Jesus' Worldview Demonstrated Day 24- Tuesday March 16 2010

Day 24 Tuesday March 16 2010

TODAY’S INTRO
There is a lot here- as always. Read it all but one part of the story today reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the sower. The sower was a farmer who spread seeds in the soil very liberally. Some seed sunk in. some was choked. Some hit shallow soil and withered. Some seed found good soil and grew and grew and grew. What is profound is the farmer (sower’s) willingness (and faith) to keep on spreading- knowing that some seed will never have an impact. But. . . some will.

TODAY’S TEXT- Luke 14
14On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. 2Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. 3And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?” 4But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. 5Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” 6And they could not reply to this.
7When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 12He 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. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
15One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18But 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 regrets.’ 19Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ 20Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21So 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.’ 22And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.” 23Then 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. 24For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’”
25Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. 34“Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”



TODAY’S STATUS UPDATES
There is a sense of urgency to the text today. In Luke, eating with someone is so significant. Eating with another implies acceptance of the other; it says you have something in common; and that you consider the other worthy.
Who we eat with is a microcosm of our world view! Who Jesus eats with and invites to his table is a view of his world! Jesus offers us that view in todays story. He imagines a glorious banquet that has been prepared and it is “ready” to be served. He sends out a helper to issue invitations. He is generous with the invitations but some of those invited are full of excuses. They turn Jesus down, yet they have still been invited. In response, Jesus sends out more workers to be even more generous with inviting others to the feast. Those invited include the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, and a lot of people that they meet along the way. The invites go out and many accept and there is still room at the table. Jesus says, keep going out and inviting others.
It’s a worldview that says to us- our faith is not about making excuses, its about sharing it and inviting others in. It’s about inviting and including others who we may not always be comfortable with but who are “worthy” in the eyes of the king. The great mystery of eating with someone is that often our interpersonal barriers are overcome and new understandings emerge.
Jesus’ worldview is often demonstrated at meals and begs us to pay attention. For our hope and prayer is that his worldview may become our worldview. If that happens, our lives will be much more compassionate, caring, and loving. If that happens, we will claim that sense of urgency in our lives and seek to invite others.
Friends Added
Man with dropsy
Those who accept the invitation
Skeptics/Opponents
Those who make excuses
Those who exalt themselves
Those irritated by Jesus’ challenge

Causes
Humility
Inviting others
Helping people understand the proper relationship of possessions- priority of faith
Giving honor to others (not self)- honoring is something you “give to others”, not claim for self
Being salt for the world
Inclusion of the poor, the lame, the less fortunate in the community