Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, even their own life — such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:16-27
“Many were invited by Him who gave the feast. But they were men indifferent to it: for “they made excuse, it says, with one accord, and said, one that he had bought a field, and must needs go to see it: and another, that he had bought five yoke of oxen: and a third again, that he had married a wife:” and by employing these feigned excuses, they vexed Him who invited them. We are therefore given most clearly to understand, that when God calls us unto Him, to make us partakers of His bounty, we must disregard the lusts that are of the flesh, and minister to the flesh, and set no value whatsoever upon the things of this world, but exerting all our force must advance unto those things which will never have to be abandoned, and which fill us with all blessedness, as God bestows with bounteous hand upon us His gifts, and like one welcoming us to a costly banquet, admits us to the right of rejoicing with the rest of the saints in the hope of future blessings. For the things of earth, are but of little value and last only for a time, and belong to the flesh solely, which is the victim of corruption: but those things which are divine and spiritual constantly and without ceasing accompany those who have once been counted worthy of receiving them, and reach onwards to unending worlds. What value therefore will men of sense set upon earthly farms, or the love of carnal pleasure, or the respect due to kinsmen in the flesh, if it be laid down that for love’s sake unto Christ? We must disregard all these things that have been named.”
Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) in Commentary on St. Luke, volume 2, sermon CV (From the Syriac. MS.12,154) 490.
Think about what Doctor Cyril is trying to tell us. Earthly property, carnal pleasures, respect to fellow kinsmen, and even the value of one’s own life must not rival devotion to Jesus. We must “disregard all these things” lest they cause us to miss the offer from God to take a place at His banquet table.
What does this have to do with generosity?
Disciples of Jesus must not treat Jesus as an “add on” but be “all in” to receive God’s generous offer of a place at His table. This means we relate differently than the world does to possessions, pleasures, and we don’t succumb to peer pressure. The offer goes to everyone, and yet, the cost of discipleship is everything.
Does your life reflect that you have disregarded all these things?
Earthly things “are but of little value and last only for a time” so we must not get attached to them. We release their power over us by letting go of them and giving them away. The irony is that when we do this, repeatedly, our hands are free to attach to the only One and only thing that matters.