Jesus said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." ~Luke 14:12-14~
When throwing a party, for eternal reward, you need a guest list full of the least likely people you can imagine, people who can never pay you back, never make you fell cool for inviting them. Sounds crazy, huh? Jesus' way of doing things was often hard to accept.
One night in Phoenix on out way to a sleeping spot we liked, Sam and I passed a five-star hotel with well-dressed people milling about in front of the entrance and luxury sedans pulling up to drop off more partygoers.
Sam and I walked across the red carpet at the entrance, trying our best to be invisible (it didn't work). Then we stopped to look thru the window into a beautifully decorated ballroom packed full of people. Toward the front of the room a large sign read, "Happy Birthday!" Waiters dressed in white tuxedos passed through the crowd carrying silver platters heaped with expensive appetizers.
We stated silently, separated from another world only by a window.
A waiter passed by with a full platter of baked chicken dripping with rich sauce.
"Sam," I said, only half-joking, "I'll bet we could run in there, grab one of those trays, and be back outside, no problem."
Sam laughed. "Check out the security over there!" Two very large and intimidating guys were checking people's coats at the door. Any dreams of tender baked chicken evaporated.
We felt like kids pressing our noses against the candy display at an old-time country store. Everything we so badly wanted was just out of reach.
Just then an older gentleman right in front of us grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters. He tilted his head back for a quick drink and noticed us standing outside looking in. With a warm smile he raised his glass towards us in salute.
Sam and I gave an embarrassed wave, nodded, and walked away.
"
That was awkward, " Sam said.
"Sure as," I said.
We walked away in silence. We needed to stop drooling, find our sleeping spot for the night, roll out our bags, and forget about birthdays, banquets, and chicken on a silver tray.
Just as I was about to drift asleep, I reached for my Bible. I remembered reading about Jesus' party tips.
"Sam, dude, listen to this," I said, and began reading in Luke 14 where Jesus talks about how to throw a party of eternal proportions: "When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
"Have you ever seen anything like that?" I asked when I was finished. "I mean, what would that kind of party look like today?"
"Dunno," said Sam. "I've never even been to a party with appetizers on a silver platter! But imagine-a whole ballroom filled with the weak, the drunk, the blind, the homeless. Let's do it!"
We both thought for a moment. The more we thought, the better the plan sounded.
"But maybe we shouldn't serve champagne," I said. We both laughed. We agreed that instead of party favors, at our banquet we'd hand out groceries or new sleeping bags.
Just before we dropped of to sleep, Sam asked the obvious question, "Do you think anybody would be willing to do what it takes to throw a party liek that?"
Probably not, we decided.
You have to ask, though: Why not? Why not throw a party Jesus' way? Why do thousands of Christians read this story every year
but never actually do it? We either add to the darkness of indifference... or we light a candle to see by. ~ Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet
**Taken from My 30 Days Under the Overpass Devotional by Mike Yankoski**
In November of 2007 I sat in the experience room at the SOKC Campus of LifeChurch.tv as this was read before we went on the Block Party MicroMission. It moved me in a way I can't explain. I was about to be a part of something big, something life changing... not just for the homeless of OKC, but for me. Life Church in conjunction with Love Is An Action, Refuge OKC, and other area business set up a "party Jesus style"-- one that Mike and Sam believe no one would do. With donated food to feed 2000, 3 semi's full of clothing donated by many, people who donated their time to cut hair, take family portraits, and hundreds of volunteers that sacrificed their day to pour into the life of someone who may not have had a meal, much less a simple conversation with some one in quite some time. During the day, my sweet friend Marjorie and I along with a few others decided we were going to walk downtown and tell people about this party going on! We met up with a sweet couple in the Myriad Gardens and walked back to the mission sight with them. Joe had been in Vietnam, he's an alcoholic, we had a hard time communicating with him b/c he was pretty drunk that day. Bertha, his wife of 2 years was in a wheelchair b/c of her bad knees, and had the mental capacity of a small child. You could tell they really loved each other. Marj and I spent most of the day with Joe and Bertha--getting them food, and clothes to take with them. As we were sitting talking to them, a kid walked by with balloon he had gotten from the kids area they had set up. Bertha was intrigued by this. She asked where they got it, and I told her they had some stuff set up for the kids. She smiled and said I can be a kid! I told Marj I'd be right back, and slipped off to the kids area and got Bertha a ballon animal. She cried. Of all the things we had to offer that day, this simple balloon animal made her more excited than anything in the world.
As we were walking through downtown that day, we walked thru the library and around the office buildings nearby, I remember wondering what it would be like to work in that area, and what kind of opportunities it could open to make a difference being in that area daily. I really hadn't thought much about it since. Shortly after, I felt like God was telling me that I was supposed to make a change in my job... I wasnt' sure what, but I knew something was to come. At the end of this month, I am leaving my job of 12 years, and am going to be starting a new job, in one of the very office building that I wondered about... maybe there are bigger reasons, other than just a job change, I am supposed to be downtown? Maybe this is God's way of placing me in the area that I am supposed to be making a difference in? My eyes were opened big time when I went on my mission trip to NYC (see my blog at
www.myspace.com/disneygirl17 posted 09/25/07), and again doing the block party. I really didn't realize the amount of homeless people in OKC. They are people just like everyone else. Some homeless by fault of their own, but others by unfortunate circumstance. Honestly as most of us live paycheck to paycheck. We literally are 1 or 2 paychecks away from homelessness ourselves. Some are only out for money for drug/alcohol. But most really are out for a caring smile, or a warm meal. So maybe this is my opportunity to be placed in an area to be a light. I don't know... just thoughts running thru my head.
