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“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.” Luke 14:12–14
Is Jesus telling us that it is sinful to invite friends and family
to a dinner party? Certainly not. He is teaching us about something
much deeper. Throwing a dinner party for others is good when our
motive is love. But if the goal of the dinner, or any other act of
charity, is vainglory, then the vanity we achieve from such an act
is the payment we will receive. Sadly, the “payment” of vainglory
is sought and obtained by many in various ways. Jesus’ lesson
teaches us that our only motive for the good we do should be the
humble and hidden motive of loving service.
As a result of the temptation to pride, we can easily find
ourselves being inordinately concerned about what others think
about us. Holding a lunch or dinner for friends, family, and your
wealthy neighbors is simply an illustration of the sin of pride at
work. Within this context, Jesus is speaking about a person who
performs some act for the sole purpose of building up their
self-image and obtaining praise and flattery from others. This form
of “glory” is truly vain in that it is not only worthless to the
good of the soul, it is also damaging. Why do you do what you do?
Are your good actions done so that others will see and praise them?
Do you go out of your way to show people how good you are? Are you
overly concerned about the opinions of others? If the answer to any
of these questions is “yes,” then you might be struggling with
pride more than you realize.
On the contrary, are you content with doing some good deed that is
hidden from the eyes of others? Can you take delight solely in
helping others, even if no one knows about it? Are you motivated to
serve and give of yourself for the exclusive reason that you want
to make a difference in the lives of others? This is what Jesus
means when He says you should hold a banquet for the poor,
crippled, lame, blind, and everyone who is unable to repay you. In
other words, when you are not able to receive the “reward” of
vainglory, that is good. That must be your goal.
Reflect, today, upon how strong your desire is for notoriety.
Consider some scenario where you worked hard day and night for some
time to do some good work. Imagine that the good work accomplished
great benefits for others. Then imagine that no one knew you were
behind that good work and, therefore, you received no gratitude or
acknowledgment. How would you feel? Ideally, you would rejoice for
two reasons. First, you would rejoice that you were able to serve
and make a difference. Second, you would rejoice that God and God
alone was aware of your act of charity. When God sees our goodness
and selfless service, He puts Himself in debt to us in a certain
sense. The “debt” that God takes on is His gratitude and love which
are expressed to us through eternal rewards of His making. Seek to
obtain these eternal rewards by striving to serve in the most
hidden and humble ways possible. Those rewards infinitely surpass
the fleeting rewards of vainglory.
Most glorious God, You came to earth to suffer and die. In that
act of perfect love You brought about the greatest good ever known.
You offered this holy service of love in the most hidden and humble
of ways. As a result, You are now glorified forever. Help me to
share in Your acts of humble and hidden service so that I, too, may
one day share in the glory of Heaven. Jesus, I trust in
You.
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