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<P align=justify><FONT size=4>This parable is easy to agree with but difficult
to act on. The host who is never invited back may feel used and may be looked
down upon by others. Jesus’ point is not never to invite one’s friends,
relatives, and rich neighbors over to eat. He uses the present imperative ("do
not keep inviting," 14:12) to prohibit the habit of inviting only friends. But
he does challenge the motivation of earthly honor and reward ("tit for tat") and
redirects us to value honor and reward from God.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><A
href="http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=28"><FONT
size=4>http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=28</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>Aida Besançon Spencer</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>This week there is more watching going on, and
the seeing contrasts with the characteristic seeing of Jesus from last
week.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify>
<P><FONT size=4>Here the looking is to judge, to assess and to catch Jesus
possibly committing an error. Just the kind of observation we have become so
accustomed to in the church. Like internal auditors constantly in search of
fraud we scan the lives of others, and also our own for the least inconsistency
so that we van pounce and cry, “<STRONG><EM>Fraud!</EM></STRONG>“</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>How contrasting, once again, is the seeing of Jesus. Despite
being aware of being scrutinised he does not become preoccupied with
that.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><A
href="http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/hidden-in-plain-sight/"><FONT
size=4>http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/hidden-in-plain-sight/</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>Peter Woods, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>- - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>We are to attend God’s banquet (the Messianic
banquet) with a spirit of humility. We are to host others in the meantime in a
spirit of inclusivity, treating the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind
as guests of honor (14: 13, 21).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=posttitle align=justify><FONT size=4>The word blessed
(<EM>makarios</EM>) shows up twice in this chapter (14:14; 14:15). Jesus, in
14:14, says “You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you…” and, in 14:15,
one of the dinner guests says “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the
kingdom of God!” The name for this form of saying is beatitude. Christians
sometimes assume that Jesus invented the beatitude, but they are a common form
in the Old Testament (see Isaiah 30:13 and Jeremiah 17:7).</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.patheos.com/community/mainlineportal/2010/08/22/guest_of_honor/">http://www.patheos.com/community/mainlineportal/2010/08/22/guest_of_honor/</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>Alyce McKenzie, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>For some years my own congregation has welcomed
members who are unable to make a profession of faith. Once upon a time they
could, but now they come in the care of their spouses or children. Alzheimer’s
and other damnable dementias do their work of erasing memory and personality,
but the church remembers its calling and tries to preserve its character as a
place of Christ’s hospitality.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://theolog.org/2010/08/blogging-toward-sunday-discerning-body.html">http://theolog.org/2010/08/blogging-toward-sunday-discerning-body.html</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>Patrick J. Willson</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>Pharisees tended <SPAN
style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">not</SPAN> to be particularly wealthy.
Demographically speaking, pharisees tended to be slightly better off than poor
people, but it would have been somewhat unusual to encounter a rich one.
(This would have been the case during the lifetime of Jesus. By the time
of Luke's writing, c. AD 85, the pharisees' lot had probably
improved.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>From a conventional wisdom point of
view, Jesus is encouraging people to dishonor themselves and their family.
But from a kingdom point of view--from God's, in other words--if you invite
friends, family, and those of equal or greater social rank, you are exalting
yourself. If you invite the poor, you are humbling yourself.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2010/08/lectionary-blogging-luke-14-1-714.html">http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2010/08/lectionary-blogging-luke-14-1-714.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>John Petty, 2010.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>Evangelism means more than telling the story of
the reign of God. It means being the gospel for those with whom we come into
contact. The believer’s faith relationship to the outsider, the least, is the
theme here. No one has anything of which to boast or claim when invited to the
feast of God. All are on equal footing. As Luther said, “We are all beggars.”
<BR>This confession guides the believer’s response to the host as well as to the
least. A church who seeks out “good members,” those who are good prospects with
a good chance of contributing to the congregation, has misunderstood its own
standing as a “good member” in the reign of God and has misunderstood Jesus’
command.<BR><BR>To be a good guest and a good host is to enter first into the
reality of one’s own sinfulness, and unworthiness. And it is from that position
of recognized sinfulness that real evangelism takes place, in the depths of
human depravity. It is those who minister to the AIDS victim, the abused, the
poor—even the hard-core poor—and who do not judge who bring the good news in its
purest form.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com/2010/08/pentecost-14-luke-14-1-7-14.html">http://yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com/2010/08/pentecost-14-luke-14-1-7-14.html</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4>David Buehler, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=justify><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - -
-</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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