It’s still stuck to the fridge… The invitation you meant to answer weeks ago.
You did truly intend to go, but then the week happened. Work ran late, the kids had sport, the car needed a service, the inbox kept filling up. Nothing wrong with any of that. And then somewhere in the middle of all those perfectly reasonable things, the date quietly came and went.
Most of us have been on the other side of that, too. You book the venue, order the food, set the tables, and then observe the late apologies and the empty chairs.
This Sunday we’re looking at one of Jesus’ most surprising and unsettling stories (Matthew 22:1-14). A king throws a wedding feast for his son, with the best food money can buy, and the invited guests simply can’t be bothered to turn up. What the king does next is outrageous, generous and confronting all at once. And the story ends with a line that has puzzled readers for two thousand years:
“Many are called, but few are chosen.”
Is that a line about other people? Or is it about us? What does it mean to be invited, and what does it take to actually turn up?
The invitation is out. Come and hear the story.
