Invitation
Suppose you found a cure for cancer, not just one kind of cancer, but all cancers. With one medication, you could wipe the scourge of cancer from the human experience forever. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I certainly think that it would.
And what if you could make the cure available to everyone? Anyone would have access to the medicine regardless of where they lived, their social status, their economic achievement, or their political inclination. I believe that would be even more wonderful.
And what if you could offer the cure free to all? To receive the cure, all anyone would need to do would be to ask for it and then take the medicine they were given. That would make the cure just about perfect!
What a wonder that would be; a universal cure for cancer, available to everyone and without cost to any. All that would be necessary for it to be effective would be for those infected to recognize their disease and then to follow the instructions for taking the medication. Who wouldn’t want such a miracle cure?!?
If you found such a cure, wouldn’t you want to tell everyone about it? Wouldn’t you want everyone to know about it? I’ll bet you couldn’t wait to tell everyone you knew about it. I can see you shouting the news from the rooftops, advertising it across the various media outlets, and holding informational seminars to explain the cure to anyone who would listen.
Your excitement about the cure would be infectious. Everyone you told about it would become excited as well, and they’d all tell others. The cycle of excitement and sharing information about the cure would not cease until every person on the face of the Earth had been told and invited to partake of the cure.
Refusal
Could you envision anyone who wouldn’t want to take the cure? Could you imagine anyone who needed the treatment, refusing the invitation to take it and be made whole? Unfortunately, I’d bet that there would be some who would refuse.
Some who were sick might doubt the efficacy of the cure. Others might distrust the message of the cure, assuming it to be a hoax. Still, others might be too sick to care and allow themselves to succumb to the disease without even trying the medicine. As with any invitation, there would be some who would refuse even if it meant the difference between life and death.
Acceptance
But imagine what the world might be like if there was such a cure! Think of the lives that could be saved. Consider the human suffering and despair that could be avoided. And, think of the resources that could be diverted to other important causes instead of being consumed by the search for a cure for cancer. Wouldn’t you want to make sure that everyone knew about the cure and was invited to participate in it?
A Story from Scripture
Scripture tells us of a similar situation in Luke 14:17-24.
In Luke, we are told (I am paraphrasing here) of a man who “gave a great banquet” and invited “a large number” of persons to join him in it. When it was ready, the man told his servants to go to the people who’d had the invitation and let them know that the feast was ready.
But when told that the feast was prepared, many of those who had been invited began to disassemble and make excuses for why they could not join the man’s feast. One said, “I just bought a piece of land and need to go and see it.” Another said, “I’ve just purchased some livestock and need to feed them.” And another said, “I’m just too busy right now.”
These ungrateful responses greatly angered the host. He had worked hard and expended much wealth to provide a feast that was to be unequaled. And to be told that the guests he’d invited had other things to do hurt him deeply.
So, he told his servants to go into the “streets and the alleys” to bring the “poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame,” to the feast. Which they did. They went out and invited everyone they could find to the feast. And so many who were thus invited accepted the invitation that the host’s house was filled with guests.
“Welcome to you all,” said the host. “Eat to your heart’s content.” “But to those who were invited and refused to attend,” he said, “not one will feast at my banquet or any other that I provide.”
God’s Invitation
I’m fairly sure that by now you’ve gotten the point of my analogy and the story of the ungrateful guests. God has issued an Invitation that is unmatched in its generosity and value. God has invited us all to His Heavenly Banquet, where we can enjoy eternal life and where there will be no more sickness, pain, anguish, or despair.
All are Invited, and it is free to all. All we have to do to take advantage of His offer is to accept Him into our lives, ask for forgiveness for our sins against Him and our fellow man, and acknowledge His Son as our Savior. God’s Invitation is a sure cure for the ultimate “disease,” death.
Talk about a great invitation! Frankly, this makes a cure for cancer pale in comparison.
Spread the News
What exciting news! This is something that we should be shouting from the rooftops and telling everyone we know about. We should be spreading God’s Invitation to any and all we know, see, and meet!
Yes, there will be those who are “too busy” or who “won’t believe.” Just as the guests invited to the host’s house had the choice to refuse, so do those who hear about God’s Invitation. But that does not excuse us from our obligation to tell them about It. And it doesn’t mean that we should keep the Invitation to ourselves.
Christ told His followers to “go forth” and “spread the Good News.” [paraphrased from Mark 16:15] And that’s what we who profess to be Christians are meant to do. We are to make sure that God’s Invitation is extended to everyone in the World.
I confess that I don’t do it enough. All too often, I keep the Good News to myself. But I also promise that I’m going to start tellin’!
God’s Blessings On You All,
Richard
October 25, 2019
