12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
J.D. concludes with these true thoughts:
I would think, however, that our passion for Jesus' Kingdom rather than our own would also seen in how much our church does for people "who can't pay it back." If a church spends almost all of its money on things that attract people who can come, increase audience size, and give, and not ministering to the poor of the city, or not sending people out, then that's probably a good indicator that that church only throws parties for those "who can pay it back." Obviously, most people that we reach will come and give (this is, of course, part of their discipleship!), but it seems to me that if all our money is strategically allocated for self-growth, and not for reaching the poor and sending out church planters, then we might consider if our work is really done for Jesus' Kingdom and not for ourselves.
1 comment:
Piper's series on this text and then on Luke 15's follow up is amazing.
As we used to say, "That'll preach!"
I used the Prodigal's older brother sermon to exhort my group to accept those who are returning from the 'foreign country' without resentment and with, as He tells us, joy.
Be well!
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