Prayer for those who we don’t invite – Luke 14: 1, 7 -14
Luke 14: 1, 7-14
1 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.
7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host, 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Gracious God,
We confess.
We don’t follow Jesus’ example. We try.
We don’t always think it all the way through.
Jesus told us when we throw a celebration
we are to invite the poor, people with disabilities, the marginalized,
those people who we don’t normally “hang out” with.
Jesus told us to invite them. With no strings attached.
We confess we do not invite and we attach strings.
We think of our celebrations, our banquets, our table
as transactional events. We expect people to be grateful or
to come to our church and be like us.
You call all people to your table.
You call all people to experience your Grace and Love.
Help us to think all the way through how we can
invite all people to your table, to your celebration,
to your banquet. So that we all may experience and Know
Your Grace and your Love.
Amen.
