Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
A meditation on Matthew 22.1-13
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.
• Maybe life is not a test, but a party.
• Perhaps Judgment Day is not a trial, but a wedding.
• It could be that what it’s all about is not success but love and faithfulness.
• What if God’s Word is not a command but an invitation?
Then he said to his slaves, “Go into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
• It’s possible that what God most wants of you is not to be “good” but to be present.
• Imagine that everyone else is also invited, and being present for God is being present for others.
• Consider that when we judge others as not worthy to sit with, it is we ourselves whom we exclude from the Realm of Heaven; we are the ones who will not come.
When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to the attendants, “Throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.
• What if righteousness is not purity but wonder?
• Maybe many are grudgingly obedient but few are joyful.
• Ponder this, that since the invitation may come at any moment, we should be dressed for the party at all times: our hearts clothed with joy, prepared to celebrate, ready to rejoice in the gift of faithful love, not on some distant day, but right now.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
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Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net