The Dangers of Reciprocity; Luke 14:12-14

Delivered during the Sunday Morning Worship Service, 4/21/2024. As Jesus' luncheon with the ruler of the Pharisees continues, His attention turns to the host himself and the kinds of people he has invited to his party. On the surface, the topic of Jesus' instruction seems to be the nature of the guest list, but the underlying principles go much deeper, and can be applied to all aspects of religious activity. Jesus is not just interested in "what" we do, but also "why" we do it, "how" we do it, "who" we are doing it for, and what we "expect" in return. Even though these principles can be applied to all kinds of Christian activity, we will focus on the necessary Kingdom fruit of benevolence, for it is the example Jesus uses. Ultimately we will determine that as Christians, our motives must be pure, our demeanor must be humble, our service must be selfless, and most importantly-- what we do, we do for the glory of God. Only then can we avoid the dangers of reciprocity.