Luke On Poor Guests

Luke On Poor Guests

“The spirit is willing, but the body is weak,” so the Bible says. 

Others would say, “In reality, each has to scratch each other’s back.  Go with the rich, to get something.”

Most of us give and remember those who can reward/pay back.  During occasions, we even reserve the best gifts for rich relatives or friends.  The poor ones get the cheaper stuff.  They are given the last seats and the leftovers.

Let us learn from these parables:

1. Fig Tree (Luke 21)

And he spoke to them a parable.  “Behold the fig tree, and all the trees around you.  When you now put forth their buds, everyone knows that summer is near.  Even so, when you see these things coming to pass, let it be as a sign that the kingdom of God is near.  Amen I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all things have been accomplished.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

2. Good Shepherd  (John 10)

“Amen, amen, I say to you he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up another way, is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.”

“I am the Good Shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, even as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep.”

3. Poor Guests (Luke)

But Jesus also said to the host who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite you friends, or your brethren or your relatives, or your rich neighbors that perhaps also recompense you.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; you shall be blessed because they have nothing to repay you with; but though you not aware, you shall be repaid at the time of the resurrection of the just.”

It is true that the poor cannot please and give back material things because they lack a lot in this life.  But then, if we can have something to share (even little) will find us joy. If we can give half the bread we’re eating to the least, we’re doing big acts of love.

Who are your guests this Christmas season?  What are your gifts to your friends, family, co-workers?   Are the foods you are serving your rich friends different from the foods for your poor friends?  Check your answers.

Rose flores martinez

11.7.2010