Repay

Scripture — Luke 14:7-14 (NRSV)

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “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; and 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. But 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. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

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.”

Devotion

When I wrote about this passage three years ago, I told you about a dream I used to have repeatedly, inspired by this passage and other parables of Jesus about wedding banquets, where I found myself shut out of a great heavenly banquet. Today, rather than imagining myself as the guest, as I sit with the passage, I am thinking about what it says to the host.

One of my secret hobbies is, I kid you not, reading etiquette books. It all started when I was around twelve, and was given a set of books published in 1897 for Victorian pre-teens; they had belonged to one of my great-aunts (you can see them on my dresser here, right in the middle.) They included great quotes from literature, a basic introduction to world history, suggested games and puzzles for the family, and quite a lot of etiquette instructions—how to write thank you notes, introduce people to each other, plan a party, and all the things nervous humans seem to perpetually want to be advised about. (I remember, in the age before Google, being particularly mystified by what a chafing dish was—the books suggested that Victorian teenage girls might invite their friends to visit them and make them food in the chafing dish, including Welsh rarebit. I didn’t know what that was either.)

I got those books over forty years ago, and my interest in etiquette has never subsided—I just returned a book to the library yesterday which explained British etiquette in the twenty-first century. (In my defense, I have British relatives and visit frequently. Though I’m unlikely to need the chapter on how to address members of the royal family.) Whether written in 1897 or 2025, one common theme in all these books is reciprocity. Do people introduce you to their friends? Return the favor and introduce them to yours. Do people send you a wedding present? Thank them. Do people host you in their house? Express gratitude for their gracious hospitality, and try to have them over in return.

To be honest, this is not bad advice. We should all become comfortable with giving and receiving hospitality to each other in a way that can’t be reduced to a financial transaction, a way that builds community and increases social cohesion. While that advice in itself is not an explicitly theological statement, I do think this kind of reciprocal hospitality is kingdom work, as is anything which promotes healing and building in a world where the evil one wants to break and destroy.

But Jesus, in this passage, wants us to go farther than that. Don’t just invite those who can repay you, he says; don’t just build the bonds of your own community. Give and don’t expect to get back. Give to people whether they can thank you and repay you or not. Give to people whether they deserve it or not, whether they could ever earn it or not. Give them food and shelter; give them hospitality and give them respect.

And that, friends, is also kingdom work.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Generosity: The Secret to Breaking Wealth’s Grip (Luke 10:38-42; 14:12-14; 24:13-15).