[Propertalk] Sermon tidbits for Luke 14 for Aug. 29 - V

[Joe Parrish]

This parable is easy to agree with but difficult to act on. The host who is never invited back may feel used and may be looked down upon by others. Jesus' point is not never to invite one's friends, relatives, and rich neighbors over to eat. He uses the present imperative ("do not keep inviting," 14:12) to prohibit the habit of inviting only friends. But he does challenge the motivation of earthly honor and reward ("tit for tat") and redirects us to value honor and reward from God.

http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=28

Aida Besançon Spencer
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This week there is more watching going on, and the seeing contrasts with the characteristic seeing of Jesus from last week.
Here the looking is to judge, to assess and to catch Jesus possibly committing an error. Just the kind of observation we have become so accustomed to in the church. Like internal auditors constantly in search of fraud we scan the lives of others, and also our own for the least inconsistency so that we van pounce and cry, "Fraud!"

How contrasting, once again, is the seeing of Jesus. Despite being aware of being scrutinised he does not become preoccupied with that.

http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/hidden-in-plain-sight/

Peter Woods,  2010
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We are to attend God's banquet (the Messianic banquet) with a spirit of humility. We are to host others in the meantime in a spirit of inclusivity, treating the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind as guests of honor (14: 13, 21).
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The word blessed (makarios) shows up twice in this chapter (14:14; 14:15). Jesus, in 14:14, says "You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you." and, in 14:15, one of the dinner guests says "Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" The name for this form of saying is beatitude. Christians sometimes assume that Jesus invented the beatitude, but they are a common form in the Old Testament (see Isaiah 30:13 and Jeremiah 17:7).  

http://www.patheos.com/community/mainlineportal/2010/08/22/guest_of_honor/

Alyce McKenzie, 2010
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For some years my own congregation has welcomed members who are unable to make a profession of faith. Once upon a time they could, but now they come in the care of their spouses or children. Alzheimer's and other damnable dementias do their work of erasing memory and personality, but the church remembers its calling and tries to preserve its character as a place of Christ's hospitality. 

http://theolog.org/2010/08/blogging-toward-sunday-discerning-body.html

Patrick J. Willson
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Pharisees tended not to be particularly wealthy.  Demographically speaking, pharisees tended to be slightly better off than poor people, but it would have been somewhat unusual to encounter a rich one.  (This would have been the case during the lifetime of Jesus.  By the time of Luke's writing, c. AD 85, the pharisees' lot had probably improved.)
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>From a conventional wisdom point of view, Jesus is encouraging people to dishonor themselves and their family.  But from a kingdom point of view--from God's, in other words--if you invite friends, family, and those of equal or greater social rank, you are exalting yourself.  If you invite the poor, you are humbling yourself.  

http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2010/08/lectionary-blogging-luke-14-1-714.html

John Petty, 2010.
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Evangelism means more than telling the story of the reign of God. It means being the gospel for those with whom we come into contact. The believer's faith relationship to the outsider, the least, is the theme here. No one has anything of which to boast or claim when invited to the feast of God. All are on equal footing. As Luther said, "We are all beggars." 
This confession guides the believer's response to the host as well as to the least. A church who seeks out "good members," those who are good prospects with a good chance of contributing to the congregation, has misunderstood its own standing as a "good member" in the reign of God and has misunderstood Jesus' command.

To be a good guest and a good host is to enter first into the reality of one's own sinfulness, and unworthiness. And it is from that position of recognized sinfulness that real evangelism takes place, in the depths of human depravity. It is those who minister to the AIDS victim, the abused, the poor-even the hard-core poor-and who do not judge who bring the good news in its purest form.

http://yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com/2010/08/pentecost-14-luke-14-1-7-14.html

David Buehler, 2010
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