you. He therefore offers it freely to all.