What Do You Expect From God?

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ - Luke 14:15-21

Jesus tells many stories about food, parties, and welcome - hospitality was a massive theme in his ministry. Sometimes that emphasis seems to have been overshadowed by ‘salvation’ and ‘purity’ in the American church, which is ironic because those were not as important.

In any case, there were two groups of people in this story - those who were expecting the invitation, & those who never would have expected it. Those who expected the invitation saw themselves as close to the host, socially, morally; those who didn’t expect the invitation saw themselves as far off, socially, morally, and religiously.

Which group do you associate with the most - the one that expected an invitation or the one that didn’t? What does that say about you? See if you can turn your response into a prayer to talk about with Jesus right now.