¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. 
                                                                                                -Luke 14:12-13
 
This week we’re starting a new series: Simple Stories.
 
Jesus was the master at crafting simple stories that packed a punch.  The Scripture calls them parables.  And many of these parables have so vividly illustrated spiritual truths that they’ve captured imaginations throughout the centuries and seeped into the language and framework of our larger culture.
 
Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to look at some of the lesser-well-known parables that Jesus told and see what nuggets of wisdom they contain.

The parable we’re looking at this week is told by Jesus while he’s attending a dinner party of a prominent religious leader. And in this particular instance, Jesus is a bit of an awkward party guest.
 
Just before this, Jesus tells the guests to quit jockeying for the seats of prominence at the table. Awkward silence ensues.
 
Then Jesus turns to the religious leader who’s hosting the party and utters the statement above—essentially criticizing him for the guest list at the party. More awkward silence ensues.
 
If you take Jesus seriously what you’ll note is that he’s not always nice and he’s not always blunt, but he is both of those things at different times. And usually it has to do with the spiritual and social location of the people he’s talking to.

To people who are poor, overlooked, haggard, in need of hope, and/or who are not Jewish, he leads with grace, mercy, and gentleness. To those who are in the Jewish family of God and especially to those who are wealthy or established religious leaders, he can be very direct and blunt.
 
Jesus was a master at matching his spiritual approach with his audience and he caters his parables to the people around him.  
 
How adept are you at matching how you talk about your own spiritual experience and journey based on the person or people that you’re talking to? Are you more likely to ‘miss’ by being too nice or ‘miss’ by being too blunt? What might you learn from how Jesus does both?