February 10, 2009
The King's Invitation
In my political life I get a variety of personal invitations and I try to attend as many events as I can so that I can connect with the community. A while back I received a generic invitation in the mail to attend an open house for a church that had relocated. The invitation appeared to be for the community at large and while I mentally wished them the best in their new digs, I didn’t think about attending. The parable of the Wedding Banquet then comes to mind (Matt 22). I’m not going to make excuses for those who paid no attention to the invitation…they made enough of those for themselves. However, I’ve got to wonder if any of them thought the invitation was generic rather than personal.
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Gail;
-----The Bible is a generic invitation. It is written for everyone who will open it and read. If it were not generic, then before, “In the beginning…” would be, “Dear Steve Corey;” or “Dear Gail Marvel.” Of course it addresses the most personal issues, and it calls for the most personal response, but its call is to anyone who will hear.
-----By the circumstances in the parable of the Wedding Banquet, the first invitations seemed rather personal. The servants were sent to bring, “…those who were invited.” We know that the parable was referring to the Israelites. They very specifically received the invitation into the Kingdom, and did not come.
-----Maybe you are right in speculating that the invited guests only perceived the invitation as generic. But the circumstances of every refusal Jesus pointed out concerned a situation they valued more than a prince’s wedding feast. There probably was nothing personal in any of their refusals, they simply honored themselves.
-----I think the main point is in who did the inviting more than how the inviting was done. One should certainly not spurn an invitation from the king, whether it is generic or not. There is a strong relationship present. That is why the Bible should not be spurned. And maybe one might be less dishonorable spurning an invitation from someone else’s king. But one would certainly not be dishonorable by failing to respond to an open invitation from some “Joe” across town. Although some church across town means more to us than some “Joe” across town, it certainly is not the same as an invitation from the King. Is it?
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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