Dinner 101 + Be the Values

There was a guy named Jesus who had many ideas about how to live out social justice which often flew in the face of convention & made many people uncomfortable. Below is one example of how He encouraged people to live... "Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid by God....” Lk14

What if you or those in your community  began living this principle out? What if your & your friends occasionally carved out holes in your schedule for dates & dinner parties for those who live on the margins? The wall flowers & social awkwards & outcasts, the poor or homeless, those who other people go through great lengths to exclude from their lives?  What would an evening look like spent listening to their stories & sharing your own?  Whether such evenings turned out seemingly fruitful or fruitless, Jesus told his audience that if they began carving out space in their life for such times & such relationships, that God Himself would respond in repayment & blessing. 

It's interesting that Jesus suggested something as simple & ordinary as sharing a meal together as a catylist for extraordinary social justice. Social Justice through huge rally marches, & in successful justice legislation, & through nation-wide Campaigns is crucial. But social justice is also & perhaps best enacted down in lifestyles, between small groups & individuals who accept a mad mission to include in their lives & feasts & funds & hearts, those who largely live lonely... avoided... ignored.   

                                              It's risky. It's a mad mission.

                          Use great wisdom... but jump headlong into it just the same.

                                              If not us, who? If not now, when?