Day 036: Preparation

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless."  Matthew 22:11-12

This parable has given me some trouble in the past because of how it seems to be on the surface.  My reaction is usually: if the king invited all these people and the guest actually arrived, why is he being punished?  Didn't he come from the street anyways?

But, I have been thinking that this parable might be a bit more about preparation.  Indeed, at the very end, Jesus says, "For many are called, but few are chosen."  One thing is that the guest may have been called from the street, but he might have had time to go home in between walking around and arriving at the feast.  He could have gotten dressed by then.  Another thing is that maybe the king was not talking explicitly about the outward appearance of the outfit, speaking more about how well dressed the man was relative to his social stature - as in, he didn't care to give the slightest thought to the grandeur of the feast.

Whatever the case was, though, it ended with the same issue: the king asks, "Why?" and the guest is speechless.  This reminds me of the many times my mom has asked me about why I didn't do what I was supposed to do.  Why didn't I do my homework?  Why didn't I do the dishes?  Why did I lie?

We have so much of an opportunity to live life the way we want to.  I mean, we truly have an entire lifetime to live it, but we will face ultimate judgment after death.  Of course, there are also times when we will have God coming to us asking "Why?".  We can't be speechless at these times.  We need to be prepared for these moments.

God has reached out to us so many times and in so many ways.  God still reaches out to us every day. Sometimes, we decide to accept what God has.  Other times, not so much.  God reaches out to us with peace, love, glory, and eternal life.  But, we look at it in a way that is filled with so much pride - I can do so much better.  Sure, maybe the curtains in the banquet hall aren't the color that you like, or maybe they're serving a food that doesn't have the exact taste you're looking for, but the opportunity is there.  We are given so much, but we like to pick apart what we don't like, removing the whole intention from the action.

I find that the guest in the parable thought that he could do so much better.  The man, who seemingly had no power, dared to curse the invitation by going to the wedding without his wedding garments.  But, we find that the king didn't flinch at this.  He resolved to punish the man.  I pray that we may never have to deal with the harsh punishments for our moments of pride, but we need to take the example.  We will find so many opportunities, but it will be our mindset that will determine what happens with each one.