The Master’s response to Invitational Rejection
In Luke 14, beginning in verse 15, Jesus tells a story, or parable, of a beautiful banquet that has been prepared. But when the master of the house says, “Invite the guests,” all the guests begin to make excuses. They all reject the master’s invitation. We feel badly when we are rejected, but what about God? Think of God’s grief and broken heart. Think of God’s anger and mercy. I recall the verses at the beginning of John’s Gospel that express this: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him”.
But despite the rejection God continues to invite in the following words “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. If we find rejection painful, how much more painful must it be for God, nevertheless God goes on to invite again and again and again and the Parable goes on to show this So the master says, “Fine, go tell the blind, the lame, the maimed; go into the highways and hedges, go into the streets,the lanes, the back alleys and invite all of those folks to come in.”