Who’s in, and who’s out?
Do you ever think about how much effort we put into that question? It begins in middle school with the “cool kids’” table, and I don’t think it ever stops. Most groups, it seems, have their own version of the cool kids’ table.
Jesus knew all about this human weakness. In Luke 14 he offers two parables about banquets.
In the first, he advised people not to seek the places of honor, concluding, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
He then suggested that the host, instead of inviting his friends, should invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.”
In the second parable, a man preparing a great banquet invited a bunch of important guests all made up excuses to decline the invitation. So, he followed Jesus’ advice and brought in all the folks who didn’t belong.
The scorned host, in what Jesus intended as a prophetic pronouncement, proclaimed, “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”
I’m paraphrasing, and you might want to read Luke 14 yourself. But the message, I think, is pretty clear.
Our notions about who’s in and who’s out, who belongs at the cool kids’ table, who we ought to hang out with, don’t necessarily align with what Jesus had in mind.
Personally, that’s a very good thing. If Jesus only wanted to hang out with the cool kids, those who had it all together, I’d be in lots of trouble. I’m glad he opens the door to messed up folks like me.
And – I’m glad the kids at the Home of Hope get the opportunity to know he opens the door to them as well. They would never have been welcome at the cool kids table in their culture.
Now they know they’re welcome at the greatest banquet ever.