“Parable of the Banquet” Death Row: Jeff Hood & Bart Johnson
The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Death Row Spiritual Advisor
Bart Johnson, Prisoner on Alabama’s Death Row
Luke 14:16-24
Jesus told a story. The story was not just a story. Then again, stories rarely are just stories. There is always something more than the words at hand. The shape of words shape our lives…or at least the way we know them.
There was a man who prepared a banquet. Upon completing the preparations, the man instructed his servant to hand out the invitations. Instead of accepting his hospitality, all the people he invited made excuses. One said he had to tend to his field. One said he had to check on his oxen. One said he just got married. When the servant reported that no one had accepted the invitations, the man got mad and declared, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” The servant completed the task…but there was still more room. The man then said to invite all the people of the streets. The only people he demanded never get to come were those who declined his invitation in the first place.
The message of God always begins at the bottom. Jesus said, “What you have done to the least of these you have done to me.” Our invitations to the top will always fall short. People who don’t need anything. Or at least they think they don’t. This is the problem with the most. There are always distractions from the feast. There are always things to do that are more important than the joy and fulfillment of the banquet. God has created a banquet. Will we proudly accept the invitation or ignorantly refuse? The answer to such a question seems to rest in the status we are in when we receive the invitation. So, if we want to hear from God…we are wise to stay close to where God is…with the least of these.
The other pivotal part of this passage is that God extends the invitation. When God begins with the least, others are swept up in the overwhelming grace…the only ones who are left behind are the ones who are too proud to see the value of the invitation that they have. There is nothing more important than the feast…the banquet of love.
Truly, life is about looking out for invitations…or even better…just following the least.
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