阅读经文 

我有一位朋友，每逢节日，他都在教会设宴款待那些没有人陪伴一起过节的人。这些人可能是初来我们教会的、离家人很远（地域或者感情方面）的，或很少有朋友的人。

和我们今天的情形一样，在耶稣那个年代，人们喜欢被邀参加富人和名人的聚会，这是他们攀登社会阶梯的途径。座位最靠近主人的宾客是地位最高的人，地位稍低的则坐在他们旁边，依此类推。

一个出名的法利赛人——他是宗教领袖——邀请耶稣出席类似的聚会，耶稣却对这个聚会有自己的保留意见。祂环顾四周，见到的都是已经取得高位的人，祂指出，那里显然已经找不到任何被排斥和被遗忘的人。

欣然接受那些对我们有好处的自己人是很容易做得到的，然而耶稣说，在后的必在前、在前的必在后，（参路 13:30）祂的说法要把我们的世界颠覆了。那么，哪些人是我们应该要致电、发微信、发电邮，或邀请到我们家中的呢？

耶稣说，我们若走出我们的舒适圈，与被排斥的人建立关系，例如鳏寡的、失婚的、无家可归的、同性恋的、移民、单亲妈妈、刑满释放的囚犯等等的各样的人，我们便是有福的了。耶稣邀请我们赴祂的筵席，祂赐我们席上最好的座位。我们是否也能这样做呢？

I have a friend who hosts holiday meals at church for folks who have no one to spend the holiday with. They might be new to our church, far from family (physically or emotionally), or low on friends.

In Jesus’ day, just as in our day, people enjoyed being invited to gatherings of the rich and famous as a way to climb the social ladder. The guests who sat nearest to the host were the most elite, and next to them were guests of slightly lower status, and so on.

A prominent Pharisee—a religious leader—invited Jesus to a gathering like that. And Jesus was not impressed. He looked around and saw people who had already achieved high status, and he pointed out the glaring absence of people who were excluded and forgotten.

It’s easy for us to embrace our people from whom we have something to gain. But Jesus turns our world upside down and says that the last will be first and the first will be last. So who should be on our list to call, text, email, or invite to our homes?

Jesus says we are blessed when we get out of our comfort zones and build relationships with people who may be marginalized, such as those who are widowed, divorced, homeless, gay, immigrants, single moms, ex-prisoners, and more. Jesus invites us to his banquet and offers us the best seat in the house. Can we do the same?