10102020 – Matthew 22. 1-14
This is an amazing parable. An amazing story. You gotta love it.
There are so many nuances, so many twists, and turns, so many different ways that you COULD go with it.
So, TODAY, I see it THIS WAY…
By Wednesday, I will surely see it DIFFERENTLY.
It is a story about PRESENCE. It is a story about SHOWING UP. It is about being THERE. ATTENDING. LISTENING. WATCHING. SEEING. PARTICIPATING. CELEBRATING. It is about being ENGAGED. BEING A PART OF…
You do realize the first group invited COULD NOT be bothered.
People have SO MANY excuses, don’t they? DON’T WE?
It’s too COLD. It’s too HOT. It is RAINY. It is SNOWY. It is too DAMP. The weather MIGHT turn bad. I have to go to WORK. I wanna SLEEP in. I am TIRED. I was out TOO LATE, last night. I don’t have enough GAS. I wanna go UP NORTH. I gotta pull my PIER OUT. I OVERSLEPT. I didn’t FEEL LIKE IT.
I tell you it is about “SHOWING UP.”
The first group had a million and one EXCUSES…why they COULD NOT/ SHOULD NOT go ahead and ATTEND.
There are ALWAYS excuses.
The second group SHOWED UP. They were PRESENT. They CAME. They MADE it. They were ENGAGED. They wanted to be THERE. They ATTENDED.
THEY WERE ALL INVITED…both groups.
The good, the bad, the wealthy, the poor a cross-section of all the people.
One group made EXCUSES.
The other group was PRESENT.
I tell you, that’s the ONLY DIFFERENCE.
They were all INVITED.
They were all FAVORED.
They were all REQUESTED.
They were all DESIRED.
They were all WORTHY.
NONE of them did anything to EARN an invitation.
None of them did anything OUTSTANDING to DESERVE an invitation.
You either SHOWED.
Or,
You DIDN’T.
YOU CAME or YOU STAYED AWAY.
That’s but one REASON why this parable about a KING’s SON Wedding is so outrageous, so shocking…so very disturbing…
I mean, WHO??? TURNS DOWN an invitation from a KING? Why WOULD you? I mean, this is BIG STUFF!
IMPORTANT STUFF. PRIORITY STUFF.
EPOCH MAKING. SIGNIFICANT.
And, HIGHLY CONSEQUENTIAL.
The SAME exact invitation was given to ALL.
It is a story about INCLUSION, PRESENCE, GRACE, MERCY, and about an invitation ACCEPTED.
SO, why is this “ONE GUY kicked out?”
It’s gotta be more than just a “dress code violation” issue…anyone could have “spotted him” in some fancy duds…and he could have been dressed to the “nines.”
I suspect because he was NOT REALLY present. Something was AMISS. Oh, he was there physically, alright. But that was all. Just “a body” in a STINKY ROBE…taking up SPACE.
He was there alright, but he wasn’t really PRESENT. He wasn’t ENGAGED. It even says, “He was SPEECHLESS.” No RESPONSE. No ANSWER. No NOTHING. Not participating. Just there. TAKING UP SPACE. Like he wasn’t really there, at all.
What if he “WOULD HAVE” engaged himself…and made his PRESENCE known? What “IF” he would have said…
“I was hungry, I was lonely, I heard the music, I smelled the food, I was thirsty, I was sad and grieving, I knew there would be abundance here and I was empty and I thought somehow in someway I might be filled…and so, I stumbled in.”
I am sure the King would have responded…WELCOME FRIEND. We are glad you are here. We thank you for your presence. Come, enjoy, be filled…be satisfied.
Sometimes it is all about PRESENCE. Just SHOWING UP and BEING THERE and BEING ENGAGED!
And the WEDDING was a BLAST for those that were THERE an UNFORGETTABLE-FOREVER TALKED ABOUT – EPOCH MAKING EVENT.
Thanks for being here! And, being engaged!
Amen.