How to Celebrate Thanksgiving Like Jesus: Invite the Forgotten

What’s on the menu? 

What’s on your Thanksgiving menu this year? A lineup of classic dishes? Or some experiments: pumpkin-sage mashed sweet potatoes or turducken? How about Ken Tada’s bologna stuffing?!  

Of course Thanksgiving isn’t really about the food. Dry turkey or bland side dishes won’t steal your joy if you have good company. So, who will you celebrate with this year? Family and friends? An acquaintance who doesn’t have family nearby?… Whether you’re a host or a guest, the people around the table—and the people you miss—will shape your Thanksgiving experience. 

Who’s on Jesus’s Guest List?

Luke 14:12–14 tells us what kind of guest list Jesus would put together: 

“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.  

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’”  

Jesus makes his priority clear: people often excluded by the world. Instead of choosing people who can return a favor, or people you feel comfortable with, Jesus tells His followers to fellowship and feast with people who “cannot repay you.” 

How can you respond to Jesus’s call this Thanksgiving? 

Around the world people living with disability face isolation, struggle with unmet needs and lack of resources, and have yet to experience the saving love of Christ. And you can do something about it this Thanksgiving. 

At Joni and Friends^®, we envision a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. And you can be part of the movement that is bringing this vision to reality. 

How can you help? 

Jesus is the ultimate Thanksgiving host. He has prepared a table for you and me—and for people with disabilities around the world who have yet to receive their invitation. By giving to Joni and Friends today, you send hands-on hope and the ultimate invitation—into God’s house where the table is prepared—to those the world too often forgets. 

May God bless you as you step out in faith and generosity… until the Lord’s banquet table is full!