Daily Invitation

We invited our neighbors over for dinner tonight! Rachel and I have been looking forward to this for some time. We found out Matt and Mary don't like veggies of any type, so we baked some fries and cooked up some chili cheese dogs for them. When we saw a car pull into their driveway at six thirty, Rachel poked her head out, "You guys want to have dinner tonight?" "Maybe, it would have to be later though," Mary responded, "I'm only home quick; I have to go to work for a couple of hours yet." "Okay, how about tomorrow night," offered Rachel. She excitedly agreed. So we ate the meal ourselves and we're hoping to have them over tomorrow instead.

I was sad that it didn't work out*. Not to over-spiritualize the situation, but it reminded me of a
story Jesus told of a man who threw a great banquet. All the invited guests had excuses and "regretfully declined". So the man tells his servants to invite the poor and the crippled. Even so, the house is still not full. So he sends his servants out to the streets in order to compel anybody to come to the party.

Rachel and I didn't go out to the streets proclaiming that our chili cheese dog feast was prepared for all who would come. But part of me wanted to. We had plenty of food to eat and would have loved to share it. But the fact is, we can invite, but we can't make people come. I wonder if this is how God feels, but all the time. The Kingdom of God is a feast He prepares a feast for everyone, but only some are willing to drop what's going on around them and come. It's not a once-and-for-all kind of invitation or a junior high summer camp kind of invitation. It's not just a life-changing prayer. It's not just a service on Sunday. It's not an invitation that can be shelved for later. It's not an invitation that can be conjured up. It is a daily invitation from God himself, and we respond one way or the other. I can let the invitation pass me by** (maybe I'll go when I'm done with work, maybe when I'm not so tired, maybe when I'm not so busy). Or I can respond now with a yes, drop my excuses and come to the feast.




*Nothing against them at all. I respect the fact that Mary needs to work odd hours. I also admit that this was mostly due to miscommunication on our part. I don't judge them and I don't blame them, but it still made me feel let down.

**When I pass up an invitation from God, I don't believe He holds it against me. I believe He responds much like Rachel, "Okay, Brendan. I'll ask again tomorrow." The loss is mine, not God's.