Today's gospel reading opens with a scene so full of tension it drips down the walls. Jesus is eating with the Pharisees, on the Sabbath, and "they were watching him closely." Every element in this set-up feels ripe for confrontation.
    Sure enough, Jesus' first act at this meal (not in today's reading) is to heal a sick man--a gutsy move on the Sabbath. He then lectures the Pharisees about where they have chosen to sit, surely causing uncomfortable looks. And finally he criticizes their choice of whom to include at their table.
    Jesus tells them that when they open their homes, they should not do the obvious and most natural thing, which is to invite one's friends, families and neighbors--especially those who could afford to invite them in return. Instead, he tells them to invite those who can't repay--the crippled, the lame, the poor.
    We may think we rarely make such crass calculations when issuing invitations, be it to our homes or churches. But it is surely easier to invite those who are most like us and with whom we are most comfortable. Jesus tells us here to stretch, to not always do the easy thing, to not consider status and rank when considering people, and, if anything, to show special consideration to those without status.
    Jesus himself repeatedly shocked his fellow Jews by sharing the table with those very people, the outcasts of the day. Sharing a table with someone in Jesus' day meant that you could not and would not see that person as an enemy. The fact that Jesus shared meals with sinners proclaims their inclusion in the community of God, which proclaims our inclusion as well. For, after all, we play both roles here. We are the hosts--the ones who must invite and include all people; but we are also the guests--the ones who can't repay and are invited anyway.