For our scripture this afternoon, we have two portions from the New Testament, both from the Gospels. We have read the parable of the wedding feast a couple of times. And this afternoon, we will just read the verses 8 through 10. And that is after the important people have refused to come. And then we read verse 8 to 10 of Matthew 22. And then we will read from Luke 7. Luke 7, verse 36 to 50. 36 to 50, and from Luke 14, 12 to 13. First then, Matthew 22, verses 8 to 10. Hear the word of God. Then he, that is the king, said to his servants, the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore, go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good, And the wedding hall was filled with guests. Then we go to Luke 7. Luke 7 at verse 36. Luke 7 at verse 36. Then one of the Pharisees asked him, that is the Lord Jesus, to eat with him, and he went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at a table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping. And she began to wash his feet with her tears and wipe them down with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would know what, who, and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Teacher, say it. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed him 500 denarii. Denarii is a coin that is a day's wage, really, 500 days wages. And the other owed him 50 days wages. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more. And he said to him, you have rightly judged. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. And those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this who even forgives sins? Then he said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. And then we go to Luke 14. Luke 14, verse 12 to 14. Luke 14 at verse 12. Then he, the Lord Jesus, also said to him who invited him, when you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, maimed, lame, blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just." And those two verses, 12 and 13, he said to them, To him who invited him, when you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite poor, lame, lame, blind. Here ends the reading of scripture. Blessed are those who not only hear the word of God, but also keep it. Hallelujah. Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, what does hospitality mean? Well, there is always Google. So Google says it means the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. A good example of this happening is when strangers get stuck in a snowstorm and are made welcome in homes along the road. But when you think of it, the king in the parable of Matthew 22 also extended hospitality to all the street people after the official guests turned out to be unwilling to attend the wedding festivities. And that is not the only time that we find hospitality demonstrated or spoken of in Scripture. We find hospitality already commanded in Leviticus chapter 19, verses 33, 34. And if a stranger sojourn or dwell with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. But the stranger that dwells with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself. For you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God. Now, we might not think this to be all important, but strangers were far from always treated kindly in the olden days. And we have even examples in scripture of this. There is, for instance, the angels that went to visit Lot. And of course, they didn't look like angels. They looked like common people. And when they were staying with Lot, the man, of Sodom who wanted them out for sexual entertainment. And also there was the concubine of the Levite who was so mistreated in Gibeah of Benjamin that she died. The people of Israel are reminded that they themselves have been strangers in a foreign land and they must remember what it was to be without the protection of their own community. The Christians in Rome are exhorted in Romans 12 to be given to hospitality. In 1 Timothy 3, 2, we are told that a bishop or an elder must be hospitable. And the same is written in Titus. And 1 Peter 4, 9 tells us be hospitable to one another without grumbling. And then in Hebrews 13, verse 2, we are told Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. And no doubt that refers to Lot entertaining the strangers which visited him the night before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And finally, some of us are old enough to remember how we were received as immigrants when we arrived from the Netherlands in a totally foreign country with a language that we couldn't speak. And some of us were truly welcomed and helped to adjust in a foreign land, while others of us had some very negative experiences. And these days, there is an ongoing debate whether Canada is to welcome refugees from Syria. And how many? And how fast? And about the possible dangers letting these Muslims into our country. That also is a debate about hospitality. And from this it will be clear that there are many different kinds of hospitality. Now the theme of this message is that through hospitality, is driven by genuine love for those in need. True hospitality is driven by genuine love for those in need. And we first look at the hospitality of Simon. Now, Simon was a Pharisee, and that means that he took the laws of God very seriously. Well, let us look how seriously he took the law of God about hospitality as the way he treated the Lord Jesus. For Simon asked the Lord to eat with him. It was not a private meal, for in verse 49 we're told that there were others who sat at a table with the Lord. Actually, meals like that were kind of public meals in that visitors were allowed to walk among the tables and observe and listen to the conversations among the guests. We know, of course, that the guests were not seated. They were stretched on couches with the feet away from the table and resting on one arm while feeding themselves with the other hand. And so Simon had invited the Lord for that kind of a public meal. The question now is, how did Simon receive the Lord? Well, first of all, Simon did not provide water for the Lord to wash his feet. It was normal for guests to have washed themselves before they went to the meal. But practically everyone had to walk over either dusty or muddy streets, or usually in open sandals. And that meant that their feet would get dirty. And it was a matter of common courtesy for the host to provide water, and probably a slave, to wash the feet of the guests. We know that from the Lord, who girded himself and washed the feet of the disciples. And why did the Lord do that? Because there was no slave to do it, and none of the disciples felt called upon to lower himself so much that he would do the slave work on the feet of his fellow disciples. It was their pride which kept them from of washing each other's feet. And so when the Lord Jesus arrives at Simon's place, he's apparently taken straight to the place without having his feet washed. Now that was already a snub. And then when people would come in, they were often greeted by the host with a kiss. Today in the Middle East, they do that by buzzing each other from one cheek on the other cheek. But Simon didn't do anything of that kind either. And then when you were in the good graces of your host, you were given some oil to anoint your head also. Well, when I read that and I read oil, then I think of the olive oil that my wife uses for cooking. And that doesn't seem very good to me to have on your head. So I checked it out a little bit. And it is really a kind of special oil that is, we would call it suntan lotion. That's what you have to think of. And people have walked out in the hot sun. And so this is to cool their heads a little bit. But it is not just flooding it. It is kind of sprinkling it and rubbing it in a little bit. So it's very comfortable. That's what it is meant to be. Well, once again, Simon did not provide that either for the rabbi of Nazareth. This shows us very clearly that the hospitality of Simon was totally lacking. And so Simon gives himself away. He's really out to trick the Lord Jesus or to trip him up in either words or actions so that everybody can hear and everybody can see what this rabbi of Nazareth is doing. And so what Simon does, that is not hospitality. You really can call it enemy action. But the Pharisee Simon was shown up through the presence and the action of the woman who washed the Lord's feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and kissed them and anointed them with a fragrant oil, and in that way showed true hospitality to the Lord Jesus in her own life. And why did she do all this? Because she loved the Lord very much. And why did she love him so much? Because she was forgiven much. Simon was right in thinking that If the Lord was truly a prophet, he would know what kind of a woman was doing all these actions. But Simon was no prophet, and so did not realize that the woman had come to the Lord Jesus and repented of her ungodly life, had received full forgiveness through the Lord Jesus, and having been forgiven much because of his coming, she loved him much. And so we learn that through hospitality to the Lord Jesus, truly welcoming him in our life as our Savior and Lord does only happen when we have been forgiven much. And so the way Simon received the Lord Jesus Christ leaves us with the question, how we receive the Lord Jesus. I mean here how on the one hand we as a congregation receive him every time he appears in our midst as we worship him. Do we love him so much that we wash his feet with our tears and dry them with our hairs and kiss his feet and anoint them with fragrant oil? whether it be literally or figuratively. But then also the question comes to each one of us individually. How do I receive the Lord Jesus when we draw near to him, whether in private or in the midst of the congregation or even at the Lord's table? How great is our love, but also my love for him How great and sincere is our hospitality towards the Lord. Well, that brings us, secondly, to payback hospitality. Now, I'm sure you haven't come across that term in the Bible, payback hospitality, but this is the expression suggested by the Lord Jesus himself in our text, in Luke 14, verse 17, where he says that to him that invited him, when you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brethren, nor your family members, nor your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. You may wonder whether this truly happens. that people invite others for supper in order to be invited back. But it does happen also today. There may be a number of reasons. One reason may be to start some kind of a relationship with the people. Now, that may be totally innocent, maybe with good intentions. You like those people, you would like to get to know them better, and so you invite them for supper. But there may also be selfish reasons. The husband of the couple you invite may be an electrician, and you don't have electricians among your acquaintances. So you invite them a few times for supper, and the next time you got an electrical problem, who do you call? You see, that's payback. I also heard once of a couple who invited a leading politician to supper with whom they never had had any contact. Why invite him? Well, you can imagine. What did you do over the weekend? Oh, we had the prime minister over for supper. Well, that's already payback, you see. The prime minister, oh. And then you hope, of course, that the prime minister calls, has you over at 24 Sussex Drive. The words of the Lord Jesus make it clear that it was apparently a common thing. to be hospitable that way, invite others for supper for selfish reasons. The Lord Jesus makes it very clear that many people expect a payback to their hospitality. Now, when that happens, then the reception may be very proper. There may be foot washing, so to say, and kissing and anointing with oil, but it is all just as selfish as Simon's invite to the Lord. So this is a kind of hospitality which does not get the approval of the Lord Jesus. And that brings us thirdly to the deeply caring hospitality. And here we come to the words of the Lord out of Luke 14, the text. But when you make a feast, call, it doesn't say the poor, but call poor people, call lame people, call lame people, call blind people, and you shall be blessed, for they cannot recompense you, they cannot pay you back, and you shall be paid back at the resurrection of the just. And we have to say here immediately that the Lord Jesus, of course, rejects any selfishness in inviting poor and handicapped people. We are not to do this because it makes us feel good. You hear that quite often, you know. And I appreciate all the people that do volunteer work, but it's so often that they say, oh, it makes me feel so good to do these things. Well, that already has a selfish twist to it. You know, you do it because it makes you feel good. No, we are not to do this because it makes us feel good, nor are we to do it in order to get blessed, inviting the poor, the handicapped, is to be done totally out of concern for these people. And when the Lord mentions the handicapped, He does so because in His days, of course, there were no social provisions for people like that. Not that they are so glorious today, but there is some. So they had a very difficult time to survive, those handicapped people. And so the reason for extending hospitality to such people is a genuine concern for those in need. Now, I find this, in a way, a very difficult word from the Lord. I'm sure that It was the same way for people in the time that the Lord spoke these words. I dare say that all of us here live rather separated from people in real physical need. I read the other day about a few friends who decided to take Jesus' care for people in real need seriously. and so make themselves available wherever they might meet the need. And the next thing they knew is that they were faced with a drug-addicted sex trade worker who wanted to quit the drug addiction called turkey, as they say. And a few friends were suddenly occupied taking turns to cover 24 hours a day for some seven days as the woman went through horrible withdrawal symptoms and could not be left alone at any time, but had to be held down, had to be wiped down, and I don't know what all. Now, that may be an extreme ministry to the poor and handicapped. But there is no doubt that today the people living at the margins of life often have real problems. It is not so simple as to just get them a job and then they're on their way. Neither is it so simple as feeding them a meal once in a while. What the Lord Jesus is speaking of here is real reaching out to people in need. And that confronts us with another problem. That is, that I would think all of us live pretty much separated from the poor and handicapped in our societies. And some of us have had some experience with the refugee family, which we sponsored as a congregation and how difficult it was to enter into their way of doing things and into their way of thinking. It is no wonder that back in the 50s, the 1950s that is, many Canadians were not at all thrilled to have all those DPs come to their country. And by the way, DP did not mean Dutch people. It meant displaced persons. who did not belong anywhere after World War II. And when you really think of these words by the Lord Jesus in the text, then it becomes clear that what it means today is not just running into some poor people or some poor person or some street person and saying to her, hey, nice to meet you. Why don't you come over for supper sometime? true caring hospitality goes deeper than that. True caring hospitality is driven by a real concern for the people in need. We may see some of that need on the news, on TV, but it all remains often far removed from our neat homes and quiet lives. And yet the Lord Jesus makes it clear that the caring for the poor and the street people reaches much further than them. The Lord himself gives a hint of this when he declares that those who are truly hospitable to the poor and street people will be blessed and repaid at the resurrection of the just. Now those words sent me to Matthew 25, where the Son of Man judges the nations. And there he will divide the sheep from the goats. The sheep on his right hand, the goats on the left. And then he will say to those on his right hand, to the sheep, come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. I was a stranger. You took me in naked and you closed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. The Lord Jesus actually says that the sheep did all that to him. And when the sheep asked when they did that to him, because they have no knowledge of doing that, the glorified Lord answers, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me. Now, this is really an amazing statement. We have still before us the picture of the bad woman doing all those wonderful things to the Lord Jesus in the house of Simon, Why? Because she was much forgiven. Her forgiveness drove her love for the Lord. And her love for the Lord made her totally disregard those Pharisees watching her expressing her love for the Lord. Keeping this in mind, We can hardly avoid thinking that when we care for a poor person or a street person because of our deep concern for that person, then we are actually ministering to the Lord Jesus. In as much as you have done it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me. So here is another question. Suppose we see a street person in need of care. Do we go and care for that person, thinking that caring for that person, we may be caring for the Lord Jesus? When we help clean up a totally dirtied, homeless person, that we would be washing the Lord Jesus? You think perhaps that those questions are a no-brainer? Suppose that all believers in the Lord Jesus would love him so much. And I say that on purpose. That's so because I've heard people say that. Oh, I love the Lord so much. Well, suppose that all believers in the Lord Jesus would love him so much that they would gladly wash his feet with their tears and dry them with their hair. and anoint them with precious oil. How come, if there are so many that love him so much, how come that there is so little genuine hospitality shown to those who truly need it? At this point, the preaching of our faith really stops, and we are faced with whether we will practice it. It's true that we're not saved by works, but by faith. And yet faith is never without works. As James makes clear, faith without works is dead. Well, so much about deeply caring hospitality. But now, lastly, the hospitality of the Lord's Supper. Who are allowed to come to the Lord's table? Well, we heard it again this afternoon. Those who are truly sorrowful for their sins and yet trust that these are forgiven them for the sake of Christ and that their remaining infirmities are covered by his passion and death. Well, from this it is clear that those who are received at the table are not perfectly clean. For it speaks here of their remaining infirmities. What does that mean? Well, go to 1 Corinthians 6, and there we're told about the background of some of the Corinthian believers in the society where they lived. There are those whose lives are defined by sexual immorality, by idolatry, by adultery, sexual deviancy, theft, greed, drunkenness, slander, swindling. In short, a society just like ours today. No difference. And then the apostle writes to the believers, Aaron and Corinth, and such were some of you. And then he goes on writing, but you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. Does this mean that these former sinners are now perfect without spot or wrinkle? No, it does not. The Apostle Paul himself confesses in Romans 7 that he is faced with a continual battle in himself to bring him back into the captivity of sin so that he cries out, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? And so then, how hospitable is the Lord's Supper? Are those only welcomed who are perfectly clean even if it is just during the few minutes that we're sitting at the table. No. A believer may come believing that his or her remaining infirmities are covered by the passion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for that, we must thank God through our Savior. If it were not so, if we would have to be squeaky clean in order to be admitted to the Lord's table, then I'm sure that none of us would have come. And that tells us much about the hospitality of the Lord Jesus at his table. We are not made to think that when we come to the table that the Lord will treat us like Simon treated the Lord instead. No, the Lord will receive us like he received the sinful woman who washed his feet with her tears and anointed them. For his gracious hospitality of us who came to the table, we give him thanks. And the greater our awareness is of the remaining sinful infirmities in us, the greater our thankfulness. but also the smaller our understanding of our sinfulness remaining in us, the more we take for granted that we are received. Of course He would receive us. How aware are we of the amazing, gracious hospitality by the Lord at His table, also today. But there is a further connection between the Lord's hospitality at his table and our hospitality towards the poor and the handicapped and the street people. If the Lord then is willing to receive us far from perfect as we are, why then should we not reach out to those in need? And yet we read in James 2.14, brothers and sisters, It doesn't make any sense to say you have faith and act in a way that denies faith. Mere talk never gets you very far, and a commitment to Jesus only in words will not save you. It would be like seeing a brother, a sister without any clothes out in the cold and begging for food and saying, shalom! Friend, you should get inside where it is warm and get something to eat. But doing nothing about his needs, leaving him cold and alone in the street. What good would your words alone do? The same is true with faith. Without actions, faith is useless. By itself, it is as good as dead. I know what you're thinking. Okay, you have faith, and I have actions. Now let's see your faith without works, and I'll show you a faith that works. It is said that years ago, a minister from a large Dutch church was sitting down for Sunday dinner with his family when the doorbell rang. The maid opened and then came to the dining room to announce that the minister's brother was at the door. The minister was surprised, but I have no brother. So he went to the door where a poorly dressed older man stood waiting. The minister said, where do you get the idea that you are my brother? I have no brothers. Whereupon the man answered, I was in church this morning and I heard you say very emphatically that all believers are brothers and sisters in God. So I thought I would go to my brother since I have nothing to eat. Hearing this, the minister declared, brothers in God, yes, but not in the pot and closed the door. The theme for this message is, true hospitality is driven by genuine love for those in need. It's the genuine love of the Lord Jesus for those in need which caused him to be born of Mary and to go to the cross, and now has welcomed us once again at his table. May we then also hear his word. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. May we then respond to his love in such a way that one day we may hear him say to us, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. Then we will have learned by coming to his table what true hospitality is all about. Amen.