Invited

Posted on by missyfunderburk

The Gospel passage for the Second Sunday after Pentecost is from St. Luke 14:16-24. It includes a parable about a man who invited many to his house for a great supper he had prepared. His invitation was met with declines, brimming with excuses and reasons. And so the man sent his servant out to invite others instead.

“But I say unto you, that none of those men that were invited shall taste of my supper.”

St. Luke 14:24

First and foremost, I am convicted about how I respond to the Lord’s invitations. I must always make the effort to discern:

  1. Whether the invitation is truly from God
  2. How to accept and participate within my vocation or state of life

Secondly, I noticed His response to their declines.

  1. He does not change His offer to fit their perceived priorities or their palate.
  2. He does not try to further convince them or haggle with them.
  3. He invites others instead, to fill His house for the original purpose of the supper.

That last line in the passage is very…final. Extremely convicting. My soul wanted to squirm away, having quite a distaste for score-carding. Humans so often abuse such situations and create score-cards in our minds as an excuse to be selfish and uncharitable.

And yet, God is neither of those things. He is all Humility and Love, and so this must be viewed through His complete character, not ours that is still in progress. When you push away all temptations to hold grudges, Truth still remains.

These moments of choice will define our relationships.

Our choices and actions set boundaries that reveal levels of trust and intimacy, whether we remain as mere acquaintances or become family.

If we decline the great supper that is offered, we will not taste that specific supper.

We are all invited to True Love, and you simply cannot have True Love without Truth. That would be a completely different supper than what is offered on the invitation.

This is not uncharitable…we are all invited.

This is not an assault on freedom…we are all freely choosing how to respond to every invitation.

It’s simply Truth.

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