Thursday, 3 April

 Those who mock the poor insult their Maker; those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished. Proverbs 17:5

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

Luke 14:13-14

Both these readings are challenging. Are we not in this country sneering at or mocking the poor as the division between the prosperous and the rest becomes wider? Is it not mocking that the poor are expected to pay, through reduced benefits, for the excessive borrowings of wealthier people?

Luke’s Gospel in its directness is even more forceful. Can we escape the challenge by saying that we give to Christian Aid or help with a food bank or otherwise challenge the inequalities in society? We might give a coin to the man at the entrance to Morrisons or buy a copy of Big Issue, while worried whether we are supporting drug or alcohol abuse. In what remains of the welfare state, we may argue that we support the state to meet our challenge and campaign for justice for the poor. But that is not the challenge to our own comfortable life with our friends.

But perhaps this is too literal in interpreting the invitation to a meal.   Are we in the church too concerned with our own people and their like in preserving our institution, developing our faith and caring for church members?   Can we do more to share the invitation to the great feast?  

Loving God, break down our caution and strengthen our hospitality.   Enable us to widen our invitation to share your great feast.

George Morton

Wilbraham St Ninian’s