August 24, 2016
Sometimes studying the Bible really hits close to home – “afflicting us in our comfort” as someone once called it.
As we read the Gospel of Luke, chapter 14, I was convicted about my own sense of “entitlement.” In this chapter, Jesus scolds the leaders for trying to grab the best seats at the dinner party. Evidently, they were jockeying for position near the host or the special guest (those are places of honor, after all), instead of starting out by sitting toward the back, maybe being invited to move up closer. I was reminded of a dinner I once attended where I thought I was sitting at the back and ended up at the head table by mistake. It was very uncomfortable, and I was fortunate I wasn’t asked to move, which would have made it even worse.
But then, later in the chapter, Jesus talks about inviting those who cannot repay you to your dinner party. I have to admit, I thought long and hard about that. Aren’t we entitled to invite who we want to our party? It's our stuff we're sharing, after all. Ahh…but there’s the rub. After all, whose party is it really? I mean, who is doing the providing for the party? Who does the providing for our lives? Certainly lots to think about!
Blessings.
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