Offering the Invitation
…For many are invited, but few are chosen.” – Matthew 22:14
In Matthew 22, we find a parable that is unique to Matthew. Some parable can be seen in various versions across the gospels, but this particular one is unique and honestly quite complex. The parable is that of a King who is troughing a wedding banquet. The beginnings of this parable are quite like some others, for the kingdom of heaven is often compared to a wedding banquet. It is the place where we become one with God through the bridegroom Christ, as we (the church) are often called the bride of Christ.
Yet, it’s the guests who are invited to this banquet and the king’s response that makes this parable so complex. Though many were invited, none of the original invitees could come. The king, then, sends his servants to the street corners to invite to the banquet anyone they could find (v.22:9). Yet, when the king comes in and sees all these now invited guests filling his hall, he picks out the man who was not wearing any wedding clothes and throws him out (v.22:11-13).
It's curious to read that the king says to his servants, that anyone and everyone should be invited, but chooses to throw out the one who is not dressed appropriately. How can we know whom the king wants invited?
In most churches, today, we strive to do all that we can to be welcoming to those who join our community. The rational is that when someone does come, they will feel like they already belong, we will introduce ourselves, offer kind words, show them a seat, do everything in our nature to be hospitable. The hope is that any who come would feel so welcomed they choose to come back, but I wonder did we do the last step of offering the invitation? There is a vast difference between being welcoming and being invitational.
Being invitational means that we want someone to be a part, we want them to choose, and we’ve made that apparent by offering our invitation. In doing so, we become the servants of the king, sent out to every street corner, to invite any who would come until the banquet hall is filled. But, we might ask, what about the one who isn’t dressed appropriately? Of course we need to look beyond outward dress, and many of us over the past year of being home more have decided to become a little more casual (and I’m all for it). But the dress is not the outward appearance, for God does not look there, but at the heart (1 Sam 16:7).
We don’t always see there, but God does, and as the servants in the parable our work it to do the inviting. The king, the True King who looks into the heart, will then offer salvation, eternal life, abundant freedom, and will do, because he has done everything to invite all to trade their rags for wedding garments. Church, though we are already part of the wedding banquet, we continue to do the inviting, and God continues to do the saving. It is God who will decide who remains, and our job to make sure everyone has hear the invitation. Who might you invite?
Grace & Peace,
Sam