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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

November 7, 2022

The Invitatory

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The earth is the Lord’s for he made it: Come let us adore him.

Reading: Luke 14:12-24

He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 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, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.” But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.” So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.” Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.” ’

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

The first occasion that caused me to consult a book of etiquette was the engraved invitation to a Bar Mitzvah of a classmate. My mother referred me to the book which instructed me on the proper way to respond. I was immediately entranced by the formality and the care given in each piece of advice or instruction. I was most impressed, though, by the cardinal rule and underlying rationale for these rules: they were there to enhance everyone’s enjoyment of and ease in participating in social events. It is for this reason that the greatest breach of etiquette is to make another persona aware of his or her breach. That would cause that person to feel ill at ease.

Rules of etiquette, though, are the least of Jesus’ concern in this passage, one of the “dinner-table sayings” that are only recorded in Luke’s Gospel. Even though this passage is thought of (possibly introduced as ) as parable, it is more accurately taken as a warning. It is not a direct injunction as to proper behavior at dinner, even though this is suggested; rather, it draws one to consider the proper behavior as an analogy to the attitude demanded by the Kingdom of God.

What has preceded this “Parable of the Great Dinner” are references to those who will share in the “kingdom-meal,” suggesting to us the eschatological dimensions of dining. The dinner-table talk has moved from topics of guest places at dinner and the proper guests to be invited, to that of the acceptance of invitations to a festive meal. We have come to the climax of this group of sayings having to do with dining in this parable.

Those who say no to the master’s summons to come to the dinner will never taste of it. Think through all the consequences of the response you give. Those who are excluded from the banquet have only themselves to thank: God will not drag the unwilling into it against their will. We must say yes to God. Who wants to be in a relationship; with someone who is unwilling to be in it? Rejection of Jesus' teachings has consequences: one will not be the beneficiary of the joy of the festive meal or the Kingdom of God. No man can enter the Kingdom without God’s invitation and no man can remain outside it but by his own deliberate choice. Man cannot save himself, but he surely can condemn himself.

I am now moved to consider how differently I will hear and hold these words: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” I will declare more forcefully “for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven.” I believe I will be far more intentional in my invoking God’s blessing on the bread and wine and on us “that we may serve you in unity, constancy and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom.” For God’s will will not be obstructed by the rejection of human beings; the places at the kingdom-banquet will be filled. What is revealed to the lawyers and Pharisees is the significance they have ascribed to something else over and above God’s invitation expressed in Jesus’ teaching. Let us accept this invitation with joy.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy Name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done,

        on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

    as we forgive those

        who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

    and the power, and the glory

   for ever and ever. Amen.