Observation: It's kind of a strange story. A person throws a big dinner, and has already invited the guests, but nobody who's been invited comes. If you think that's rude today, it was even worse in Jesus' time. The host would have every right to be deeply offended. So the host sends out not one, but two delegations of servants out to bring in those who would normally never get a dinner invitation: the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.
Application: In Jesus' own time this parable was his judgement on the religious elites. Because they had not listened to God's voice, through Jesus' ministry, God was reaching out to those who would, regardless of social status.
Today, I hear this parable pointed squarely at me. I'm a white, straight, male, middle-class Protestant who grew up in the suburbs. That didn't guarantee me an easy life, but it did ensure some things would be easier. Because faith in Jesus was a given in my house, and because I experienced grace frequently in the world, it could easily become background noise in my life, rather than the central melody by which I live. If anyone is likely to say "been there done that, thanks but no thanks" to the heavenly banquet, it's someone like me. Grace will still be there when I die, right? But in the meantime, folks for whom life has been harder, who have never heard of grace, who have only ever been on the outside looking in for this or any feast, are going hungry. And there are a whole lot of empty seats. That's on us. That's on me.
Prayer: God, let grace be a surprise. Let it shock me into action. Let it send me into the highways and byways, where you wait for me. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment