Second Invitation to the Banquet of the Intimate

This post is by my guest blogger, Julita.

(*the parables stated in this write up is found in Matthew 21:28-46)

Today when I read the parables, I don't only learn a simple moral lesson, ask that you may see through the parable because it has more relevance today than it may ever have in our lifetime. Since the time of waiting grows more intense, a lot of believers tend to do things on their own, planning the future from their logic and wit. Waiting is waiting, it is a time when the voice of God may be rare but it doesn't mean that we can go ahead of Him. In the season of sifting, parables are used so that the true seeker and submission will arise, we learn to break through the bondage of mediocrity. If you receive the invitation ahead of time, it means you are very important, it means you have a role to play. Isn't it that when a friend is holding a wedding the closest ones are the first to know they are invited? They are told ahead of time, even before the invitation is sent out to the public. Many believers will be invited but just like the first parable, not everyone will respond to the call. On the first parable, the first son who refused to obey but eventually changed his mind is the sinner, the ridiculed one whom the church labeled as immoral and hopeless. The second son on the other hand, are the people who are very knowledgeable about the scripture, probably some seminary stand-outs. But because of their knowledge and the height of their self belief, they are not able to grasp the purpose of the invitation. I heard a man say, when he found God the search is over. I think that's a major problem, and it's the problem of many Christians today. When you find God, the search is not over! Seek to know Him more, when you know Him, be intimate with Him, when you become intimate with Him, ask for a marriage! This, this is where the difference lies, many people stop at the knowledge of having God beside them all the time. If your mental attitude today is still "Penge, penge, penge.." ("Can i have this, can i have that, can i have this") Then we have not grown mature in faith. Pag binigay naman ang gusto, hindi pa rin naman lumalalim sa Diyos. (And when we are given what we insist on, did we respond by becoming intimate with the Giver?)

I cannot tell how marvelous it is in the Banquet, it is beyond words but let faith take you there. Blessed are those who did not see and yet believed. The second parable is as important, there is a purpose why this parable was told next after the parable of the two sons. The church - the body of Christ - are the tenants, sometimes we take ownership of a land that are only placed on our stewardship. We enjoy its fruits without sharing the due portion to the owner. We take in glory, build a name for ourselves and "market" our style with advertisements. A true minister is identified by where he points the lost - if he points it to a denomination, a church name, a person that is not Jesus, then i think we have something to remedy. Everything must be directed back to communing with God, and let God take you further. Our church ministers are only ushers, they usher us in, suppose to direct us to God, then let God take your hand and take you further with Him. When the fruits are being asked of us, we attack the servants sent by the owner, we beat them, kill then and stone them. (Matt. 21) But it is written that to those who have been sent but was stoned, they may have been broken to pieces but they will become the capstone, and those that stoned them will be crushed. How do we respond to the invitation? You may say, "I want to come but I don't know how?" Seek Him, don't just seek Him on a Sunday service and don't just seek Him on a cell group or Bible study. That is not seeking, that is expecting. You come to a service or a study expectant to encounter God but it is different when you really stop and push your heart to its limits and knock down the gates of heaven to enter the core of His presence. Those who are truly hungry to experience the Banquet, they are the ones that do not stop, they press on even when it seems hopeless to hear God and you have not a clue what God is saying, they do not stop until God speaks. They knock down the gates of heaven, enter His courts with a stubborn love to offer, crazy kind of love.

What is God doing now? Why are these parables said in such chronological manner? The invitation is not yet finished, trumpets are being sounded again but it is our choice if we respond or not. Some people, when they receive an invitation, they may take it but then lay it down in a corner once they get home. Some take the invitation, read it a little, be thankful for it but they do not value it. Just like the first one, they lay it aside and soon forget about it. Invitations are not usually meant for the public, it is meant for those who are dearest to God, handpicked and chosen. So if you receive an invitation like this from God it means you are very very loved, you are very very important. When you receive an invitation from God, accept it, take it and read it, keep it in your mind and make sure you come. I'll say that again, MAKE SURE YOU COME. The succeeding parable will explain more of the times and seasons. But for now, we may be in an uncomfortable state but the invitation is to give us hope. It's like the daffodil as the first sign of spring.

The chronological order of the parables in the Bible as Jesus told them in the book of Matthew are as relevant as the message in it. He unraveled the the times and season through the parables He told, but the parables in itself has two purposes: it is designed to hide and to reveal. It hides to those who listens only to scrutinize and criticize, it hides from mere spectators but it reveals to those who are seeking. Just as in the first parable, the sinner, the lost, are seeking and soon, the witnesses over us will ask, "They were sinners, outcasts and misfits, BUT DID THEY NOT WENT AHEAD OF THOSE THAT SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER?"

May Christ be in you. God bless.