Word to the Wise
Monday, November 5, 2012 - Monday in the 31th Week in Ordinary Time
[Phil 2:1-4 and Luke 14:12-14]"When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
One might imagine the scene in today's gospel scripture with a bit of amusement. Jesus tells the host to do something that would not have been the usual thing in the Middle East. The whole point of the banquet would have been to invite those who could reciprocate! This was a "leading Pharisee" and probably a person of means. Those who came to the banquet would know full well that they were expected to return the favor! Quid pro quo! You scratch my back, I scratch yours! If the host was inclined to be a bit impertinent, he might have said to Jesus: "Well, I invited YOU, didn't I?" It would be a quick retort, but it would also miss the point of the story!
How much of our "good deeds" are done with the anticipation of reciprocation or a reward in this life? Do we need people to be "beholden" to us? Much of political life in our nation is based on favors given and returned! Are "anonymous donors" in the majority? This is a complicated thing because most of us have "mixed motives" for our good deeds. It certainly helps if we enjoy doing something for others instead of doing it "with gritted teeth." We do appreciate a showing of gratitude or recognition! How much "inconvenience" are we willing to endure for the sake of others? Can we settle only for the repayment "at the resurrection of the righteous?" If we invite Jesus to our banquet, we had better expect to explain the guest list! AMEN