“But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind.” Luke 14:13
Today is Monday, 29 January 2018. The winter weather will improve gradually and it’s been over a month since Christmas. The time of giving and sharing and the worldwide celebration of Jesus’ birth. A time where more people come together for the common cause of benevolence to those in need. Great charitable deeds are done across the globe in the name of Jesus and peace. But what of the rest of the time, the other 51 weeks of the year? Who, where, when and why provides a level of Christian comfort for the rest of the year?
Well, we all know of many. I know of one specifically. ‘Bridges’ held at the Salvation Army Citadel in Rochdale on a Monday evening. It is sometimes more affectionately known as “Sing for your Supper.” An evening where Christian volunteers from Churches across Rochdale come together to provide and serve a hot meal along with the Gospel message and some upbeat well known Christian sing-along-songs with a listening ear and a willing prayer for dessert. May the Lord continue to bless their faith in Jesus name.
In the Gospel of Luke 14th chapter, verses 12-14, our Lord Jesus is in the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees and He says to those who invited Him;
“When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbours, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.
“But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind.
“And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you; for you will be paid at the resurrection of the just.”
The first paragraph does not mean that we ought not to have fellowship with one another, but this is a different form of duty. This direction is to those whom cannot repay, for those whom can give no recompense in return. The Christian heart should find real pleasure in doing a kindness that is not to be repaid.
In verse 13 we read that it is to the poor that our invitation should go, and this is intended for the poor who are maimed, the poor who are lame and the poor who are blind. To those who cannot repay. In Nehemiah 8, after the captives had returned and Ezra the priest had read to the gathered assembly from the book of Law of God, and afterwards Nehemiah said: “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those whom nothing is prepared.”
Back in the gospel of Luke 14 we then follow the Master as He gives a parable about leaving All to follow Him, we read in verse 21, that these same people are to be brought into the Master’s house at the great supper;
“Then the Master of the house, being angry, said to His servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here, THE POOR AND THE MAIMED AND THE LAME AND THE BLIND.”
Wherever you are in your Christian walk, why not offer your support and assistance in any of the outreach activities to help those whom cannot repay?
God bless