#128 Lu. 14:12-14  A LESSON IN UNSELFISH GENEROSITY

Introduction:

    Jesus was invited to attend a dinner at the home of one of the
chief Pharisees.  While there He healed a man who had the dropsy
or congestive heart failure.  At that same feast He gave a lesson
on humility to the guests who were present.  In our text today at
that same feast He gives a lesson to His host on unselfish
generosity.

I.  The negative counsel which Jesus gave His host

    V. 12, "Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou
makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy
brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they
also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee."  At first
glance, it would appear that the chief Pharisee was very generous
man.  He had invited a goodly number of people to the dinner at
his home.  He had even invited Jesus and His disciples.  This made
at least thirteen people just counting Jesus and His disciples.
There is no way of knowing for sure how many guests there were all
totaled.  I think it would be safe to say there were somewhere
between twenty-five and sixty guests at this feast.  No doubt he
bore all the expense.  The cost to himself would be considerable.
It would seem that this was a very generous act on his part.
    However, Jesus knew the motive of his heart, as He knows the
motives of all people.  Jesus knew that this man had selfish
motives.  His selfishness was made apparent by the people he had
invited.  In light of what Jesus said, he had apparently invited a
number of his special friends.  He felt a special closeness to
them.  Included also on the guest list were a number of his close
relatives.  These were perhaps his inlaws, his own parents, his
children and perhaps his grandchildren.  He also felt a special
closeness to these.  In addition to these he had invited some of
his rich neighbors.  He might not have felt any closeness to
these, but he wanted to stay on good terms with them because of
their wealth and prestige.
    These were people whom he would expect to invite him in
return or in some other way, repay him for his kindness.  Since he
had invited his friends and his kindred to his house to eat with
him, he would expect that they, in turn, would invite him.  He
would expect that they, his friends and relatives, would repay him
by inviting him to their homes to eat with them.  After all, he
would expect that they would feel a special closeness to him as he
felt for them.  So he would expect an invitation from them
sometime in the near future.
    Likewise, he would expect his rich neighbors to invite him to
their homes for dinner.  They may not feel any special closeness
to him as his friends and kinfolk did, but they owed him now.  He
had invited them and he felt that they owed him an invitation.  He
would expect it.
    He perhaps felt that some of these might repay him in other
ways.  They might help him in a business deal.  But you can be
sure that he was expecting some kind of repayment for the
invitation that he had extended to them.
    However, it might seem at first glance that he had been
completely unselfish in making his invitation to Jesus and His
disciples.  He surely would not expect a return invitation from
Jesus nor from any of His disciples.  So he was unselfish and
generous in making his invitation to them, wasn't he?  He was,
wasn't he?  Right?  Wrong!  He was not unselfish at all.  He had
hoped to get something out of his invitation.  He had hoped to get
something for his money.  He had hoped to entrap Jesus by getting
Him to heal a man on the sabbath day.  He had hoped to be able to
have Jesus charged with breaking the sabbath day and have Him put
to death.  He was not being unselfish at all.  He was worse than
being selfish.  He was downright mean.
    Never-the-less, Jesus gave this man a lesson in generosity.
He said, "When you give a dinner, do not invite your friends, do
not invite your family and especially do not invite your rich
neighbors."  In other words, "Do not invite people whom you would
expect to repay your kindness to them.
    Now I do not understand Jesus to be saying that one would be
committing a sin to invite some of his friends or family to his
home for dinner as long as the invitation is not motivated by
selfishness.  So I do not understand Him to absolutely forbid one
to invite his friends or relatives.  But He is saying that it is
great generosity to do so.  It is not an act of special generosity
to invite your children to your home for dinner.  It is not an act
of great generosity to invite your good friends and neighbors to
your home for dinner.  It is most certainly not an act of
generosity to invite some rich person to your home in hopes that
he, in turn, will befriend you in some way.  That is not being
generous.  That is being selfish.
    That is not being generous and there will be no special
blessing from God for doing so.  If you invite your friends or
relatives or rich neighbors and if they reciprocate by inviting
you in return then you have your reward.  The invitation to their
home is your reward and that is the only reward you will get from
it.  God sees the heart and God knows your motive and when your
motive is selfishness then God will not bless you for doing it.

II.  The positive counsel which Jesus gave His host

    Jesus then told his host what to do in order to show real
generosity.  V. 13-14, "But when thou makest a feast, call the
poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed;
for they cannot recompense thee..."  Invite the poor and feed them
for they will not be financially able to repay you.  Invite the
maimed, the physically handicapped for they will not be able to
repay you.  Invite the lame, the crippled for they will not be
able to repay you.  Invite the blind for they will not be able to
repay you.  Invite those who will not be able to repay you!
    When you invite those who will not be able to repay you that
is real generosity.  It is only when you do a kindness to someone
who is unable to repay you that you show real unselfishness and
generosity.  It is when you do a kindness not wishing nor
expecting to be repaid that you will be blessed of God.  Jesus
said that is when God will bless you for your deed.  That is when
you will be repaid in a way that is really worthwhile.
    When the saved person does such a deed out of the
unselfishness of his heart and not to be repaid, he will be doubly
repaid.  He will receive the blessing of God upon him in this
life and will also receive rewards in the next life.  (V.  14),
"...for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the
just."  This speaks of the resurrection of the saved which will
take place at the end of this age and before the millenniel reign
of Christ.  After the saved will be resurrected they will be
judged at what in Scripture is called "The Judgment Seat of
Christ."  They will be judged and rewarded for every righteous
deed that they have done.  The Lord is keeping a record of the
deeds of unselfish generosity that His people do toward others not
expecting to be repaid.  He keeps a record of the time that you
feed the needy.  He keeps a record of how many times you help the
sick or the crippled who cannot help themselves.  He keeps a
record of how many times you spend money on others and never
expect to get it back in this world.  The people whom you help may
not be able to pay you back.  But God is able to pay you back and
He keeps a record of it.  You can be sure that God will pay you
back with interest.

III.  What the Lord Jesus counsels us today

    What I am saying to you this morning is that the Lord Jesus
Christ is asking you to be unselfish in your dealings with others.
Jesus is asking you to be generous in your dealings with others.
Jesus is not asking you to do just as little as you can get by
with doing.  Jesus is asking you to do as much as you can.  Jesus
is asking you to be generous.  When you invite the poor for
dinner, give him the best dinner you can give.  When you help
those in need, be extra generous.  Be unselfish.

IV.  The example which Jesus set

    Lest you think the Lord is asking too much of us, let me
remind you that He is not asking anything of us that He has not
already done Himself.  God saw all mankind in sin and God gave His
Son that man might be saved.  Jesus saw us all lost in sin and
Jesus gave His life's blood that we might be saved.
    Now I am asking you who are saved to surrender to the will of
the Lord for your own life and to start looking around to seem who
you can help along the way.  Look around for some poor person who
cannot help himself or herself.  Look around for some old person
who cannot help himself or herself.  Look around for some young
person who cannot help himself or herself.  Ia mot suggesting that
you stop helping your relatives or friends.  But look outside the
family circle.  Look outside the circle of your friends.  Look for
someone who is in need and who cannot repay your kindness.  I am
asking you to be unselfish and generous in your dealings with
those around you.

V.  Special counsel for you who are lost

    Now let me get away from that thought for a while and speak to
those of you who are lost.  I am conscious that I just may be
speaking to somebody here this morning who still needs to be
saved.  Maybe there is some boy or girl, some man or woman here
in this auditorium this morning who is still lost in sin and on
the road to hell.  Jesus is offering to do for you what you cannot
possibly do for yourself.  Jesus is offering to save your soul and
keep you out of hell.  Jesus is offering to give you a home in
heaven.  Jesus is offering to save you from everlasting torment
and give you instead everlasting joy and bliss.  It's all offered
to you as a free gift.  Jesus went to the cross and gave His
blood that you might be saved.  Jesus suffered for your sins in
order that you might not have to suffer.  Jesus did all this
because He loves you and wants to save you.
    What Jesus is asking you to do in order to be saved is to turn
to God in repentance of your sin and to trust in Him to save your
soul.
    I am going to ask everyone one of you a question this morning.
I do not want you to answer this question out loud.  I do not want
you to answer it by raising your hand, but I do want you to answer
it in your own heart and mind.  The question is:  If you were to
die this morning, where would you go to spend eternity?  Would you
go to heaven or would you go to hell?  Just be honest with
yourself right now.  Where would you go?
   If you are lost and on the road to hell, what are you going to
do about it?  What can you do about it other than call on the Lord
and ask Him to have mercy on your soul?  You cannot live good
enough to qualify for heaven.  You are already a sinner.  You
already stand condemned and on the road to hell?  The only chance
in this world you have of staying out of hell is to turn to Jesus
Christ and ask Him to be your Savior.  Are you ready to call on
Jesus and ask Him to save your soul or are you willing to go on to
hell?  It's one or the other.  You must either call on Jesus
Christ and trust in Him to be your Savior or you must go to hell.
    Let me put it another way.  If you had no food and could not
get any food for yourself and if I were to invite you to our home
for dinner would you go?  If it came down to the choice of either
going to my home for dinner or starving to death, what would you
do?  Would you come home with us for dinner today?
    Well, of course you are not starving to death, but there is an
even greater danger.  You must either take Jesus up on His
invitation to come to Him for salvation or you will spend eternity
in the fires of hell.  Now just which will it be?  Won't you come
and trust in Him and be saved?
    There is one more thing that I am asking this morning.  I am
asking that those of you who are saved and who are in need of a
church home to seek the will of the Lord to see if it is His will
for you to place your membership here.  Ask Him what His will is
and then whatever His will is, do it.

Conclusion:  During the singing of our invitation hymn, who will
come and publicly commit yourself to the will of the Lord?