5 November 2019 - to the highways and hedgerows

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.

Why do we excuse ourselves from the great banquet to which God invites us? Our reasons sound a lot less fun the a great feast. Examining a field or examining oxen that we've purchased really don't sound like good alternatives. Even a recent marriage sounds more like an excuse than a genuine reason. Perhaps we have the sense that our so-called 'real life' will collapse without us there keeping watch over it at every moment. We choose not to enter into the providence of God because we refuse to relinquish control, or as is actually the case, the illusion of control.

The feast is incomplete when we refuse to participate.

We, though many, are one Body in Christ
and individually parts of one another.

God uses us to invite others to the feast. He uses us to nourish one another once we do arrive. He puts all of our gifts to use in bringing together his people for celebration.

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,
let us exercise them:
if prophecy, in proportion to the faith;
if ministry, in ministering;
if one is a teacher, in teaching;
if one exhorts, in exhortation;
if one contributes, in generosity;
if one is over others, with diligence;
if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

The feast, then, is not merely something passive. It is not that we turn aside from the control of our own lives and circumstances to be merely receptive. Rather we are called to cooperate with the grace we are given. God's desire is to feed the nations with the bread from heaven. We each have a part to play.

Do not grow slack in zeal,
be fervent in spirit,
serve the Lord.

Let us not neglect the invitation nor grow weary in exercising our gifts with zeal. There are those who are weeping who need an understanding ear. There are those who long to find others with whom they can rejoice in the LORD. Perhaps we fear the differences between the peoples invited to the feast. From a worldly point of view this is a challenge. But to God, bringing together "the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame" and people from "the highways and hedgerows" will make us stronger and more complete than any sort of homogeneity.

Have the same regard for one another;
do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.

Let us come to the feast!