The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost C
The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost C
Luke 14:1-14
Jesus instructs the host of the dinner banquet, ‘But when you give a feast,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed,
because they cannot repay you”
(vs. 13-14)
Two thoughts here, the first is that Jesus tells the host of the banquet that he should give no thought to being repaid when he considers his guest list for the next banquet. Jesus tells him to throw consideration of repayment out the window and invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,” etc. But then Jesus offers him repayment from the heavenly Father on the day of the just (vs. 14). Repayment isn’t exactly out the window; Jesus merely changes who’s picking up the tab. Will it be your neighbors, or will it be your heavenly Father? The second point ties into the first; the host, as he invites those who cannot repay, behaves in a manner modeled by the heavenly Father, the manner exhibited in Isaiah 55—“Come… come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The profligate Father from the prodigal son parable belongs to this same model as well. The inexhaustible riches delivered by the kingdom of God fuel the generosity delivered unto the neighbor.
Prayers from one who tends toward the miserly and self-indulgent and is only begrudgingly generous toward the neighbor…
Heavenly Father, you have poured out your inexhaustible riches at the expense of Jesus Christ, grant that these riches be poured out upon me so that I may be confident of my place at the banquet of the Lamb. Grant this Father, in your mercy.
Heavenly Father, you have poured out your inexhaustible riches at the expense of Jesus Christ, grant that these riches be also poured out upon my neighbors so that I may be confident of their place, too, at the banquet of the Lamb. Grant this Father, in your mercy.
Heavenly Father, you have poured out your inexhaustible riches at the expense of Jesus Christ, grant the world to receive these riches so that Christ would become its all-in-all. Grant this Father, in your mercy.
Heavenly Father, you have poured out your inexhaustible riches at the expense of Jesus Christ, grant my generosity toward my neighbors increase as I receive those riches won at Christ’s expense. Grant this Father, in your mercy.
Heavenly Father, you have poured out your inexhaustible riches at the expense of Jesus Christ, grant my neighbors be as generous with me as they have received your generosity. Grant this Father, in your mercy.
Heavenly Father, you have poured out your inexhaustible riches at the expense of Jesus Christ, grant that the Institute of Lutheran theology as my neighbor also enjoy the inexhaustible riches given in Christ. Grant this Father, in your mercy.
Heavenly Father, you have poured out your inexhaustible riches at the expense of Jesus Christ, grant that during these days of my baptism I would enjoy these riches in faith and hope until that day when their glory is manifest at the banquet feast of the Lamb. Grant this Father, in your mercy.
Into your hands, heavenly Father, we commend our body and soul and all that is ours trusting in your inexhaustible riches that are ours in Jesus Christ. Amen