I have a question to ask: why do you do what you do? I mean seriously, why do you do what you do? Why do you help out your family member? Why do you help out your friend? What's your motivation?
Recently I've had to do some serious gut-checking to realize why I do what I do. In the 14th Chapter of Luke, Jesus is once again blowing the Pharisee's minds (aka the religious-know-it-alls) and he hit them with a challenge: "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." (12)
Lets be honest, who would you rather invite to a nice lunch with you? People that you know that have your back? Or people that you don't know? Now you might stop me right there and say that the logical response is to have the meal with someone you know and I would wholeheartedly agree with your response. But if I was to come back with the infamous one worded rebuttal of "why?" what would you say?
Overall better conversation? Ok, that's a fair response.
Overall better enjoyment? I would even accept that response.
But a response that most people would not readily admit because it may be in your subconcious is a great motivation to dine with people we are cool with is because we know that they have our backs. Say you "forgot" your wallet and your with your girlies, I'm sure you have that one or two friends that would take care of you citing you to pay them back but you never get around to it. I mean that's what friends do right?
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with one friend taking care of another. In fact, as the song says, "that's what friends are for."
Let me ask you a question, when was the last time you did something for someone that you knew didn't have the means to pay you back? This person not only didn't have the means to pay you back, but probably won't ever pay you back. For some of the readers I know that you may not have to think too far back in your memory deposits, however for others, you may have to think too far.
Forget dinners, lunches, or meals. This little statement that Jesus makes has huge ramifications. The loudest yelling one being: WE SHOULD NOT GO THROUGH LIFE DOING THINGS JUST TO HARVEST A BUNCH OF KARMA CHIPS. Sorry about the whole "caps lock" thing, but I need to get this point across [mostly to myself]. In the 13th verse Jesus tells us that when we have a gathering, to invite those peeps that can't pay us back. Why? The reason is simple, it's a blessing to be a blessing.
Now I'm not telling you to go out and invite every blind person you know that's not named Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder and take them out to Outback. I am reminding you however, that we need a constant reshaping on how we treat others. We are all living this rough path of life together and we all fall down.
So who are you going to help in this next month?
Be blessed ya'll!
--MJA
