Proper 17 / Pentecost 15 / Ordinary Time 22
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.
-- Luke 14:13-14a
Jesus' admonition highlights the problem of pride and self-interest that continue to plague the church in every age. Jesus talked about the position of honor at a banquet. Apparently there was a quite honored pecking order among guests within the society. He suggested that rather than presuming your position of honor and then suffering the embarrassment of being asked to move down when a more important personage arrived, you deliberately take the lowest seat in the room and let your host ask you to move up. You can imagine the effect if this type of humility was an active part of a church's ethos.
The obvious question becomes who plays host at a church and asks people to move up? Too often the pastor is placed in that position and then criticized for making the wrong choices. The essence of the parable was expressed by Paul in Romans 12:10: "... love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor." The real challenge to our pride comes in Jesus' advice to his host. "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you...."
Since this was part of Luke's advice to the church, what would the result of a church taking this advice be. Apparently the early church took this advice quite seriously. They had a reputation of going out into the streets and not only caring for but also inviting the sick and the lame to come into their community. The effect was that the church openly welcomed those that the society rejected, and the power of their witness began to spread across the Roman empire. The early Pentecostal movement employed the same strategy as they began to spread their message. Some historians suggest that this may have been the key to the remarkable growth of the Presbyterian church in Korea.
Unfortunately, as the church began to acquire more resources, the members also began to become concerned about protecting those resources. The mystery of our attachment to possessions and the way that they separate us from our trust in God still expresses itself. How do we learn to love others without expecting anything in return?
-- Luke 14:13-14a
Jesus' admonition highlights the problem of pride and self-interest that continue to plague the church in every age. Jesus talked about the position of honor at a banquet. Apparently there was a quite honored pecking order among guests within the society. He suggested that rather than presuming your position of honor and then suffering the embarrassment of being asked to move down when a more important personage arrived, you deliberately take the lowest seat in the room and let your host ask you to move up. You can imagine the effect if this type of humility was an active part of a church's ethos.
The obvious question becomes who plays host at a church and asks people to move up? Too often the pastor is placed in that position and then criticized for making the wrong choices. The essence of the parable was expressed by Paul in Romans 12:10: "... love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor." The real challenge to our pride comes in Jesus' advice to his host. "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you...."
Since this was part of Luke's advice to the church, what would the result of a church taking this advice be. Apparently the early church took this advice quite seriously. They had a reputation of going out into the streets and not only caring for but also inviting the sick and the lame to come into their community. The effect was that the church openly welcomed those that the society rejected, and the power of their witness began to spread across the Roman empire. The early Pentecostal movement employed the same strategy as they began to spread their message. Some historians suggest that this may have been the key to the remarkable growth of the Presbyterian church in Korea.
Unfortunately, as the church began to acquire more resources, the members also began to become concerned about protecting those resources. The mystery of our attachment to possessions and the way that they separate us from our trust in God still expresses itself. How do we learn to love others without expecting anything in return?
