Insight for your “Journey across the Sky

A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

Jesus said to him, “A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is ready now.’“Everyone asked to be excused. _{Luke 14:16-18a (GW)}

I was excited! I couldn’t wait! Finally it arrived in the mail! I got my invitation. The party was going to be in a few weeks and they wanted to give me plenty of time to make arrangements to attend because they really wanted me to be there. It felt good to actually be invited to go to the party. It was nice to be wanted. To be singled out to receive an invitation. No one else on my street got an invitation. No one else at work got this invitation. It was sent to me and to me only. It was a special invitation. I had been chosen to attend.

Perhaps you would not be as excited as I am to get an invitation. Perhaps you get invited to all kinds of affairs and this would have been just another invitation. To you it may have been just one of many but to me it was the only invitation I was to receive. I knew there would not be another one at least not this year so I made arrangements to attend. Nothing was going to stand in my way from attending this party. I made up my mind I was going. I felt special because I had one of only a few invitations to this particular party It was not exclusive but it was a party for only a few people. Friends, family and just a few people the hosts wanted to share the evening with.

Making preparations to attend was not hard. Everything I needed to know was provided for me on the invitation- the time and place set for this party. All I had to do was show up. I did inquire as to any dress code because I did not want to show up in the wrong attire. I did not want to be disqualified from the actual party because of being under dressed. I figured business casual was probably the best approach to take. It was not classified as a black tie party so I knew a tux was not required. I did not want to show up in street clothes though so I picked a nice shirt and tie and proceeded to prepare for the evening.

I did not have to pay I just had to show up. All the preparations had been done by the host and all the expense was paid for by the host as well. I just had to show up and enjoy the evening. I so looked forward to a good time.

The only thing that each participant had in common was to honor the host We all had a relationship with him. We all wanted to spend this special occasion with him. As guests we knew that the party was not about us but it was to honor the host. Each of us brought appropriate gifts and cards to offer the host

In our bible story the original invitees made excuses to not attend the party. Not to be outdone the host gave instructions to invite anyone who would come. Originally the party was to be exclusive and only a chosen few would be able to attend but because of their refusal the invitation was given to whosoever would come in order that the host would have a full house at his party.

“The servant went back to report this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry. He told his servant, ‘Run to every street and alley in the city! Bring back the poor, the handicapped, the blind, and the lame.’ _{Luke 14:21 (GW)}

Invite the lame the blind the poor and the downtrodden. I can understand how a homeless person would feel to get a fancy invitation to some inaugural ball somewhere. I mean they would first look at you like you were from another planet because who in their right mind would invite someone of their social class to attend an affair of that magnitude? I mean who would think to invite the unseemly and the unbecoming to be at a fancy party? Why would this host want to invite all these undesirables?

Well I do not know about you but I have a hard time fitting in at some of those exclusive clubs. I am never invited to special events of any magnitude. I would never be invited to greet the President or some dignitary I am not of any account as far as this world is concerned. I do not appear in any party planners guest list for any celebrity bash. I am not on the radar of who’s who in American Pop culture. Heck I do not even get summoned to jury duty. Therefore getting an invitation is a big deal to me. So too would a special invitation be a big deal to these outcasts. To those who are not of the in crowd this was a big deal. They would do whatever they had to do to attend this party.

Think back to when you were in school. There were those who were of the popular crowd and then there were the rest of us who were not so popular. I think I was only invited to one party ever in my childhood. How sad you say. Well I got the invitation that matters. The only one that has any lasting value. I was invited to the King’s banquet table. I was given an opportunity to participate because those of the in- crowd were otherwise engaged. I am grateful to the host for extending the invitation to include me but I am even more grateful to those who refused to attend so that I would be given an opportunity.

God chose the foolish things to confound the wise. God chose me! Where’s your invitation?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

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