Scouring the Streets

Yeah, I know...it's been a while since I did a Jesus post. XD So here ya go.

One of my favorite parables is the parable of the great feast. Picture this: a king's getting married, and he's throwing this huge shindig. It's like getting invited to a celebrity wedding, only like 100 times cooler. But what do the guests do when it's time for the feast and the messengers are sent out? They make excuses. "Yeah, I've gotta work." "I've gotta tend to the store." A few beat the crap out of some of the messengers, even killing some of them.

It's around this time that I'm going..."What the crap...?" Are all of these people just slow? I mean, a place of honor, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...but the humdrum and the mundane is what they'd rather have? But we do the same thing...make the same tired excuses. "Yeah, I'm still young. I'll settle down and go to church after I've had my fun." "Christianity is just a bunch of rules." "I want to live my own life the way I want to live it."

But my favorite part of the parable is what happens after that. The king tells his servants to go out to the street corners and grab people off the streets to come to his feast. Just think of it...the poor, the bedraggled, the homeless, the pickpockets, and the prostitutes...all given a wonderful gift that they didn't have to do anything to receive. Can you imagine the joy these people experienced...to finally be wanted? To be down and out for so long and finally have this awesome thing happen to them out of nowhere? It's really inspiring.

There was one part of the parable I didn't understand for a while. There's one guy that was picked off the street who comes to the king's banquet...but he doesn't wear his good clothes. The king immediately orders him tied up and thrown out. I have to admit, my first thought was, "Is this the same guy?" I mean, he does this act of compassion, but then he totally lets this guy have it for not wearing the right clothes? Isn't that a little harsh?

But then...I do that too. I strut into the throne room of God like I own the place sometimes. Other times I don't even bother to show up. I totally forget that I was the one picked up off a street corner a long time ago- unwanted, dirty, tired, losing hope... It's hard. In today's culture, where do you draw the line between an intimate, personal relationship with God and "Jesus is My Homeboy" T-shirts? Is something wrong when rappers are thanking God for their Grammy-winning songs degrading women and promoting violence? God isn't some lucky rabbit's foot or a pop culture symbol. He's GOD, you know? I'm not saying we need a bunch of uber-conservative rituals and fancy rules...not that I'm knocking rituals in general, which can be a good tool in worship, especially in a traditional church setting... We just need to remember completely who he is. He's our friend, and he loves us, but he's also our savior and creator. He deserves everything we can give him, not halfhearted, irreverent...crap. Or jumping headfirst into worship at first, but then slacking off when we "don't feel like it"- like accepting the invitation to the banquet, but still showing up in our rags. He deserves way better than that. He deserves everything our hearts can pour out to him- every day, if just for a little while. If I only have 15 minutes tomorrow to devote to God, then I'll give those 15 minutes everything I've got.

God, my prayer is...to worship in a way that is pleasing to you...that glorifies you and draws me closer to you and your will.

So be it.