RSVP

A few weeks ago, I received an invite to a "getting to know the neighbors" dinner. Our back yard neigbors, Jerry and Mary, were opening their home and wanted to connect 5 of the families during dinner. I made plans to attend with Jackson as Candace had to work. And at 6pm we walked over to their home with our covered dish and rang the doorbell. Mary answered and we greeted her and asked if the dinner was still on. Her reaction was puzzling as she mentioned that she was hoping that I would have called. I apologized and realized I had missed something. Then Mary told me that no one had RSVP'd and they had postponed it. Oops.

Mary asked us in and we went to the back deck and spent time chatting with them. It was nice to get to know them, but as Jackson and I became hungrier by the minute (and the potato salad by itself wasn't the meal I had in mind), we decided to head home and find something to eat.

Looking back, I am reminded of the story Jesus told about the Wedding Banquet. The king sent out invites for his son's wedding but they refused and after further rebellion by his servants, the king said "go to the street corners and invite anyone you can find." The result? The wedding hall was full of people, both good and bad.

I wondered today, what's that mean for me? What does this story mean for our church? Well, the one thing that sticks out from Matthew 22 is the word "anyone." In our efforts to invite people to church, and most importantly, to Jesus we can't forget that word. I hope that in my life I am always looking for anyone to share my story with. I often pray for God to show me someone that I need to talk with, but maybe I should just start with anyone.