Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke 14 verses 12 through 23:
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 or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’
15 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ 16Then Jesus* said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.” 18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” 19Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” 20Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.” 21So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” 22And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.” 23Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.
One of the tremendous gifts of pastoring a church like Broadway is the mix of community which comes to us week by week, and especially Sunday by Sunday. With a crown jewel for an organ inside the sanctuary and a temporary emergency shelter around the side, we draw from all walks of life.
Yesterday I saw something beautiful in the narthex. An elderly member in our church was having trouble getting a cup of coffee before Sunday School. A homeless man from the community, who stays somewhere near Broadway and comes to worship almost every Sunday, always arriving early for the warm coffee, was there in the narthex. He saw she was struggling. He got up, went over to the coffee station and poured the coffee for her, took a sugar and a creamer and a stirrer, and then carried it all back for her to her seat. He was so kind and gentle and she was so grateful. It was all a simple gesture of humanity, but I thought somehow it carried all the kingdom of God in it.
I wonder where else that happens except at a church like ours. I wonder if we didn’t have church or other houses of worship if it would ever happen anywhere. I wonder if we really know what we have here and how beautiful and special, and life changing it all is for all of us.
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