When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” (Luke 14:15-24)
Over two weeks ago I experienced something similar to this great wedding feast that Jesus tells us about in the book of Luke. The staff in Eastleigh decided months ago to invite all of the street people that attend church in Eastleigh to a banquet in their honor one Sunday following worship. Preparations were made at a place called Wanderjoy that could host the event under a large tent for about 150 people. The event would include fine dining, catered food, music, refreshments, dessert and a serving staff. As the day approached, more and more people in the Eastleigh area heard about the big banquet and so made plans to attend church that morning.
The big day arrived and with it came chaos. I arrived at Eastleigh church that morning with the Knoxville group (Hardin Valley church of Christ) who would help in hosting the event. As we drove past the Eastleigh center to park there was at least 100 street boys gathered out in front of the center. We exited the vehicle and immediately we were engulfed by street smells (rotting trash, glue bottles, dirty people) as the boys surrounded us to greet us as we entered the center. After extricating ourselves from prying hands and fist bumps, we entered the compound and encountered at least another 200 street people at the center for Sunday morning worship. Because the building was already so crowded we stood in the outer compound and prepared parting snacks (juice and bread) for those who would not be able to attend the banquet with us. The time arrived for us to depart for the banquet so we had to empty one completely full room of street people (those who could not attend because of numbers) and give them the snacks as they left and entered the outer compound. They were then asked to eat/drink their snacks in the outer compound, under the prying eyes of those outside, before they exited the compound. Our fear was if they exited the compound with the snacks then fights would ensue on the street outside over the very snacks we had just handed out. Those outside the gate, who were not allowed to enter because they would not give up their glue, began to beg and ask us to give them some of the juice and bread . . . which we could not do. Again, we did not have enough juice and bread for all of those outside the gate and those we could not help because they would not give up their glue bottles. So . . . we had to tell those kids no . . . that we did not have bread or juice for them at this time. You can imagine what their reaction was to being told no as they witnessed others getting juice and bread. As I stood near the gate making sure no prying hands reached in to steal away someone else's snack i heard all kinds of abuses hurled at us because we did not give them snacks.
Finally, as we cleared the outer compound of all those who would not be attending the banquet it was time to load up the rental buses of those in the worship who would be attending. We had the first bus pull up to the car gates on the outer compound wall, we opened the gates and then we were going to count off people until we filled up the bus. Now imagine, outside the gates was still full of street boys who were not allowed to enter earlier and who still wanted a snack or be allowed on the bus. Inside the building we encouraged all those attending to line up in the hallway as we counted them off and loaded them in four separate buses. Try to imagine the melee that followed as we did all of this. Outside we have about six staff members who are holding back the street boys and keeping them from throwing rocks. Inside we have several staff members who are holding back those attending (it looked like a rugby scrum) so we can count them off and load them in the buses. All of this chaos went on for almost twenty minutes until we finally loaded all four buses. As the last bus was departing, one of the boys picked up a large rock and broke out the back window of the bus. We then loaded the MITS bus with the Knoxville crew and all of us headed over to Wanderjoy to the banquet.
The craziness of this event was soon dispelled as we arrived at Wanderjoy to enjoy the feast. As we entered the Wanderjoy compound we witnessed a large, shaded tent spread out over thick green grass. Under the tent were numerous tables covered with tablecloths, dining wear and cutlery. Further to the back of the tent there was a long buffet line stacked with food, a large DJ table and a serving table filled with drinks (soda, coffee, tea). We encouraged all of the street people to be seated, we introduced them to the place and what was going to happen and then we prayed. All of the staff and Knoxville crew then began to fill plates with food and serve all those who were seated. I was overjoyed as i watched the surprised looks on faces of street people as they were served. It was even told to me that one of the street guys said he had never been served before in his life. As the music began to play we continued serving food, drinks and love and all of us were awestruck by the looks of joy and happiness on the faces of so many. Even the staff members of Wanderjoy came up to us and thanked us for doing this banquet. After eating, the music continued to play, so many in attendance danced, jumped and sang to the music as they continued to display their absolute joy at the feast. Sadly, the afternoon had to come to an end and we soon loaded buses and sent everyone back to Eastleigh and to where they stay.
I wrote about this event because it reminded me so much of the joy we will experience as we celebrate with our Lord in the coming kingdom of God. But also it reminded me of the words of Jesus for those who are outside the banquet. He says:
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’“For many are invited, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:13-14).
As you consider where you stand in the kingdom, please remember that you are surrounded by people everyday who do not know our Lord. There are people that we pass everyday that maybe we ignore or look down on because of their smell, their clothing, their sex, their skin color . . . or any other descriptive word you can place here. God wants all of us to be in his kingdom and a part of the banquet feast. Who is it that you can invite to find the Lord today?
