On Being Invited

AM Psalm 80 • PM Psalm 77, [79]
Joel 1:1-13 • Rev. 18:15-24 • Luke 14:12-24

I haven’t often found myself in the shoes of the poor, the cripples, the lame, or the blind. This a sign of the class and privilege I was born into. Sure, there was the summer I found myself on crutches after a cut to my foot from a glass that slipped from the counter and my driver’s license affirms my need for corrective lenses, but I don’t think that qualifies me to make the guest list for the banquet that our Gospel writer details in today’s reading. 

That is until Matthew died. Suddenly, as a widow, I am part of the cast of others that the writers of the Bible often speak about. It is strange to suddenly find myself on this side of the equation. I’ve found it to be much easier to be on the side of the helper or in this story the inviter. Very complicated feelings emerge when you are the outcast being welcomed, no matter how hospitable the welcome is. 

In the immediate aftermath of Matthew’s death, I learned that I had to say “yes” to help that I needed even though I could not repay it and doing so in fact was a gift to the people who were offering me assistance. I won’t pretend that this understanding made the accepting any easier. I do not want, like so many people I know do not want, to be reliant on other people or to need to be invited. But pretending we are not reliant on each other is a folly and is antithetical to the Good News that Jesus shares.  

We were created to be in community with each other, to be dependent on each other, to give what we can and take what we need. Let’s try to do better at saying yes to that invitation.

Written by Samantha Clare

Samantha looks for Good News every day.