Invitations are sent by the one giving the opportunity. Whether that be for hospitality or for work or any other purpose, the one who attends comes at the wishes of the one whose invitation it is. But what if there is no one who responds to the call?

In Luke 14 Jesus tells the parable of a feast where it is not the friends of the man who gives the invitation who attend but random people who are hungry. The so-called friends have no desperation to eat, so the distractions of their own lives pull them away to other things, but the meal is ready and someone has to eat it, so whoever comes has a seat at the table.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8

But who are we in that story? We’re not the servants going and calling people. No, that role is adequately filled by the prophets and Jesus and his apostles who all shared the direct divine revelations of God the Father. We are the poor, the hungry, the homeless and the wretched who came in from the cold because we heard there was free food. So praise God for his merciful invitation, and savor the Good News: the feast is ready, come eat and be filled.

Ethan Kirl