Why Do You Serve? | Sunday, November 8, 2026

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony and team. Good morning, Cross Connection. You guys can have a seat. I am so glad you're here with us this morning.

We are going to continue in the Scriptures this morning, specifically in the Gospel of Luke. If you want to take out your Bible, that would be great. Before we get into the text, though, I would just like to mention that this is one of the most wonderful times of the year, the season we are coming into. However, one of the downsides of this season is that it is also a time for illnesses and colds. Please be praying for Pastor Anthony; he is dealing with a bit of a cold this weekend. I know he is wearing a Dodger hat, but you can still pray for him. Lift him up to the Lord. You can pray for his health, but also for his soul because of the hat.

Be in prayer for those around you. We know that this is a time of year when we may not see some people for a few weeks because they have been sick. So, lift them up to the Lord.

We are in Luke chapter 14 today. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one. You can keep that if you don't own a Bible. The Gospel of Luke is near the end of your Bible, the third Gospel, following Matthew and Mark. Luke chapter 14 is where we are at.

This passage of Scripture is one that I have actually been interested in getting to for a while. The first 14 verses of Luke 14 can be easily overlooked if you're not careful because it seems like there isn't anything of great importance here. However, I believe there is a very important truth that we will confront in this passage, and it answers a question that I think we all face at some point.

We are all challenged by the question of motivation: Why? Why do the good thing? Why serve? Why should I do that which may even be difficult, but I know it is the right or good thing to do? There is hardly a week that goes by without an announcement on the screen during our announcement time, asking you to be involved in some way. Whether it is going somewhere to serve on a short-term trip or being involved with the hospitality ministry or with children's ministry, there seems to be a never-ending list of things that need to be done.

There is a part of us that feels, "Well, I know I need to do that." There are always opportunities to volunteer, to help, to serve, or even to give. At the end of every single one of our announcement times, we say we are going to worship the Lord.

Lord, with our giving now, we are confronted with the question of motivation. Why do I serve? Why do I give? Why do I do that which I know is the good thing to do? The immediate right answer might seem to be that it is simply the right thing to do. There is a dutiful aspect to it; we might say it is my duty to do what is right and good. There is truth to that. Certainly, there are things we do because it seems like the motivation for them is that they are the right thing to do. It is dutiful.

However, to answer in the opposite direction and say I do this thing because I want a reward feels selfish and unspiritual. Many of us struggle with the idea that we might do something for a reward, as it seems to contradict our values. This perception may have a lot to do with the world in which we have been raised. Living in the culture of the United States, we are heavily influenced by the Protestant Puritanical ethic. In this context, the idea of duty and doing something because it is your duty is ingrained in us.

Moreover, I was raised in a church environment. The church I am part of now, where I serve as pastor, is the same one I grew up in, so that mindset was always present. There is definitely a push to do what is right and good simply because it is the right thing to do. Yet, when I reflect on this, I am confronted with a couple of problems.

One of these problems is highlighted in the very passage we will look at today in Luke chapter 14. Jesus makes it very clear that we ought to do certain things because of a reward. This raises a question: how can this be? It seems unspiritual and selfish. However, we must remember that Jesus would not exhort us or encourage us to do something that is selfish and unspiritual.

I have this impulse to do the right thing out of duty, believing that doing it for a reward would be selfish. Yet, this perspective contradicts the teaching of Jesus, who says we should do things so that we might obtain the reward. Another practical reason why I think that simply saying it is my duty is the wrong approach to doing right and good things is illustrated by an example that came to mind.

To me, John Piper put words to a feeling I had a long time ago. He wrote a book called "Desiring God," and in one of the later chapters, he illustrates this idea perfectly. He said, "Imagine that I come home on December 21st, which is his anniversary." He comes to the front door, knocks, and when his wife opens the door, he hands her a dozen long-stem red roses. She lights up with joy and says, "Oh, Johnny, they're so beautiful." His response is, "Well, it is my duty as your husband to give you these roses." Beautiful roses are a contradiction, are they not?

What wife would respond, "Oh, thanks. Yeah, that's great. I appreciate that"? To put it another way, as a Baptist pastor did in the last century, you can say the same words, but the tone behind them changes everything. Think about it this way: right before bed, I turn to my wife and say, "I must kiss you goodnight," or I could say the exact same words with a different tone. It's going to get a different response, is it not? There's going to be a different reward.

We recognize that the beautiful thing is not always accompanied by the right heart or the right motivation. We find ourselves conflicted in this. Why do I serve? Why do I do the good thing? We are presented with practical illustrations in these examples, as well as the words of Jesus that challenge our thinking on this. Sometimes, I think it's good to be challenged in how we approach these things.

One of the hardest commandments in the Bible comes from Paul in my favorite chapter, Philippians chapter 2. He says in Philippians 2:3, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. Don't do anything selfishly or by conceit for vain glory. But in lowliness of mind, humility, let each esteem others better than himself." This is a command. You should esteem others better than yourself.

There's a part of that I know is the right thing to do. He goes on to say, "Let each of you look out not only for your own interests." We live in a self-interested culture, but that's no different from the world that Paul was writing to 2,000 years ago. Humans, by nature—maybe by fallen nature—are often self-centered.

Self-interest often shapes our perceptions. Who's the first person you look at in a family picture? You judge the goodness of the picture based on yourself. Everybody else could look perfect, but if you look a bit off or awkward in the middle of it, it feels like a terrible picture, right? Thank God for Photoshop; you can fix those little blemishes. Even AI can help you look great, though it may not entirely resemble you to everyone else.

The scripture advises us to let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. We are encouraged to look out not only for our own interests but also for the interests of others. This exhortation is good, true, and right. However, it raises the question: Why should we do that? What should be the motivation behind it?

In Philippians chapter 2, Paul provides a compelling reason. He says, "Fulfill my joy by being like-minded." Essentially, he is saying, "Make me, Pastor Paul, really happy by doing this." This week, as you prepare to do the good and right thing, the first thought that might cross your mind is that you want to make Pastor Miles really happy. However, that is probably not even in the top 50 reasons why you will do the right thing.

Yet, Paul mentions this in the passage. Is that really the reason? Is that the right motivation to push us to do what is right, true, and good? Why do we serve? Jesus's answer to that question in Luke 14 is interesting and worth contemplating. Our perspective is significantly influenced by our nature and the culture around us, which often guides us toward certain actions.

So, if you would stand with me and open to the Gospel of Luke, turn to about the middle of your Bible. Turn right; you'll pass Matthew and Mark, then find Luke. We will begin at Luke 14, starting at verse one. It happened that as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, you can already sense that this is going to be an interesting encounter.

On the Sabbath, there was a meal that the Pharisee invited a whole crowd of people to attend. They watched Jesus closely, scrutinizing Him. Behold, there was a certain man who had dropsy. We don't even use that word today, but it sounds bad, does it not? We would say edema. There was a man there with edema, and you have to almost immediately feel like this seems like a setup, does it not? This was a Sabbath day setup.

Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers, the Pharisees, and the scribes who were present. These were the experts in the law. He asked, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" You have to know that in their minds they were thinking, "We got him. Our plan is working." But they kept silent; they would not respond. So, He took the man, healed him, and let him go. Then He addressed the people gathered there, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" They could not, or perhaps we should say they would not, answer Him regarding these things.

Then Jesus told a parable. A parable is a story that teaches a lesson. He noted how those who were invited chose the best places at the party and said to them, "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him who invited you. And he will come and say to you, 'Give the place to this man,' and then you begin to take the lowest place with shame."

"But when you are invited, go sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

He also said to him who invited Him, the master of the house, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back and you be repaid. 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."

God, I pray that You would give us wisdom.

Insight and clarity as we consider this text. Lord, help us to be confronted by the truth of it and transform us by the renewing of our minds, such that we would be made a little bit more like You today. That is our ultimate desire: that we would be more and more transformed into the image and likeness of Your character and nature. For we ask this today in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.

The scene is easy to imagine. At this point in His life and ministry, Jesus is traveling around the region of Galilee. From week to week, He might be in Bethsaida, Capernaum, or Tiberias. As He would come to these different towns, villages, and cities around the Sea of Galilee, He might show up on a Sabbath day. Where would everybody in the community go on the Sabbath day? They would go to the synagogue.

If He, a well-known rabbi and teacher in the area, came to that synagogue on the Sabbath day, He would be asked by the rulers of that synagogue, "Rabbi, would you perhaps do the reading of the Scriptures today?" He would come, as we saw in Luke chapter 4, and they would present to Him the scroll of the Scriptures. He would read the Scriptures, and then when He would sit down, everybody else would sit down, and He would teach them.

This scene is clear. That's probably what happened on this Sabbath day because that's what occurred on pretty much every Sabbath day in Jesus' life and ministry. Of course, at the end of the Sabbath day proceedings at the synagogue, what would you expect to be done in a highly hospitality-focused culture? No doubt, the rulers of that synagogue, the Pharisees in this case, because they were predominantly the rulers of that region, would come to Jesus and do the right thing when a well-known rabbi was in your community. They would invite Him to their home for a feast. You almost feel the necessity to do that; that's the expectation.

I imagine we can picture it. Jesus speaks at the synagogue, and immediately after, a group of the Pharisees, one of the lead Pharisees, comes and says, "Rabbi, Master, we would love for You to come to my home today and dine with us." And of course, Jesus does that. As He comes to the home of the Pharisee, that's the...

Setting the scene, Jesus arrives and is immediately confronted with a man who has some sort of ailment. It is clear and evident that this man has a problem. The Scriptures in the New King James Version refer to it as dropsy. While it's not a term we commonly use in 2026, it certainly doesn't sound good. The man is bloated from retaining fluid; there is something wrong with him. Perhaps he has some sort of renal issue, but he clearly has edema. From his appearance, it is obvious that he needs help.

What do you suppose Jesus is going to do? He is going to respond exactly as the Pharisees orchestrated the situation. I may be assuming too much, but it seems likely that they set this up to try to catch Jesus. They are all watching him closely, eager to see how he will respond to this man.

As a side point, if you are a Christian today, if you are a follower of Jesus, you should expect to be scrutinized. People are watching you closely. They want to see how you will act, react, interact, and counteract in various situations. So, just expect to be under scrutiny. Jesus is being watched closely as well. The Pharisees want to see what he will do in response to this man, and they already have an idea because they have encountered similar situations before.

In fact, in the previous chapter, Chapter 13, we see a similar scenario. Jesus went to a synagogue on the Sabbath day, where he encountered a woman who was bent over due to a physical infirmity. When he saw her, he healed her, as he frequently did. The Pharisees who were watching him became upset that he healed someone on the Sabbath. His response to them in Chapter 13 is very similar to what he says here in Chapter 14.

In Chapter 14:5, it states, "Then he answered them, saying, 'Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?'" Just one chapter earlier, in Chapter 13, the Lord responded to them in verse 15, saying, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath day loose his own donkey from the stall and lead it out?"

Are you more concerned about your animals than you are about people? That's a challenging thing to be confronted with. Pastor Jason pointed this out last month when he was in chapter 13. He said they would lose a donkey but not a daughter of Abraham. Or I might say they would work to save their own donkeys, but not an alien man. He is confronting the wrongheartedness of these individuals as they are watching him.

There’s no better way to dumbfound or to diminish your detractors than for them to see you do good things that expose their indecency while they are scrutinizing you. As you would expect, he heals this man. The Pharisee who invited him and the other Pharisees who were there thought, "We got him." They had one more thing to add to their list of indictments against him: he did work on the Sabbath.

That’s exactly what we will see when we get to the latter chapters of the Gospel of Luke. They try Jesus before Caiaphas, the high priest. What is the evidence they bring to Caiaphas of his wrongdoing? He works on the Sabbath. They have a long list of accusations. We saw him in Capernaum. We saw him in Bethsaida. We saw him at this synagogue and that synagogue. Pharisee Bob over here—or maybe I should say Pharisee Sheel—had him at his house, and he healed a man with edema on the Sabbath day.

Jesus knows exactly what is going on here. He is not surprised by what they are trying to do in this situation. But now he turns the tables on them. They were scrutinizing him, watching him. How is he going to respond to this man who has edema, who is ill? Now he scrutinizes them. How do they interact when they come into a party? He noted, as the scripture says, how they chose the best places.

We can point the finger at these Pharisees from 2,000 years ago for their indecency and for trying to position themselves at the home of this established Pharisee. But we are all guilty of the exact same thing. It is part of our nature. There is something in us that wants to be at the forefront.

The high table is where we certainly want to be; we don't want to be at the low table. We all experienced this even in our young elementary days. Do you remember when they were choosing teams for kickball? You didn't want to be the last one chosen. You knew you probably weren't going to be the first one chosen because you weren't nearly as good as that other kid over there. However, you'd like to be somewhere in the upper half of the distribution. You don't want to be the last one chosen. Can I get an amen? Am I the only one here?

The same is true in other situations. If you go to a wedding reception and the seats are already chosen for you, you know you're not going to be at table number one because you're not a part of the wedding party or the family, but you don't want to be at table 17. So, you walk in and look around. Where are the tables? Where am I? Okay, good. I'm at table five. That's not nearly as bad as those poor, pitiful people at table 21.

When we find ourselves in a social gathering, how do we position ourselves? There is an impulse in us to position ourselves well. Jesus addresses this. He noted how they chose the best places. As He was watching them, He told a story—a proverb that teaches. The story that Jesus tells is not novel; it's not new. In fact, He basically surfaces the words of King Solomon from a thousand years before in Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 25 is almost identical to what Jesus says to this group of people.

The application of His story is found in Proverbs 25:6-7, where Solomon advises, "Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of the great; for it is better that he say to you, 'Come up here,' than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen." I'm willing to bet that every single Pharisee, lawyer, and scribe in the room that day knew those words from Solomon. They were familiar with Proverbs.

So when Jesus gives this story and its application, they knew exactly what He was saying because they were well-acquainted with it. There is an impulse in us to grab the best seat, but Jesus warns, "Hey, be careful when you grab the best seat because it may just be that that's not the seat that the master of the house expected you to occupy."

Sit in. And then you will be ashamed when he comes to you and says, "Oh, I'm so sorry. That seat's not for you." Oh man, what a horrible situation. Could you imagine being in that situation? Some of you have been in that situation before, like, "Oh great." And everybody watches and they're like, "Oh, goodness gracious," as you get seated lower.

Instead, Jesus says, "Far better to be seated in a lower seat." And the master comes and says, "Why are you seated here? I have a place for you." Man, how awesome would that be in that moment? Just understand, we don't live in the same kind of culture. Some of you come from a more Eastern or Asian culture. In that culture, honor and shame are key. This is an honor and shame culture that He is talking about here.

Jesus's teaching is very simple. It's not new; it's clear. Pride will push us to try to take the high place, but pride also often puts us in the position of losing that place as well. Therefore, point number one, if you're taking notes: don't grab the honor. This is a simple teaching, very practical. Whether you live in first-century Galilee or twenty-first-century San Diego, don't grab the honor.

Now, there's something in us that makes us want to, but Jesus's teaching is simple. We set that as one kind of pull on a spectrum: don't grab the honor. Well, what's the counterpole to that? Look at what Jesus teaches in verse 10, Luke 14:10. "But when you are invited, go sit down in the lowest place so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher,' and then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you."

Here's the application: whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Jesus's exhortation is, "Hey, choose a lower position. Go sit in that lower place." Why should I do that? Why do I do the right thing? There is a reward that comes to the one who does the right and good thing, as Jesus is teaching here. He says, "You will be exalted."

Where is that coming from? It goes back again to the Old Testament.

Exaltation ultimately comes from God. The will-bees here are pointing back to the one who has the ability to exalt. Jesus says, "Don't grab the honor." He also advises us to take the humble position, but we must be careful in doing so. There is a way to interpret what Jesus says that leads to humble bragging.

Humble bragging is when you intentionally take the humble route, thinking that by adopting this lower position, you will get others to recognize you. This presents another danger. There is a fine line between not grabbing the honor and claiming false humility. A fake humility hopes that when you say, "I'm a nobody," someone will respond, "Oh, no, no, you're not. You're so great. You're so amazing."

Our culture, like many others, struggles with this issue. Jesus teaches that whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. The great prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, observed that in the Church of God, the way upward is downward. One of the great teachings of Christ is servant leadership. Our culture seems interested in this concept, but it is not easy to be a servant.

The test of servanthood comes when people treat you like a servant. It becomes challenging when someone asks, "Will you go do this for me?" You might respond, "What do you mean, go do this for me? Am I your slave? Your servant? I thought you were taking the lower road." This is a challenge we all face.

Christ's practical point is to not grab the honor. The counterbalance to that is to not fake humility. This is the narrow road that I find myself on, and that you find yourself on. We know we should not try to grab honor for ourselves, but we also shouldn't use humility as a tool to get what we want from others. So, don't fake humility.

Jesus continues in Luke 14:12, saying, "Now then, he also said to him who invited him." He shifts his focus from those who were invited to the feast to the host of the feast. He says, "When you give a dinner or a supper..."

At this moment, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back and you be repaid. Now Jesus turns his attention to the hosts and says that when you're planning to entertain, do not invite friends, family, or neighbors who are wealthy. He is not saying that you should never invite people you actually like to spend time with. He is saying do not invite them with the motivation that you will get something in return.

We are all tempted to do this, whether we realize it or not. There is almost an aspect of it that is self-conscious. We do the good deed because we hope that by doing the good deed, maybe the law of reciprocity will play in and we will get what we really want. So he calls that on the carpet. He says, "Listen, be careful when you are seeking to entertain that you're not merely entertaining so that you'll be invited back and can be repaid," as he so frequently did.

Jesus is getting to the heart of the matter by dealing with the matter of the heart. What is the intention? What is the heart here? He is addressing a problem that has been observed in culture for time immemorial, going all the way back to the great philosophers of Greece. Aristotle taught that you should do what you do in order to gain advantage with people. Fast forward from Aristotle to Machiavelli, who does the same exact thing.

If we fast forward to our time in the 21st century, we see the 48 Laws of Power. I know some of you have that on your shelf; I have it in my Kindle. We try to orchestrate things to get what we want. Jesus is dealing with that heart and saying, "Listen, that's not what I'm looking for from you. Generosity is not a ladder. Humility is not a piece that you play at the right time in the game to get ahead. Don't do what you're doing just so that you can get what you want or so that you might be repaid."

Jesus addressed this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6. He said, "Do not do your good deeds to be seen by them."

If you do your deeds to be seen by others, you have your reward. The interesting thing is that in the very same breath, He is saying not to do those good deeds to be seen by others, sounding the trumpet like the hypocrites do. He also says to do your good deeds before your Father in heaven, who sees in secret, and He will reward you openly.

There is a real challenge here. Don't do the thing just so you can be rewarded by the people who are watching you in that moment. Instead, do the good deeds so that you might be seen by your Father in heaven, who will reward you openly. So, what should I do? Should I not do it for a reward or do it for a reward? The answer to the question is yes. The question is, what reward and from whom? That is the thing that I need to really think about and consider.

If you're only doing this for the immediacy of the reward from those who are watching in that moment, I love the way that Charles Spurgeon put it: if you do someone a kindness with a view to gain gratitude, you will probably be disappointed. Even if you succeed and they give you the gratitude that you are seeking, you have burned your firework. You have seen the brief blaze, and there is an end of it. It's here in a moment and gone.

You can choose the reward of the immediacy of those who might be able to move you a little bit forward in this life or repay it in that moment. Or you can do your gift before your Father, who sees in secret, and He will reward you openly, hundredfold in its time, as stated in Mark 10:30.

So, Jesus exhorts us. Point number three, if you're taking notes: don't expect your reward now. He continues in verse 13, "But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind." It sounds like a really lame party. You will be blessed. Why will I be blessed? It sounds like a pitiful party. You will be blessed because they cannot repay you.

Well, then why would I invite them? There’s the grounding word: for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. So, is Jesus here teaching that we should serve for nothing because it's our duty?

To do? Well, no, because beautiful roses are a contradiction, right? It's like, no, that's not what he's asking for. But that is the mindset of our culture. The great philosopher of duty, Emanuel Kant, taught that hoping for a reward ruins the moral worth of a good deed. So, you should only do the good deed because it is virtuous. This is no different than the Stoics of ancient Greece. You do the good deed only because of the value you get from it in that moment. The Stoics had that view, and Emanuel Kant had that view as well.

Do you know where that idea first came from? Job 1:9 states, "So Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? He's only serving you for what he can get from you.'" For nothing is the accuser's standard. Jesus doesn't teach that, but He does teach a different way. It is a challenging thing for us to apply in our lives. He says when you give a party, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind—people who cannot repay you in the moment. Why? Because you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

There is a repayment, but it's not from those right then and there. It is from the One from whom we ultimately desire the repayment. There is a reward in eternity. What Jesus is driving at here is something so important. He is saying there is something we should be looking towards, but it's not the reward here and now. If your reward is seeking something here and now, it is temporary. It will burn up with this world when it burns, and it's all going to burn anyway.

He says, "Look for the reward that is eternal, that does not fade away. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not come in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Well, we come back to the question: Why would anyone do the good thing? Why would anyone take the lower seat? Fulfill my joy by being like-minded.

Nothing should be done by selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, do everything as before the Lord and to the Lord. Following what example? What is the example we always follow? Where does Paul go after he says, "Do nothing by selfish ambition or conceit"? He says this: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. But he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

Why? Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. He chose to empty himself and made himself of no reputation. Why? The author of the book of Hebrews answers this question: "Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross." Why did he do that? Did he do it merely for the virtue of it? No, he did it for the reward.

What is the joyful reward? I can think of at least two things. One is the joyful reward of us. It may not sound like much of a joyful reward, but to him, it is. The other is the joyful reward of the glory of the Father. He humbled himself, and therefore God has highly exalted him. Jesus took the low path, the low seat, and the Father comes and says, "Friend, go higher."

Point number four: Follow the one who served you and wait for his reward. It's interesting, and we will look at this next week. I don't have time to get into it this week, but the continuation of Luke chapter 14, beginning at verse 15, is where we will be in our study next week. The setting doesn't change; Jesus is still at the home of a Pharisee on the Sabbath day. He tells another story—the story of a master who was throwing a feast. The master of the feast sent his servants to go out and call those who were invited to come to the feast. Every single one of those who were invited came up with excuses: "I just bought a plot of land. I just bought a couple of oxen. I just got married. I can't come."

To the feast, the servants come back to the master and say, "Those whom you invited can't come. They have too many other things going on and don't want to come to your feast." The master is angry and says, "Well, go and invite the maimed, the lame, and the blind to the party." He fills the household with the maimed, the lame, and the blind. Who's that? That's us. He invited us to his party—the ones who wouldn't otherwise get an invite, who don't feel like they should be a part of that in any way: the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. He says, "Come to my party. Come to my kingdom." He has opened the way for us.

Now that we have received the grace of his invitation to be a part of his party, what then do we do? Do we do the good and right thing because it is our duty? Well, in one sense, yes, it is our duty to do it, but we do it as unto the Lord. Look at what Paul says in Colossians: "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

The question is an important one to contemplate: Why do I serve? Why do I do the good thing? This week, by way of application, I would suggest reframing the question from "Why do I serve?" to "Who do I serve and why?" Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Who do I serve? I serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because I am giving thanks to God the Father through him. For what? What did he do for me? He invited me and you—the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind—to be a part of his party. Why? Because he is gracious and good.

Having been invited, what should I do? I should do whatever I do in word or deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. What sort of deeds should I do? It's interesting that in Colossians chapter 3, right after he says in verse 17, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord," he speaks to wives, husbands, fathers, children, and bondservants or employees in the next five verses. He says, "You should do..."

These things. And then why? Why should I do these things? Well, here's his answer: Verse 23 states, "And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ."

So it all comes down to this: Why do I serve? Let's reframe the question. Who do I serve and why? The cultural answer to that is you serve yourself because nobody else is looking out for you. You have to look out for number one. You are the captain of your own ship and the master of your own destiny. No one cares about you like you care about you. Therefore, you need to do what is right for you.

Have you heard that in the culture in some way, shape, or form? Or maybe the culture's answer was that you need to do your work for that person who will see you—your boss or someone in a position of privilege—so that they might recognize your efforts and elevate you. But Paul says, no, you serve the Lord Christ.

Who do you serve? You serve the one who served you and made the way open by His grace. You serve the Lord Christ. Why? Knowing that we will receive the reward of the inheritance from Him. God, help us to reframe the question: Who am I serving and why? It's not merely out of duty; it's in response to His goodness, grace, and love that He invited me to His table, the one who is absolutely undeserving.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Jesus, you taught in the Sermon on the Mount that we should do the difficult and hard things, even if it means suffering for Your name. We should rejoice and be exceedingly glad, knowing that great is our reward in heaven. Lord, you do not say that it's a selfish thing to serve for the reward if it's the eternal reward coming from You.

So God, I pray that You would help us to reframe, even for a moment, who it is that we serve and why. Help us to think about it this week and maybe even to contemplate.

Who are the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind that you are seeking for us to reach out to in our day and time? Would you stir us by your love for us to reach out to them? For we ask it in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." Amen.