The Goodnight Line - Billy Minshall

“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14: 13-14, NRSV.

On Sunday, the Youth Group was asked to describe a time that they were excluded from a real or figurative table. My co-leader immediately shared that in sixth grade she was excluded by her group of friends for no apparent reason. One of the youth shared a similar experience, another claimed to have never been excluded (lucky kid), and another offered some strategies to combat exclusionary behavior that were not exactly Christ-like. 

I recalled a time when I had been excluded. When I was Eleven or Twelve, there was a local radio station where you could say goodnight to people. Each night, everyone in our friend group would call the radio station and jam the phone lines. If one of us were lucky enough to get through, the DJ would read all our names and say goodnight to all of us from the person who actually got through. It was great. Then one night, my name was not included. The next time, I was also not included. And so on. I don't recall why this happened or how it was resolved. I survived of course, but at the time it felt awful and embarrassing.

So how does this tie in with the reading? It may or may not. That’s the joy of leading Youth. Getting them to talk at all can be a minor miracle. But maybe it’s something like this. We have all been excluded at certain points in our lives. We know it hurts, so let’s not hurt anyone else. Jesus invites us to include those who may have been left out. Be humble, and remember that all are welcome at the table. God’s love is abundant. There’s more than enough for everyone.