I am often invited to share in fellowship with others and often as their guest. I feel so honored and blessed each time I’m invited to share in fellowship.
I’m often in awe with the teachings of Jesus. (See below his teaching from Luke) And, never more so than being a guest of others. Just recently I was a luncheon guest in a garage with this hugh delicious barbecue sandwich! One of my favorite meals.
I met and greeted a number of people of various ages, cultures, races, status in society. The conversations I was priviledge to be a part of just might have been found in our study scripture below.
“Then he (Jesus) turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
Luke 14:12-14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.14.12-13.NLT
I thought of this teaching of Jesus and begin to meditate on the beauty of the Words given by Jesus whenever He spoke.
I must say when I’m invited as a guest more often than not I’m the one that blesses the host with their grand reward.
Why one might ask, not rich! Not a “Harvard” graduate! Not a rich political person! Not a movie star! Not Not!
Much like Jesus the least among you. Read the full chapter of Luke 14 and meditate on Jesus’ words and actions.
And, focus a few moments on this truth. “
“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 14:10-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.14.10-11.NLT
Don’t be offended when ones that call you family or friend have no place at their social table for you!
Jesus welcomes you today to sit with Him! You are loved! You are highly honored! You are greatly blessed! Invite Him to fellowship with you. He stands ready! Rev 3:20
thedailylily.com 
“Read the full chapter of Luke 14 and meditate on Jesus’ words and actions.”
Sara, as I read this chapter and your words from this blog, it brought to mind one of the retreat books you wrote, “Throwing Your Light Forward…Relationship, Friendship, Fellowship”.
I think your account, “I met and greeted a number of people of various ages, cultures, races, status in society. The conversations I was priviledge to be a part of just might have been found in our study scripture below” is an example of this.
You write in your book, “In relationships, friendships and fellowships we will throw light forward if we focus outward to one another.”
And in another place you write, “Aaron, the High Priest, arranged the Lights so they would shine in a direction to give Light to the people.”
Luke 14:5 said to me that there is work to be done (as in the conversations you had that day mentioned above) for those that are in need regardless of the day, time or convenience.
I think Luke 14:10 and Luke 14:26 further illustrate this and also fit right in with these words from your book:
“Ask not what your Friend can do for you but what you can do for your Friend.”
“Ask not what your Fellowship can do for you but what you can do for your Fellowship.”
“Ask not what your Relationship can do for you but what you can do for your Relationship”.
Debi, makes mention of being a part of my conversations and what she gleaned. Yet, there were many more she was not there for giving how gatherings can flow in various streams allowing for more than the eye and ear can conceive.
There was a retired school teacher, that travels extensively to nations with stories and interest that shared. One that had owned prestigious land with various business interest. One that shared how life had taken her down a road different that many would certainly not understand.
Then one that showed a “high brow” social circle. And, others that delighted my day!
As I pause to give thanks for God allowing me opportunities to participate in the “word society” from Tammy’s footnotes. Jesus, “told the host not to be exclusive about whom he invited. God opens his Kingdom to everyone.”
WOW! The joy of gratitude as we bathe in God’s Grace to all!
The foot notes for Luke 14:7-14 says: (NLT) “ Jesus advised people not to rush for the best places at a feast. People today are just as eager to raise their social status whether by being with the right people, dressing for success, or driving the right car. Whom do you try to impress? Rather than aiming for prestige, look for a place where you can serve. If God wants you to serve on a wider scale, he will invite you to take a higher place. Jesus talk to lessons here. First, he spoke to the guests, telling them not to seek places of honor. Service is more important in God’s Kingdom than status. Second, he told the host not to be exclusive about whom he invited. God opens his Kingdom to everyone.”
In reading Debi and Tammy’s comments they quickly connected to a devotional this am from COC that quotes from another writer,Bass.
“Author Diana Butler Bass recalls the gospel story in Luke 19 of Zacchaeus, the tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus passing by.
When Jesus passed the tree, he looked up and saw Zacchaeus. Able to read the hearts of people, Jesus did not see a jolly fellow tangled in sycamore branches. He saw Zacchaeus, a collaborator and an agent of the Roman overlords. And what did he say? “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! … For I must stay at your house today” [Luke 19:5]. Jesus called him down, ordering him to stand as equals with him on the ground, and then invited himself to dinner.
Bass describes how Jesus’ actions upset ancient societal expectations of who could offer a “gift”:
According to Luke, Zacchaeus “hurried down and was happy to welcome him” (Luke 19:6). But the crowds watching this encounter were shocked and angry. Jesus was a lower-status person, and a good Jew. Lower-status people never invited their superiors to a meal…. In normal circumstances, Zacchaeus should have invited Jesus to his home. Once Jesus accepted Zacchaeus’s hospitality, then Jesus would owe Zacchaeus his gratitude, an obligation to repay the favor that had been extended to him. That, however, would have undermined Jesus’s spiritual authority with the crowds who followed him. They would have wanted Jesus to reject such an overture.
But Jesus undermined this whole gratitude business by inviting himself to Zacchaeus’s house. Jesus offered the gift of his presence to one who did not deserve it. This made Zacchaeus not a benefactor, but a beneficiary of a gift. Technically, Zacchaeus now owed Jesus something. Out of his sense of gratitude, Zacchaeus promised to give away half of his wealth to the poor and pay back all those whom he defrauded four times as much as he skimmed. Ultimately, it would have been impossible to give back this much money. Zacchaeus promised to bankrupt himself. In effect, he resigned his position. There is no way Zacchaeus could have remained a tax collector. He got out of the tree—extricating himself from the Roman hierarchical structure of debt and duty. In response, Jesus proclaimed: “Today salvation”—healing and wholeness—“has come to this house!” (Luke 19:9)….
Jesus opened the door for Zacchaeus to “come down” from his old life, to stop participating in a corrupt system of gratitude that oppressed his own people. In a moment, Jesus turned his world upside down: Who was the guest and who was the host?… Jesus imagined a place where oppressed and oppressor leave their “stations” and meet as friends, where forgiveness is practiced and gratitude expresses itself not in debt payment but in passing on generous gifts to others.…
[Jesus] established a table of hospitality where all are guests and no one owes anything to anyone else. Around this table, gifts pass without regard to payback or debt. Everyone sits. Everyone eats. And, recognizing that everything is a gift, all are grateful.” From Bass’s book Grateful
“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to have both? That’s perfection”
Timothy Keller
Perfection of love comes from Jesus Cross and the road of Calvary made available to all.
The quote above by Tim Keller, “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to have both? That’s perfection”; and then reading your powerful words of Truth, Sara, “Perfection of love comes from Jesus Cross and the road of Calvary made available to all.” is much to reflect on!
Over the years, I have either heard someone say or read, “You (or they) just don’t understand me. So, it seems to me that someone may say or think they love you, but not really understand or know you. And, I/we may think we know ourselves, but this scripture seems to say otherwise to me: “For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? “ (1 Corinthians 2:11)
These scriptures came to mind that seem to relate.
“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.” (Psalm 139:1-4)
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;” (Jeremiah 31:3)
“But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Lamentations 3:40 says, “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!” He invites you to get quiet and take time to seek God, and “know Thyself.”
“…to know them that labor among you,…” 1 THESSALONIANS 5:12
Debi, it seems from scripture among which you quoted some. to know God would be to know yourself. And, from scripture we have the potential to know others.
We know one another as we walk with Jesus Christ on the road of the Cross of Calvary. We learn about God and His son when the shared the death and life of the cross. We learn about the Holy Spirit when we seek counsel and guidance from God and allow the Teacher, the Holy Spirit to join us. “…when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).
Let me briefly touch on, “you don’t understand me”, that you mentioned. I assume you are saying the comment means, you don’t know me? That could be a cry from a heart saying what Keller gives as your love is superficial. And, then the next part saying, Im afraid to reveal “me” because I won’t be loved. Fear ensued and hide we often do.
This seems to circle back where truth resides, “the road to the cross.” The Spirit if Truth comes and we will be guided…heres the Victory, “guided into all truth.”
The picture that I see from fear is not of God. 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline”. We may just be believing a lie about ourselves. Which brings us back to Keller’s result, “perfection. James 1:4 it is written, “That you may be perfect and complete …” Strive for perfection! Believe that you will obtain it, and you will obtain it. “All things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23.