a parable to those which were bidden, when He marked how they chose out the chief rooms”—places -"saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room" -best seat-" lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place, and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room"—or seat. Our Lord here bases His precept upon low ground, as most suitable to the perception of His hearers. He suggests to them the humiliation, which those are sure to suffer, who are forward in self-assertion.

"But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship"-respect-" in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee."

Are these lessons entirely out of place amongst us? Is there nothing of a pushing, selfish, overbearing spirit to be noticed in our social meetings? Veiled under polite phrases, but still not the less there— not the less, leading persons to use every effort to get into the most select circle, and exciting the successful aspirant to keep others out! It would be well for us to revise the maxims of our every-day life by a reference to Him who marked these things of old and marks them not less now. "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

SECTION XXIII.

CHRISTIAN HOSPITALITY-THE GREAT SUPPER.

"THE

LUKE xiv. 12-24.

HEN said He also to him that bade Him, 'When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.""

The spirit of these counsels given by our Lord to His host, seems to be not to make our hospitality a mere matter of self-interest, a traffic in civilities, but a matter of real kindness and liberality. We all know how much there is of this formal exchange of entertainments in our own social intercourse, how much expense incurred merely for purposes of ostentation, or merely to gain or keep what we consider a good position in society. If we would regulate our habits by the maxims of Christ, we must seek in them not selfish ends, but the happiness and welfare of others we must be anxious so to arrange our hospitable efforts as to give pleasure to those who stand most in need of it. The school-feasts and other entertainments now common on special occasions to the poor, are good methods of carrying out these injunctions of our Lord. And not only

these; whilst we, perhaps, are trying to attract to our houses those who think it an unwelcome tax to society to accept our invitations; there are some, their equals in everything but wealth and position, who would be thoroughly cheered and strengthened by a few hours spent in refined society which they have not the means to command. Prominent too in our Lord's forms of expression is this thought, that it is blessed to labour unrequited here, for then our Master charges Himself with the reward. "They cannot recompense thee"-the widow, the orphan, the "reduced gentlewoman," the neglected governess, the homeless stranger, have nothing to give in return for generous notice and hospitality, but "thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."

"And when one of them that sat at meat with Him heard these things, he said unto Him, 'Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.'" This is the feeling which would indeed naturally spring up in the unprejudiced mind; but men do not usually act as if they thought this. How they do receive the offer of such a privilege, our Lord proceeds to describe in a parable.

"Then said He unto him, 'A certain man made a great supper, and bade many; and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready." The "great supper" was evidently intended to typify that which the preceding speaker had pronounced "blessed," namely, the eating bread in the kingdom of Godcommunion with Christ in his Church here, as a preliminary to communion with Him in Heaven

hereafter. The invited guests are doubtless the neighbours, friends, and acquaintance of the giver of the feast; and so Christ invited first the Jewish people. When everything was prepared, the servant was sent round to acquaint them that supper was ready and so the Lord sent His servants-the apostles, to say, "Be ye reconciled to God." "Come, for all things are now ready."

"And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it; I pray thee have me excused.' And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused.' And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' It is evidently implied in the parable that these apparently reasonable hindrances were not real and genuine obstructions, but excuses got up for the purpose of evading what for other reasons they had no mind to do. And so it is with the parallel excuses which men make to avoid close intercourse with their Saviour; they are difficulties which would easily be got over if they really had a desire for the blessing itself. And so no wonder that these excuses are resented as a great slight. There are few things more painful and mortifying than when we have laboured to oblige and gratify another to have our kindness flung back in our faces as not worth his acceptance; and we should be careful not to put these ungracious slights upon each other. Before we refuse an invitation upon some trifling ground, which we know very well is not our real reason for

refusing, it would be well to consider whether to accept would not be an act of that Christian charity which always gives pleasure when it can.

The greatness of the affront in this case is shown by what follows in the parable. "So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry, said unto his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.' And the servant said, 'Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.' And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house. may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my

Here is the point of the parable. The giver of the feast will do anything, will fill his house with the most apparently unsuitable guests, rather than stoop to press his favours further on those who had so slighted him. And we are intended to learn from this the great danger of slighting God's offered Gospel. The Jews slighted it, and their places were filled up by those nations whom they had most despised; and in like manner every one who when he knows himself invited to draw near unto his God and Saviour, makes trifling and insincere excuses to avoid coming, runs a fearful risk of being excluded for ever from "eating bread in the kingdom of God."