Luke 14:1, 7-14

vv. 12-13  …He turned to the host.  “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return he favor, invite some people who never get invited out, … You’ll be – and experience – a blessing.”   –The Message: the Bible in Contemporary Language, tr. by Eugene Peterson

Several years ago, my younger brother invited the whole family to a dinner theater.

We were quite surprised by this act of generosity, because this particular brother had a reputation for being tight with the dollar, and we have a large family – especially when you consider all the spouses and girlfriends.

While we were seated around the table, my brother said to my father in Norwegian: “I’m going to marry the girl sitting next to me.”

I overheard this, and started to laugh. You see, our parents spoke Norwegian whenever they had something to say that they did not want us kids knowing about – and the net result was that all of us kids got very interested in the Norwegian language, to the point that we all were able to understand quite a bit of it.

When my brother told his “secret” I understood exactly what he was saying.

It was a fitting way for our family to find out too, because we always discussed important matters, or revealed important news around the dinner table.

My mother’s standard line was “Let’s talk about it at dinner.” I realize now that it was an important time of fellowship, communication and decision-making for my family. It was a way of building our family relationships.

When I read our gospel text for today, I put it in the category of the “around the dinner table” sort of texts. We could get the idea that Kingdom of God consists of going to dinner with the proper attitude.

Today, Jesus is in the home of a Pharisee (not only did he eat with tax collectors, sinners, etc. but also with religious leaders). Again, he is talking about a banquet and he says two things about it: One, you should not try to go and sit in the place of honor, but be humble – that way if your host elevates you, you will be honored. And, two, when you have a fancy dinner, don’t invite your friends and neighbors but go invite the poor, the lame – the street people of the day.

The dinner-table lesson derived from all of that is: Be humble and don’t have false pride.

I was in a pastors group recently, and we were talking about this text.  

We realized that no matter how much we talk about the work we do and how much we think we have a humble attitude over against God and the people that we serve, the truth is, none of us want to have a fancy dinner with people off the street.

We also don’t wear our humility very well.  Remember something about these texts in this part of Luke; they talk about the how impossible it is to “Strive to enter by the narrow door,” so impossible, in fact, that only one person can get through.

Jesus’ disciples finally say in Ch. 18: Who can enter the kingdom of God? Jesus’ response: For humans it is impossible; with God, everything is possible. We cannot enter the kingdom of God by being humble, by conquering our false pride and be being good at inviting the poor to dinner.

Well, if this text is not about how we, the church, should be like humble servants of the poor, what is it about?

It is about the Kingdom of God, about God’s hospitality.

The word “hospitality” literally translated means “love of the stranger.” And love, like the banquet of Jesus here in this text means “Hosting those who can’t host you back.”

It is more than feeding the stranger; it the willingness to sit and eat with the stranger. Perhaps the best way to enter Jesus’ teaching about God’s hospitality in this text is to think about that person or persons you would have the most difficult time being comfortable with.  

Maybe it is a gay person, or a person who is politically right or left of you.  Maybe homeless people or Wall Street bankers offend you.  

Is Jesus calling you to learn to understand someone who seems strange to you?