Luke 14:1, 7-14 (online here)
Jesus seems concerned with how we use what ought to be celebrations as opportunities for advancement.
Don’t do that, he says.
When you’re a guest at a great banquet, don’t use the invitation you get as a way to advance yourself.
And when you’re the host, don’t use the invitations you give as ways to advance yourself either.
Start with inviting the people who could really use an invitation to a banquet, people who hardly ever get invitations.
And again if you’re the guest, stand with these people. Then you and they together will all be honored guests at the feast God has prepared for everyone.
Why? Because this is what God is doing—inviting everyone, especially those who hardly ever get invitations, to a banquet.
At Common Worship, Christ is the host who invites us to a great banquet, the same banquet God has prepared for everyone. And you are an honored guest simply because you’re invited.
If we let this meal do its work on us, we ourselves will be transformed from guest to host, moving out to welcome and honor people who don’t usually get invitations.
Who might you welcome and honor this week? Who hardly ever gets an invitation?
