"when you give a feast..."

Heather and I have been preparing for our visit to the farm this weekend, to talk about offering spiritual retreats there for the poor. We're going to use these words of Jesus:

"When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid.

"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. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." (Lk 14.12-14)

I remember Heather quoting this to me a few years back, talking about how she would like to do hospitality. And I really like the emphasis on giving without expecting repayment.

We also both like the way these words give the impression of feasting. Not just a meal but a banquet. We'd like to be able to offer really good hospitality, not like a shelter but like home, not a breadline but a feast (with organic berries, vegetables and beef). And a feast for the soul as well. Not just a compulsory sermon before the food is served, but prayer and worship times prepared with care, in-depth discussions on scripture, and time and space for quiet.

Lord, if you want this, please make a way.