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Coffee With Sister Vassa
ACCEPTING GOD’S INVITATION
“And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come… they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business...” (Mt 22: 1-3,5)
Why does our Lord compare His kingdom to a marriage feast? Because marriage is a sacrament of unity, just like the Church is a sacrament of unity, which it “takes a village” to celebrate and sustain. It involves choosing to enter into unity with another or others, and suiting up and showing up (in appropriate dress) for that, rather than choosing to remain on our own, doing our own thing. The latter can be more comfortable for us, especially if we are like those in the parable who were the first to be invited. They had their own farm and business, so these were busy people.
Why does the king in the parable invite the super-busy people first? Probably because they really need to take a break from their own thing and do the king’s thing, for Him and others. When we become too busy to dedicate some time to communion with God and others, it’s a tap on the shoulder that we need to press Pause. Perhaps being too busy for God is not so much an objective reality as a state of mind? I think it’s not necessarily coming from a disrespect for God, as if He doesn’t matter. It sometimes comes from a subtle self-disrespect, from thinking I don’t matter to Him (and others); whether or not I am there, at the common banquet, or how I am dressed if I’m there, doesn’t matter.
But the Lord is saying in this parable that I do matter, because God continues to go to the trouble of inviting me to join the “feast” of communion with Him and others. This “feast” happens not just in church, but daily, when I’m called for a time out to participate in some God-time and in other-people’s time, according to my responsibilities. He asks only that I show up in decent dress like any self-respecting person.
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