The Unspoken Agenda
“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 at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:13-14).
We always like to get something back from our investments!
Money we put in the stock market is done so with the hope of gain.
A gift sent to a client is given with the hope of gaining more business.
Even a favour for a friend might be done with an eye on a future time when the favour will be returned.
The unspoken agenda is-
“What’s in it for me?”
In the margin of my Bible next to verse 14 is written:
– “disinterested goodness!”
This verse exhorts us to invest with no hope of return-
– to do good without an eye on the immediate future!
Jesus tells us to show hospitality to those who cannot return the favour-
– an act of goodness but a disinterested one!
It is “disinterested” in the sense that it is not a good deed deposited with hopes of gaining something in return, like interest.
Is it really hospitality-
– when we invite someone to our home in hopes of what we might gain from the time?
But it will not meet the standard of what Jesus set before us.
He instructs us to reach out to the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.v. 13.
God will reward us in eternity!
Until then-
We should do unto others not because of what they may be able to do unto us but simply because we should!
Think of something you can do today-
– for someone who cannot repay–and do it!
(PR)