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Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' Those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
-Matthew 22:8-10
Amidst the pandemic, there was news out of the UK this week. Although there are long waiting lists for folks from many walks of life to get the vaccine, not everyone has been able to sign up or gain access. And though there are many who do not want to be vaccinated, there's at least one largely-overlooked population that needs to be treated - the homeless. Physicians in the UK recognize that in order to gain a society-wide protective immunity, and serve all in need, they needed to head out and seek out the homeless, those who would not otherwise have received an invitation.
So what then can we do? Jesus seems to be telling us that the master is not interested in bribing people to show up for the feast or begging or sending tons of follow-up messages. Instead, he turns to those who most need the feast. Who needs the feast most in our lives? Is it folks who we keep hoping will show up, or do we need to start inviting our neighbors, families from Preschool or Promise 686? Maybe it's our local first responders who keep us safe.
If Jesus is the master and life in the Kingdom is the feast and we are the servants, who then do we need to invite in from the wider community? Who are we called to love in the world and in this pandemic? Who have we yet to invite? And who will we invite this week?
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