Based on Luke 14 (New King James Version)
“Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, ‘Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?’ And they could not answer Him regarding these things. So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: ‘When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’ Then He also said to him who invited Him, ‘When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.’ Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, ‘Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ Then He said to him, ‘A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’’ Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.’ ‘Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’”
Edwin Louis Cole said: “Illusions of grandeur are not the same as visions of greatness.” What is greatness? What is the standard? Who dictates what is great and what is not? I can tell you one thing, what the Lord taught us to do (what He thinks is great) is very different to what society thinks is great. And if you choose doing what God says you should do, you are going to have major problems here on earth. There are several views in today’s passage, and we can see what kind of problems we may have if we do what God says in each of them.
The first example is with those that call themselves “followers of God”, but have turned the things of God into a worthless, lifeless, and self-serving religion. You can see the irony in this because the Pharisees thought they were right in their thinking, but they were the ones that made life most difficult for the Son of God here on earth, even causing His death. If their hearts and teachings would have been right before God, they would have been Christ’s greatest supporters. So, God may ask you to do things that go beyond a set of religious rules.
The second example is humbleness. Most people want to be well-known, revered, and loved; even though they try to hide the desire of wanting to be. They want to be important, and they want to associate with people that seem important also. What makes a person great? Is it money, fame, power…? Social status is always associated with one of the three. Many believers use social status as their standard also.
The third example (combines different sections in today’s passage) has to do with the people you tend to. It doesn’t mean that it is bad to do nice things for the people you love. And well, business-wise, there is always the lunch here and the dinner there for business relationships. But however, we need to focus our attention on those that have no one; those people that are in true need; and that we should do things disinterestedly. This is contrary to what the social standard is. Society teaches us that our focus should be our family, friends, our social circle, and of course, business. And society also teaches that if you get a chance, throw a few crumbs to those in need, if you want to make yourself feel good. What is even more unfortunate is that some believers don’t even give away the crumbs to people in need. That’s sad.
After teaching these things, the Lord helps us understand that there is a cost to following Him. And the most expensive cost is a social one. It will jeopardize all of your social relationships, especially the religious ones. Just think, you are supposed to go against established religious practices, be humble, look to do more things for people you don’t know who are in dire need (social outcasts), and give more priority to God and to the things He teaches than to your family. If your family doesn’t understand God, they are not going to like you very much; guaranteed!
The last part is: that being truly different for God makes us “flavorful” to God and to the world that surrounds us (the world needs people that care). So, are you standing out for the right reasons, so that God considers you a great person? Lord bless! John