1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
So…”Christians are a worse threat to society than radical Muslims”. So says one of our celebrity oracles. Increasingly, we are viewed as being part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
I’m often perplexed by this attitude because I’m a “nice” Christian. I’m not pushy about it (nor, are most of my friends). I’m joyful, optimistic, thoughtful and respectful when I shine my light. All I want the world to do is appreciate the eternal blessing of following Christ. How is that a problem?
And so…the parable explains. We don’t see a lot of mystery in this parable. It’s pretty straight-forward. The meaning is clear.
Everybody is invited to personally celebrate Christ. It’s just that most people aren’t even interested enough to RSVP. They simply ignore the offer. Furthermore, if the invitations persist, some people get outright belligerent and lash out at well-meaning disciples. The answer is “NO!” with an attitude.
All over a party…
And I thought we lived in a party culture. Not actually. We live in a hedonistic culture…there’s a difference. It’s why the world will get all “clubbed out” to go drinking and dancing but won’t spend an ounce of effort on Jesus. All parties are not equal. (I’d love to suggest vs 11-12 really refers to how we should dress in church…but, I don’t think so).
But, we all know, this is a party we cannot afford to miss. If we aren’t counted among the guests we will not be recognized as one of the relatives. In the end, if the hostess didn’t put our name in the guestbook…we’re ushered out.
Unfortunately, we have to show up at the wedding if we want to kiss the bride…
We should be diligent to remind our friends…the wedding is coming.
Live boldly out there.
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