The Great Invitation

This past Saturday, I was at Cajun Kitchen with my friend Barrie and I shared the following scripture that had moved me; and as we began to dialogue, it began to open up.

“A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When all was ready, he sent his servant around to notify the guests that it was time for them to come. But they all began making excuses. One said he had just bought a field and wanted to inspect it, so he asked to be excused. Another said he had just bought five pair of oxen and wanted to try them out. Another had just been married, so he said he couldn’t come. The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was angry and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind’. After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more’. So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. For none of those I invited first will get even the smallest taste of what I had prepared for them’.”

Here are these men who have been invited to enjoy a great feast, but because they care so much about their “stuff”, i.e. cool new field, cool new oxen, and even a new bride, they turned the invitations down. What grips me about this is that the stuff that people think will elevate them to a certain status, cripples them. People begin to charish their house, their IRA, and even their spouse above God.

So what does the master do? The master calls the poor, crippled, lame and the blind to feast with him. I wonder if the people that we should be spending our time with, and sharing Christ with are this second group of people. The poor, crippled, lame and blind dont have the “stuff” that consumes the mind of the rich and the content. They are broken people who have nothing, and when offered a feast, they jump at the opportunity. Why do we spend so much time with people who seem to have it all? Maybe the better questions is why are most churches filled with people much like the first group that Jesus talked about? People that are consumed with “things”, people that are respectable in the community, people that are content with their wealth and lives and dont need anything. Shouldn’t we be like Jesus who spent his time with the Ragamuffins, the poor, the blind, the prostitutes? Maybe we shoud be spending more of our time sharing Christ with people such as these. These people are broken, and when asked to leave everyting behind and to enjoy the great feast, they can do so without a thought because they have nothing, and are longing for everything.