When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Jesus invites us to move beyond doing what we can do for the sake of repayment at the human level. And although we may not be hosting banquets merely for the sake of getting ourselves invited by others at a later time we may still be seeking some reward on the natural level. We may desire to be thought well of specifically be the people about whom we care, friends or brothers, or sisters, or relatives, or wealthy neighbors, whereas we may be indifferent to the opinions of the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. We find a natural sweetness and savor when we see our ideal self-image reflected back in how we imagine those close to us think about us. And this isn't necessarily always a problem. The point is not that we should never invite relatives, friends, or neighbors over for a meal. The point is rather that our love and generosity should not be limited by our desire for a natural reward. We need to learn to let God's reward of treasure in heaven by the primary motivation for our actions.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
When we care about treasure in heaven we will be less concerned about the opinions of others, resulting in greater spiritual freedom. We will be concerned to do our best, but less about factors beyond our control, including about how our best is perceived by others. Then, when we give to others but do not receive appropriate gratitude in response we can still find solace in the certainty of God's reward. This reward comes in fullness at the resurrection of the righteous. But it begins even here and now in the joy of the experience of God's favor, the peace that comes when we move beyond selfishness and vainglory.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests,
but also everyone for those of others.
The result of all of this is encouragement in Christ, solace in love, participation in the Spirit, compassion and mercy, and the joy that Paul experienced. But he knew that even this joy was partial unless it was shared by others. So let us be of one mind, and, as we are able, invite others to this kind of banquet, the feast of the Kingdom.
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