“Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people 

in parables, saying, 

‘The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king

who gave a wedding feast for his son. 

He dispatched his servants

to summon the invited guests to the feast,

but they refused to come.

A second time he sent other servants, saying,

'Tell those invited: ‘Behold, I have prepared my banquet,

my calves and fattened cattle are killed,

and everything is ready; come to the feast.’’

Some ignored the invitation and went away,

one to his farm, another to his business. 

The rest laid hold of his servants,

mistreated them, and killed them. 

The king was enraged and sent his troops,

destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 

Then he said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready,

but those who were invited were not worthy to come. 

Go out, therefore, into the main roads

and invite to the feast whomever you find.’

The servants went out into the streets

and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,

and the hall was filled with guests. 

God is a God of radical welcome and invitation. We sometimes think of faith as an exclusive club. Only those who meet the criteria fit in, are welcomed, or belong. There is of`ten a bar we set, a gate we monitor, or a litmus test we impose. This is not God’s way. All are invited! Whomever you find includes the weird, the outcast, the marginalized, the lukewarm, the struggling, the misfits, the unpopular, the socially awkward, the poor, and the suffering. All are welcome. All are invited. Our community is a place for all to belong. This is home, where those who don’t quite fit in and those who excel at fitting in join together as one family. It is a big tent and here comes everybody to the font of God’s grace and the altar of his mercy. Anyone, and I mean everyone, is welcomed and invited to the feast. Come, as you are, and partake in God’s goodness and riches. All are welcome in this place!

We are called to respond in our own time and way to God’s grace. There is no litmus test, but our hearts are called to expand to the infinite love of God. It may be halting, certainly imperfect, limited by our own hurts and struggles, but the invitation and welcome doesn’t let us off the hook for change. Embraced by God’s love and welcomed into the community of faith, of trust in God, we are called to be transformed. Often, we have it backwards. We think that transformation is the gate to belonging, but the reality is that belonging is the gate to transformation. Love hopes all things, believes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails! Love comes first. It is the bedrock of all transformation. It is only radical love and acceptance that leads to the safety of change. Each of you is loved beyond measure. Each of you is loved beyond price. God, in his son Jesus, has given everything for you. Everything! You are loved. You are invited. You are welcomed. Say yes to the invitation. Say yes to love. Say yes to God. Come to the feast!