Luke 14:1-14
Jesus Teaching about Love
1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6 And they had nothing to say.
7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
God is LOVE...And in His LOVE He seeks out the poor in spirit, the rejected, the weak, those who are broken, and those who feel humiliated...Jesus gives this teaching to us on the love of others, when we are with our neighbors...When we invite someone over or give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid...They feel obligated to repay you in return...But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed...Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous...
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian...Nouwen wrote these things about love and compassion: In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds...If you feel loved, you can do a thousand things...If you feel rejected, everything becomes a problem...Where is peace to be found?...The answer is surprising but clear...In weakness...Why there?...Because in our weakness, our familiar ways of controlling and manipulating our world are being stripped away, and we are forced to let go from doing much, thinking much, and relying on our self-sufficiency...Right there where we are most vulnerable, the peace that is not of this world is mysteriously hidden...Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish...Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears...Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless...Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human...Nobody escapes being wounded...We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually...The main question is not, 'How can we hide our wounds?' so we don't have to be embarrassed, but 'How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?'...When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers...When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand...The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares...This is what life is about...It is being sent on a trip by a LOVING God, who is waiting at home for our return and is eager to watch the slides we took and hear about the friends we made...When we travel with the eyes and ears of the God who sent us, we will see wonderful sights, hear wonderful sounds, meet wonderful people ... and be happy to return home...What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love...Friendship is one of the greatest gifts a human being can receive...It is a bond beyond common goals, common interests, or common histories...It is a bond stronger than sexual union can create, deeper than a shared fate can solidify, and even more intimate than the bonds of marriage or community...Friendship is being with the other in joy and sorrow, even when we cannot increase the joy or decrease the sorrow...It is a unity of souls that gives nobility and sincerity to love...Friendship makes all of life shine brightly...
Nouwen adds: Did I offer peace today?...Did I bring a smile to someone's face?...Did I say words of healing?...Did I let go of my anger and resentment?...Did I forgive?...Did I love?...These are the real questions...I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will be many fruits, here in this world and the life to come...When I trust deeply that today God is truly with me and holds me safe in a Divine Embrace, guiding every one of my steps I can let go of my anxious need to know how tomorrow will look, or what will happen next month or next year...I can be fully where I am and pay attention to the many signs of God's LOVE within me and around me...