You're Invited!

Matthew 22:3 - "He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come."

Well, that is a drag! Who doesn't want to go to a wedding? Dancing, partying, community, joy. A wedding without guests does not sound like heaven. ... Yet, who was invited? The master's rich friends and business contacts. They have snubbed him.

In the parable, of course, the master is God, sending out his prophets to call those invited (chosen?) to communion with him. As Jesus made clear in the previous parable, the prophets weren't well-liked and so were not treated well. In this case, they're rebuffed in a similar way: no one invited wanted to come. It's important to remember that Jesus was a Jewish person talking to fellow Jews when he condemns them for not listening to the prophets, for their duplicity and their hypocrisy.

For Jesus, these very same chief priests and elders he is talking with are those who refused to come. But, you know what? We don't always come either. Very few of us are so attentive to Jesus' invitation and so intentional about following that we never hesitate. We count the cost first.

Like the chief priests and elders, we can say, "No." But, in my experience, Jesus has a way of becoming annoyingly present when we do! Just ask Jonah. Because Jesus wants to spend time with us, he wants to love us and through us love others, and he wants to work with us in building his kin-dom. It is we who are afraid of losing the security and comfort that we have carefully built. Although this parable makes it seem that Jesus only asks periodically, Jesus is always asking, constantly trying to get our attention. We need to tune our dials to his station.

In this season of Lent, maybe one thing we can repent is our resistance to him; our desire to go our own way; our desire to live secularly during the week, while going to church on Sunday.

I had a weekend that challenged my trust in Jesus' faithfulness. It's times like that when we learn the true condition of our spiritual life. The dark times teach us the true quality of our relationships with God, with ourselves, and with others. They teach us how much we need Jesus and where we are in need of repentance.

How would I characterize my relationships? How can I be more attentive to Jesus' voice calling me into communion? Do I need to repent not listening to his invitation?