1 One time when Jesus went for a Sabbath meal with one of the top leaders of the Pharisees, all the guests had their eyes on him, watching his every move. Right before him there was a man hugely swollen in his joints. So Jesus asked the religion scholars and Pharisees present, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath? Yes or no?”
4-6 They were silent. So he took the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. Then he said, “Is there anyone here who, if a child or animal fell down a well, wouldn’t rush to pull him out immediately, not asking whether or not it was the Sabbath?” They were stumped. There was nothing they could say to that.
7-9 He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, “When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he’ll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You’re in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.’ Embarrassed, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.
10-11 “When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’ That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around all high and mighty, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
Luke 14:1-11
Questions for Reflection:
Jesus is telling another story, to help the people in His day (and us) take a new look at how God’s kingdom is supposed to work – to turn the kingdom of men upside down!
Do you need to let go of some rules?
Are there any rules from your past about God/Jesus that need to be shattered?
How might Jesus want you to stop “looking” at the rules, and “look” at the people right in front of you who need Him?
Prayer of the Week:
My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You now to be restored in You, to be renewed in You to receive Your love and Your life and all the GRACE and MERCY I so desperately need this day.
Jesus, I do need your grace and your mercy this day – everyday. I do not ask thinking I don’t have grace and mercy from You – my asking is the cry of an open receiving heart. Thank you for Your immense and intense love for me which shows up as unmerited favor (grace) and rescue from what I justly deserve (mercy).
Thank you for loving me so very well – I rest in Your love and ask You to bring to mind specific ways You have loved me with grace and loved me with mercy lately. (Spend a few moments letting the Spirit bring to mind times you have been “graced and mercy’d” recently. Take whatever time you need to engage with Jesus over what He is revealing.)
Jesus, I repent of times when I act like I don’t need grace and mercy. It is sad to think I am prone to “self-justify” or blame or excuse especially when I need to be humble and open to mercy. I do this to You and I do this to others – I am so very sorry.
I am excited that You are leading me to be not only a receiver of mercy and grace but a giver. I am fully equipped to be gracious and merciful to others because You have been gracious and merciful to me. I get to love others with an over the top, long term, leads to healing kind of love because that is how I am loved by You.
I know I will be tempted to go the way of the Priest and Levite from the parable – having a righteous agenda which blinds me to opportunities for loving mercy and grace. Not today – I am a child of God, agent of my Father’s love, recipient of immense grace and unfathomable mercy, filled with the Holy Spirit, alive with resurrection Life – today I get to love others well with merciful words and actions. It is who I am in Christ!
This is going to be an amazing day!
Amen
