Christ is constantly calling us, pleading for us to come and follow after him. He wants us to experience his glory, a glory which he is willing to share with us. To receive it, we must be open and receptive to it. He teaches us, telling us what we should do, so that we can find ourselves experiencing the kingdom of God. While many, if not most of us, say we want that, we want it on our own terms, and in our own time. We often give all kinds of excuses as to why we shouldn’t be required to do something or, at least, that we should not be expected to it now. We say we have more important things to do. This is why, though we might praise Jesus with our lips, our actions tell a different story. No matter how religious and pious we might appear to be, such piety is only on the level mere appearances. We want to limit what God can and should expect from us. We want it easy. We want all the benefits of God’s grace without embracing what we need to do to actualize it. The more ignore what Christ told us to do, the more we turn our backs on him, giving all kinds of excuses as to why, the more we reveal our true relationship with him. No matter how religious we think we are, no matter how pious our words might be, no matter how much of the faith we studied, allowing us to recite all kinds of theological doctrines, by denying the implications of our faith, we close ourselves off from the kingdom of God and the glory Christ is willing to share with us.
Christ is calling everyone to himself. How will we respond? Will we show we love him by doing what he asks of us? If we are not, but others are, including those we look down upon and denigrate, we must not be surprised if they become great in the kingdom of God, while we do not. Indeed, he warned us of this possibility in a parable:
But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, `Come; for all is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, `I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, `I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come’ (Lk. 14:16-20 RSV).
The man in the parable seems to be a well-to do member of society. Many of those who associated with him did so, not because they truly liked him, but because of what they thought they could get from him. He was a man influence and they wanted to share in that influence. This is why those he thought were his friends didn’t really care about him and his interests. They didn’t want to be with him when they had other, better things to do. This is why they gave all kinds of excuses to deny his invitation, excuses they thought he would accept. But he saw through them. He knew they could have come if they wanted. He was upset. He learned what his friends thought of them. He wanted to be with those who he thought cared for him, and when he found out they did not, he decided to change his focus, to look for new people to invite to his banquet, those who, like him, people did not really care for:
So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, `Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, `Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, `Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet’ (Lk. 14:21-24 RSV).
The man invited those society considered to be worthless; the man found that they, unlike his supposed friends, would come and appreciate what he had to offer, which was not not just the banquet, but his friendship. Indeed, he had, in some ways, become one of them, not because he was poor like them, but because he had become rejected like them. He found himself in solidarity with them.
There is a theological point behind the parable. Christ is revealing something about the great eschatological feast at the end of the world, the one which Christ is preparing for all of us. He is telling us that he hopes to share with all of us, those who claim to be his friends, what he has to offer. To accept the invitation to that feast, we must follow him, embracing his teachings, that is, the way of love. If we do so, we will find he knows us and has a place for us at the feast. Throughout his ministry, he told us that we must care for those around us, especially the poor and vulnerable in society. He himself came into the world and was found in and with those poor, and so if we want to be with him in his feast, we need to find our way to be with them as well (which is why the parable of the banquet shows the master of the feast joining himself with the outcasts of society).
Too many of us want what Christ has to offer without being willing to do what he tells us to do to receive it; we give all kinds of excuses to ignore his teachings, saying they are too hard, too impractical, and that they often get in the way of our lives. Here, we find Christ warning us, if that is our attitude, we risk being cut off from the glory which we want to have. Similarly, he tells us that we should not be surprised that we will find many of those we ridiculed, many of those we abused, many of those we acted like were far from him, have a spot with him in the eschatological feast. We must put aside all the excuses we would make that would prevent us from following Christ, from following the expectations of love. “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5 RSV). If we do, then “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:4 RSV). If we truly love Christ, if we are his friends in reality, and not just in appearance, we will do what we can to follow him; we will accept his invitation; we will reject all the excuses which we could make that would excuse us from the implications of his teachings, no matter how difficult or impractical we might think them to be.
Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!
N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In