• Jeremiah 2: 4-13

Jeremiah delivers the Lord’s subpoena against Israel.  The charges are that the people have gone “after worthless things, and become worthless themselves.”  The Lord brought them through the wilderness into a “plentiful land,” but the priests and “those who handle the law” failed to fulfill their responsibilities.  The political leaders also “transgressed against me.”  Even the prophets turned to Baal.  “…[T]herefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children.”  No other nation has done what Israel has done– “changed its gods….”  “Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: “they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that hold no water.”

• Psalm 81: 1, 10-16

A psalm begins with a festal celebration of all God has done for Israel to the accompaniment of a large orchestra now turns prophetic with a riff on the first two of the Ten Commandments: “there shall be no foreign god among you… I am the Lord your God…”  But the people “did not heed My voice….”  The Lord allowed the people to “follow their heart’s willfulness….”

• OR Sirach 10: 12-18

Sirach, a prominent wisdom-teacher (Jerusalem c. 180 B.C.) writes– “the beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord: the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.”  The Lord exercises appropriate justice, which is the Lord’s exclusive prerogative.

OR

• Proverbs 25: 6-7

One of the anonymous wisdom-teachers, whose writings compose the anthology we know as the Book of Proverbs, advises on the proper behavior “in the King’s presence….”  Stand in an obscure place, because “it is better to be told ‘Come up here,’ than to be moved to a less prominent place in the presence of a noble.”

• Psalm 112

“Happy is the person who honors the Lord,” the psalmist begins.  She will prosper and walk in light.  She will “show grace and lend” to those on need and will be busy with deeds of justice.  The wicked person is confused and bitter.

• Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16

The text of the “Letter to the Hebrews” begins to reach its conclusion with certain reminders: welcome strangers, do not forget prisoners, honor marriage, stay free from “the love of money,” respect leaders and make continuous “sacrifice of praise” in words and in deeds.

• Luke 14: 1, 7-14

Jesus is in the home of a Pharisee, who welcomed the  peripatetic teacher.  He uses the occasion at table to comment on the behavior of the other dinner guests and the host.  Luke’s Jesus begins with a conventional teaching, which is a direct paraphrase of Proverbs (25: 6-7): “Do not sit down in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host… and then in disgrace” you would be asked to take a place of lesser esteem.  Rather, start at the lowest place so you might be invited to move to a better place.  Jesus then addresses his host, the Pharisee: next time you have  a party, do not invite friends and family, who can and will reciprocate your hospitality; “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.”  Why?  Because “you will be be blessed, because they cannot repay you..!”

Jeremiah reminds God’s people of their origins and, therefore, their identity: the people led by God through all the pitfalls of the wilderness to a “plentiful place.”  Not at their own initiative nor as any kind of reward, but only at God’s unexpected  initiative and for God’s inexplicable reasons. Tthey owe their very existence to God’s extravagant, unreasonable generosity.  The wisdom-writer, Sirach, warns those who “withdraw from their Maker.”  The psalmist (112) describes the traits of the good life as honoring the Lord and linking the words of praise with deeds of “justice.”  Luke demonstrates once again his brilliant skill in a story unique to his text.  The setting is the home of a Pharisee who welcomes an itinerant preacher/teacher into his home and provides a generous meal.  Luke uses the occasion at table to paraphrase one of the more conventional proverbs, but follows with a teaching of Jesus that returns to the most consistent, major themes in Luke’s narrative– the well-being of those in need and God’s reign.  Jesus addresses his host directly, one can imagine not so much in rebuke as in response to the generosity the Pharisee that already initiated when he invited Jesus into his home, and says: next time you put on a lavish party, do not invite your relatives, associates, and friends who can and you know will reciprocate; “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.”  Invite those who have no means to repay your generosity.  You have no expectation they are able to respond to your generosity and they have no hint that they would receive an invitation from you.

Within “the economy of the gift,” as articulated by Jean-Luc Marion, the individual decides whether to see herself as a beneficiary and, therefore, as one capable/responsible for being a beneficiary to others, or not.  It’s a personal choice one makes.  In The Prolegomena to Charity, Marion defines the stance of a person who has decided to participate in “the economy of the gift” (whom he also identifies as a “believer”) in contrast to a person who has made the decision not to participate:

“Nothing separates, perhaps, he who believes from he who does not believe, except this: not reasons, of course, not some certainty….  To believe in Love, and that Love loves me in spite of my belief that ‘I don’t have faith’: in other words, to put more confidence in the Love that is given than in our deficient will; to compensate the distrust in oneself with trust in God; to prefer the immensity of the gift proposed… to make up one’s mind in favor on the infinite that one cannot master or posses rather than  the dandy’s impotence; to risk abandon to the overabundance of a gift, instead of immobilizing oneself in the idiocracy of scarcity.  Nothing separates the believer from the unbeliever [more]….” (p. 64)

Accepting one’s status as a beneficiary alters personal transactions.  Generosity to others is a choice, a decision.  It is not based on some calculation of actual or potential return.  It is given freely, because one recognizes that one has been gifted without obvious reasons.

Because Luke uses every detail carefully in his story-telling, we should pay particular attention to the context for this episode.  It is a lavish banquet provided to a complete stranger, Jesus, that reveals vital details about God’s reign, or to use Marion’s language, “the economy of the gift.”  Without realizing it, or perhaps even contrary to his original motives, the Pharisee is invited by Jesus to take one step closer to God’s reign.  The next time you throw a party, Jesus tells him, invite the poor and disabled, those who have no way to repay your generosity.  Without any elaborate theological discussion, which is what a religious leader would have preferred (prefers?), just take the specific steps and participate in God’s reign.  Being a beneficiary to those in need is the way you (re)discover your own status as a beneficiary!  Recognizing yourself as a beneficiary inaugurates your being a beneficiary to others!  When God’s people forget their identity as beneficiaries of God’s love, they “become worthless themselves;”  they loose contact with “their Maker.”  But “happy” is the person who “honors” the Lord and does justice!