Invited Yet Unwelcome

Our country has been arguing about gay marriage for some time now. At the time of this writing 17 states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriages. Yet polls indicate a split down the middle on the issue. So here is the question: If you got invited to the wedding and reception of a gay couple, would you go? Would you feel comfortable sitting at the wedding reception table for the celebratory meal?
It is probably the most unsettling feeling to eat in the presence of people you are uncomfortable around, or people that you do not like. Mealtimes are probably the times we are the most relaxed and at ease. It is hard to be at ease when you are in the presence of people you do not respect or like.
In ancient Hebrew culture mealtimes were even more special and intimate. As a matter of fact, Jews held hospitality as a very sacred virtue. The Jewish Shema states, “The Lord our God . . . is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). They understood that to mean that the ultimate goal for society was to become one in community and relationship. Thus, when entertaining guests, it was absolutely essential to ensure that their needs were met, especially during mealtime. On one occasion Jesus chided Simon, the Pharisee, for not providing water for foot washing to Him and the other dinner guests (Luke 7:44).

However, despite their values of hospitality, there were certain people that Jews would never entertain, much less invite into their homes for a meal.

The Jews believed that if a person was sick or suffered some misfortune, it was evidence of God’s disapproval and judgment. They believed that those who were paralyzed, blind, or leprous were cursed by God because of their sins. Furthermore, there were certain groups with whom the Jews would not even socialize. They were chosen by God to represent His will and character in the world. Yet they misunderstood His favor to mean favoritism. But Jesus’ ministry would change all of that.
In this parable Jesus tells the story of a man who prepares a “great banquet” for some special guests. However, when he extends the invitation, they excused themselves. One had just recently bought a piece of land, and probably wanted to go and survey the property. Another had just bought some new oxen to help him plow his fields, and he wanted to go and try them out. Still another had just been married, and maybe wanted to go directly to his honeymoon.
When the host learned that they had rejected his hospitality, he decided in an angry huff that he would extend his invitation to anyone who would come. He ordered his servant to go out into the city streets and alleyways “and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Luke 14:21, NIV).1 Anyone he can find is now welcome. The servant did as he was told, and before the owner’s anger could subside, the hall was furnished with grateful guests. But with space for more guests still, the owner ordered his servant to expand the invite to the countryside and county roads.
The story ends abruptly with a fairly dark saying of the obviously still upset owner:  “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet” (verse 24, NIV).
Ironically, Jesus told this story while at a banquet of a prominent religious leader. He was surrounded by the very important and powerful, the very group that believes that poor people, sick people, and foreigners are all cursed by God. They could not possibly be invited into the intimate proximity of the chosen ones. They are cursed, and that is why they were not invited to this particular banquet with all the “important” people.
But Jesus’ story reverses that notion. In His story it
is those who are poor, lame, or blind that receive the favor of the master. And it is the privileged ones who are shut out. The owner determines to make sure that the hall is full, so that even if they change their mind they won’t be allowed in. They had their chance and they rejected it, and now their seat has been taken. Now the favored ones are cursed, and the cursed ones are favored.
Could it be that this parable still vividly describes churches today? Are we angry at the dinner table because we do not like being around them? If so, maybe we are the ones who the owner promises will not be allowed to enter the great banquet.
You can take your pick of outcasts and undesirables, and ask yourself: Would I feel comfortable breaking bread with them? We may have started this discussion in the context of members of the LGBT community, and that is a reality-based example, but there may be so much more. What about a drug dealer, a drug addict, a Wall Street CEO, a crooked politician, a prostitute, or an undocumented immigrant? Would they be welcome guests at your table? Maybe you are the one who feels like an outcast.
If you feel as though church is not for you because you do not fit in, or because the people there are cold and snobbish, then the words of Jesus are especially for you. He wants you to know that God’s kingdom is established on the foundation of grace, love, and acceptance. He proclaimed that His “house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7, ESV).2 He welcomes you to His house.
I hope you’re hungry, because the table is set and the food is ready.

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Scriptures quotations credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
2Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

christopher c. thompson has written three books on spiritual growth, and blogs regularly at www.thegrowthnetwork.org. He is also a doctoral candidate at United Theological Seminary.

If you were to take a personal inventory of some of your best days, you would realize that there were some truly joyous days that you have experienced. Maybe it is a golden moment from your childhood, or the moment you met the one you were to be with the rest of your life, or even some academic or occupational accomplishment that you longed for. Whatever it may be, we find in Scripture a very sobering lesson from the one called Jesus Christ.

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*Scriptures quotations credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Rashad Burden is an associate pastor for youth at the Buckhead Fellowship chruch in Buckhead, Georgia.