Imagine Jesus coming to eat with you and He makes the whole meal an object lesson. He comments on the place of honor at the table and how you shouldn't seek the chief seat but humble yourself. I wonder how the guy in the place of honor felt? Then Jesus looks around at the guests and councils them that when they give a banquet they should invite the poor and crippled and blind and lame. I wonder if He ever got invited to that man's house again? Jesus' idea of propriety and decorum was/is different than ours. Reminds me a bit of Calvin's sermon at North Boulevard this past Sunday. You could be outraged and think Jesus' behavior is offensive while He thinks the real offense is how we throw parties and lavish blessing on our friends and family and those who don't truly need it while the poor go without. Which is the greater offense?
So many of the parables and lessons in this reading revolve around our use of resources. The Parable of the Banquet [Luke 14:25-33], Parable of the Lost Coin [Luke 15:8-10], Parable of the Lost Son or what we more commonly refer to as the Prodigal Son [Luke 15:11-32], Parable of the Dishonest Manager [Luke 16:1-13] a hard one for me to fathom, Rich Man and Lazarus [Luke 16:19-31], Vineyard Worker [Matthew 20:1-16].
Basically, money isn't the object. The heart is the thing of concern. We express our heart through our use of resources. A man might build a big house at God's expense just as a congregation might build a big church at God's expense. What if we were satisfied with a humble home and a small church that planted other churches as it grew?
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