Joy in the Journey: A Misplaced Investment

"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.'"

-Luke 14: 13-14

Jesus tells a strange story about joy. He describes a table where the guest list makes no sense; invitations are extended to those who cannot repay, reciprocate, or offer anything to improve the host’s standing. “Do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters… But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” This is not strategic generosity, but joy placed where no return is guaranteed. Joy, in His telling, is not the reward for a wise investment, but the willingness to place something precious where it may never come back to us in recognizable ways.

This kind of joy is also evident in the Christmas story. God announces the birth of the Savior not to rulers, scholars, or those positioned to spread the news efficiently, but to shepherds, working in a field. They had no influence to leverage, no platform to amplify the message, and no credentials to validate it.

From a worldly perspective, it was a misplaced investment. Yet all of heaven rejoiced.

God entrusted joy to those who could not advance the mission by force, strategy, influence, or power. The shepherds simply received the news, went to see, and returned to their fields forever changed.

Teaching can often feel like a misplaced investment. So much of our time and attention is poured into students who may never thank us, remember us, or show visible growth. The culture of education pushes us to calculate our impact, to justify effort with a measurable return, but joy is not found in a return on our investment. Joy is found in faithfulness without leverage. God is at work even when our investment looks unproductive, wasted, or unappreciated.

The joy God gifts us is a radical joy: it defies the logic of worth and productivity. It confronts our instinct to measure what matters as evidenced by successful outcomes, recognition, and appreciation. This joy does not ask whether the investment will pay off; it trusts the Giver more than the outcome. It takes root in obedience and hope in the repayment that awaits us in the resurrection.

God calls us to invest fully in the students who demand the most of us, those who struggle, those who require extra interventions, or those whose progress is slow. When we show up for those hardest-to-reach students and when we treat every student with equal care and attention, we teach that respect is not earned by popularity, grades, or talent, but instead, it is a wise investment that models God's own generosity. In doing so, we make our classrooms a banquet for the overlooked, the struggling, and the unseen, where belonging is not earned and no seat is denied, imitating the generosity of God’s table.

God entrusted His joy to the shepherds and placed His Son in the world’s most unexpected, vulnerable places; He continues to entrust His joy to us to invest in the most unlikely of places, where the returns are profound, unexpected, and eternal.

Misplaced Investments

Where am I tempted to measure my work by return on my investment?

Does my classroom culture demonstrate radical joy where students learn to care for peers who are different or struggling?

When did I last invite my students (and colleagues) to notice and celebrate each other’s efforts, not just their own achievements?

Prayer

God, You place your treasures where the world does not. Teach me to release the need for return, recognition, or proof of success. When my efforts feel unnoticed or inefficient, help me trust that what is given in love is never wasted in Your hands. Help me to see each student as You see them, to invest my care without expectation, and to search for opportunities for investment in unlikely places. Amen.