22 Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!
4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.
7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:1-14
Dear God, there isn’t much way around the idea that Jesus makes pretty clear in this passage: there will be a sorting of good and evil people at some point. I would rather think of you as having one big tent and that Jesus’s sacrifice is for everyone, but it’s hard to make that case in each of the stories Jesus tells that begin with, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” I mean, I would think that this story would end with the King bringing everyone in and there being wonderful feast. The point of the story being that the Gentiles are here when the Israelites chose not to be. Nice story. The end. But no, that ‘s not where Jesus stopped it. He included the part about the commoner who was invited, but did not respect the invitation.
So what’s my role? It’s a big world. There are a lot of people in it. What’s my role in it as your ambassador? Is it to evangelize more. Is it to help disciple more people? Is it to spend more time with you myself? Should I use these things you are revealing to me and allow the fear of it to motivate me to call more people into relationship with you?
Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I’m working all of this out very slowly. I hope that doing this slowly is making it more thorough and better. More impactful for me. Help me to be your ambassador today. Love through me today. I have some friends who need healing. Please heal them. Please comfort them. My wife is about to go to a funeral. Please comfort the widow and her family. I’m about to have lunch with a family member. Please love through me. “Oh Lord, Oh Lord, I know you hear my cry. Your love is lifting me above all the lies. No matter what I face, this I know in time. You’ll take all that is wrong and make it right.” (Lauren Daigle – “O’ Lord”) Make it right, Lord, and use me however you want to accomplish your will.
I pray all of this through the mercy and reality of who Jesus is, your son,
Amen
Emails to God 