I have a friend who would be embarrassed if I mentioned her name in sharing this story. She worked for years as a special education teacher and specifically taught children and teenagers with cognitive disabilities. While her students grew up and no longer qualified to be students in her classroom, she has kept up with them by hosting regular “Friend Parties,” getting her former students together to catch up and encourage one another. Each of the parties has a seasonal or holiday theme and the friends are expected to dress up accordingly. They have a meal together, play games and each takes their turn at karaoke while the others dance around the room. Her family members regularly join the festivities and view them as a highlight of their month. Her former students are now in their 40’s - 50’s physically. Their hair has begun to gray and many aspects of the world they live in today make them incredibly anxious. Some don’t leave their homes and work much, but they wouldn’t miss a “Friend Party!” where they are confident they are wanted, seen and valued.
My friend is one of the most put together women I know, with great taste and great hair! I imagine when she first started hosting her “Friend Parties” she received some surprised and curious looks. It’s one thing to sacrifice one’s life by teaching special education classes and serving her students in the classroom; it was quite a different thing to call her students “friends” and regularly invite them into her home, her family and her life.
Today in our reading from Luke 14, we get to listen in as Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a fantastic feast whose guests are not at all who you would think.
Read Luke 14:7-35
Jesus is still in the Pharisee’s home we read of in yesterday’s text and continues using the opportunity to teach His fellow guests about the kingdom of God. Noticing that the righteous Jews had maneuvered to get the best seats at the dinner party, He challenged both the host and guests to rethink how they do celebrations. Instead of jockeying for the prime spot to sit, be humble and look for the place that is farthest away, not presuming that you are more important to the host than you are. Then the host will see your humility and bring you to a place of honor, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (v 11)
Jesus sure knew how to shut a party down! I imagine everyone in the room was uncomfortably assessing where they were sitting in relation to the other guests, ashamed at how they assumed their seat of honor or judgmental of those that were more obvious about it than they. And what was this talk about inviting the poor, maimed, lame or blind? To serve them on the steps of the synagogue was one thing, but to invite them to a dinner party? That was unheard of! In an attempt to distract from the awkward silence, one of the guests quips, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” (v 15) This was a common saying amongst godly Jews, as their understanding was that invitations to the future Messianic banquet would be extended only to the most devout.
Nice try, but Jesus wouldn’t be deterred from the point of His lesson and continues with a parable, of a man who invited many to a banquet he was planning. Perhaps similar to today’s wedding planning etiquette, save-the-dates were sent out 6 months to a year in advance, so that the official invitation sent out a few weeks before wouldn’t take anyone by surprise. And yet, when the time came for the banquet and the host’s servants went out to escort the guests to the grand event, no one was available. The excuses were as numerous as the no shows, but bottom line, they hadn’t prioritized this date and had filled their calendars with other things and responsibilities that they just couldn’t, wouldn’t lay down. When he heard of the widespread rejection of his invitation, “the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’” (v 21) When there was still room for more in the vast banquet hall, the master had his servant go out to the highways and hedges and bring everyone in, even foreigners. Not only would the marginalized within the Jewish community be included, Gentiles would be welcomed to the feast as well!
Friend, you and I have been invited to a banquet, one that far outweighs anything we deserve or have earned and exceeds anything that we could ever repay. When we understand that and begin to grasp all that our Savior has done to rescue us, all of our excuses begin to crumble, and we long to not only receive and participate in His kingdom and gospel of grace, but to joyfully share his amazing love with those who have never experienced it. We want to go out into the highways and the hedges and compel the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame to come and experience the love of Jesus that has made us whole.
The Cost of Discipleship
Jesus knows that this way of thinking, embracing this form of discipleship, will be costly to His followers. He needs them to understand a bit of what they are signing up for. Those who would accept the challenge to follow Him must:
* love their family less than they love Christ (v 26)
* bear the cross and follow Christ (v 27)
* Renounce all possessions (v 33)
Similar to a builder spending the necessary time to estimate the cost of a building project or a military leader assessing the potential cost of going to war, those who are considering following Christ must first count the cost to see if they will persevere in faith.
Pivoting to Salt
“Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty?”(v 34) Why does Jesus end this lesson with a comment about salt? I wondered as well, and needed to look this one up! According to the ESV Study Bible notes, at this time and in this region, most salt came from the Dead Sea and contained impurities, like carnallite, the main ingredient in fertilizer, and gypsum, which is used to create sheetrock, concrete and plaster of Paris. If these impurities were not separated properly, the Dead Sea salt would have a poor taste and would be worse than useless, being unusable for food flavoring or preservation. Imagine shaking Dead Sea salt all over your food and taking a bite, only to discover that it hasn’t done anything! Even worse, if the costly components of discipleship are not embraced and prioritized, the disciples likewise will become less than worthless.
Big Picture Questions for Today:
* Have you considered the cost of discipleship? Is there anything that you are simply unwilling to yield in order to follow Christ more intimately? Is there anything that the Holy Spirit is prompting you to consider? Perhaps your Lenten fast has caused you to be more sensitive to the things and people that you tend to prioritize over Jesus and His kingdom.
* As you begin to think about your Easter plans, consider including those who aren’t part of your family or on your regular invite list. Who is the Lord placing in your path to include around your table?
Pray for God to give you eyes to see the marginalized - the poor, crippled, blind, lame, the foreigner - and view them as the beautiful image-bearers of God that they are.
