Luke 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just
A couple of weeks ago I missed a graduation party for my niece. We missed a good time, good food, and good friends. We didn’t know about the party because we had been gone for three weeks and had not yet gotten the invitation that was in our mailbox in the camp office. When we saw a bunch of cars arriving at the house, we suspected we were missing something.
Hopefully, we have made that up, but nonetheless May is a socially intense time. Maybe for everyone, but certainly for us here on the Ranch. A lot of us have had graduation and wedding invitations. We have a lot of meetings as a staff that we usually don’t have throughout the year. As we get into our summer camp season, the schedule is tight and is full of interactions with people. All those things conspire to make it a make it a very social environment.
When we think about social interactions, we often wonder, “What do people think of me? Am I wearing the right thing?” None of that is wrong, but the truth is no one thinks of you but you. No one is thinking about me except me and God. The point is don’t count God out of your social interactions. The Bible says that only by pride comes contention. Jesus says in Luke 14:7, “And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden [invited], when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms.” Then, He continued to instruct them.
Jesus knows about our social interactions, and He spoke to those who were invited when He noticed they were looking for prominence, the chief spots. He says in verse 8, “When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him.” If you are just looking out for yourself, not thinking about anyone else, and forget that God is thinking about you and knows your social interactions, you are going to choose the prime spot at the gathering. Then, you are going to be asked to move when someone more important than you arrives.
Verse 10 says, “But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.” The bottom line is that we should not count God out of our social interactions.
First, this is true when you are invited. When you are invited, don’t seek the chief spots. God knows you and where you are, and He cares. In verse 11 Jesus gives the punchline, “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” That is a law of life and nature, and the reason for that is because there is a God in heaven. If I am constantly striving for preeminence in social situations, then I am forgetting there is a God in heaven. God knows; God sees. He knows everyone at that social function, and I need to have a humility of mind. Whosoever exalts himself will be abased; whosoever humbles himself with be exalted. God does that. So, don’t count God out of social interactions when you are invited.
Second, this is true when we are inviting. Verse 12 says, “Then said he also to him that bade [invited] him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, not thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and recompense [reward] be made thee.” Most of us don’t realize even the good things we do are done with a motive of somehow gaining from it. That sounds bad. I don’t think any of us intend that, but almost any good turn I do anyone, I am doing it to someone who in some way can reward me. They can say nice things, give me money, return the favor. Very few times do we ever do anything good to someone who will not be able to repay us.
Jesus is saying that we should not count God out at such times because there is a God in heaven. Verse 14 says, “And thou shalt be blessed [when you invite the poor, maimed, blind, and lame from verse 13]; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” God is doing that. You are a truly blessed person when the only one who can reward what you have done is God. Proverbs 19:17 says, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD.” When I give to the poor, those who can’t repay me, I am lending to God because He is the one who will repay. It is wonderful to be in a place where the only one who can reward you is God. So, don’t count out of your social interactions whether you are invited or inviting.
A hundred yards behind my house is a horse pasture where we keep a string of five horses in the winter. In this group of five horses there is a distinct pecking order. My horse Encore is the matriarch, the boss, and that is obvious. There are five bins in which the grain goes, and when our cowboy feeds them, my horse gets to eat first because she fights everyone off. Then, the second in the pecking order eats, and so on. By the time the last poor, little old horse at the bottom of the pecking order goes to eat his food my horse is done with her food and she is chasing him off of his. All this is very obvious when you see it happening.
As humans, we are a little more sophisticated, but we do the same thing. We go to a party and posture and curate our language because we are trying to gain the ascendency. We don’t even plan on doing this. It is natural, just like horses kicking other horses off the food. There is a pecking order and we want to make sure we are on top of that order. Let me tell you that humility is an accounting for God in your pecking order and social life, whether you are the one who is invited or the one who is inviting. Don’t count God out of your social interactions. Humility is accounting for God in the world you inhabit.