This week’s Gospel lesson reminds me of James Carville’s famous directive to the Clinton team in 1992. The economy, stupid.
Economy. What does that mean and what does this story have to do with it? Doing the etymology search, I found that economy comes from the Greek for “home management.” It’s about how we use what we have, whether in a home, a village, a nation, or a world. How we share our resources. How we decide who gets what and when and why. There are all kinds of economies. Supply and demand economies. Command-based economies. Green economies.
These first-century folks had economy all figured out. They had rules not just for the distribution of tangible resources, but even things like generosity, honor, and hospitality. There was a transactional, quid pro quo quality to everything they did, including where people sat at meals and who was invited to the table. An invitation to a meal typically came with the understanding that the guest was now obligated to the host to provide an equal or better dining experience in the future. So who would invite those who could not repay in kind?
And then comes Jesus. He turns everything upside down. Would we expect less from him? He says: When you come in, don’t grab the seat of honor. When you make out your invitation list, go for the poor, lame, crippled, and blind.
Say what? It seems crazy at first. But reflecting on these verses on this Wednesday morning, I breathe a deep sigh of relief and give thanks for God’s economy. Thanks that I arrive at church every Sunday, take my seat which, on my own merit can only be and always will be so far removed from God’s feast. But then Jesus invites me – ME – to a place of honor. “Come. Up here. To the table. Taste, and see.” Jesus reminds me that I am the poor, the lame, the crippled, and blind. I can’t repay, and yet I’m invited anyway. It’s a great big, gorgeous, amazing gift. Here is this feast, prepared for me, prepared for you, and it’s all free. No strings attached.
In God’s economy, there are unlimited resources. We can give without running out - love, joy, peace, forgiveness, mercy – because we receive freely and without limits. There are no statistics and measurements and tracking in this Divine Economy. Just GDP – God’s Daily Providence.
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