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When one of those who reclined at table with him [Jesus Christ] heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" 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 everything 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. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled 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.' " Luke 14: 15 |
When expensive things are sold in Jersey these days, one descriptive adjective often used is “exclusive”: an exclusive development of apartments and houses; this exclusive design; exclusive to Times readers.
The attraction of exclusivity is a strange one - as used the word simply means that others are excluded from having one of these.... How excluded? Well, mainly excluded because they can’t pay the price being charged.....
This exclusivity seems to attract us not only to buy but also to pay more that we should. Hence the excellent market in luxury brands and designer labels – because worn on the outside.
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But, when it so happens that we are among the excluded, we feel, deep within, a sense of being deprived, being alienated, even being insecure if the item concerned (like a house in Jersey) would, if possessed, have provided security against future unknowns. |
‘The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clarity of the Christian invitation; the sun is no less bright because blind men do not perceive its light.' (John Calvin, French theologian, 1509 - 1564)
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Excluded - we long to go in. Deprived - we want to be there. Look back at the words in bold above. Jesus tells the story of this super banquet.... Was the problem for the host that he had sent out too many invitations - and that there was no perceived exclusivity? More likely, it seems that the original invitees felt themselves to be far greater than the host. They could all send in "regret-I-have-another-engagement" RSVPs. These invitees chose to be excluded because the function was not exclusive enough – in their eyes. The host’s response was to send his employees to scour the streets and lanes and to bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame. When there were still a few seats remaining empty, the employees were made to search the highways and hedges and to compel people from off-the-beaten-track - one could say less-than-desirable people - to come to the great banquet.
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Furthermore, the host then determined that those who had earlier excluded themselves were not to be allowed to change their minds..... The great banquet, therefore, became a very exclusive one. It excluded the first invitees. |
‘The Christian invitation is for those who have done their best - and failed.' (Anon.)
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Exclusivity is terribly hurtful - for the excluded - but, eventually, will it become even more hurtful for those who have chosen to be excluded?
Being finally and irrevocably excluded from the wondrous feast is the beginning - just the beginning - of despair and sorrow.
Jesus' parable has deep truth. As the man reclining at table with him said, before hearing the parable, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God."
That feast is by invitation. And it needs a positive RSVP. |
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