Romans 12:5-16 / Luke 14:15-24
A banquet is a formal feast, often involving main courses and desserts. A banquet tends to serve a purpose such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, with speeches here and there in honour of the occasion or the guest of honour.
And so in our minds, the guests coming for a banquet would be formally dressed, they will be polite and well-mannered, and may even be distinguished persons or people of high standing.
And that's why in the gospel, one of those gathered round the table said to Jesus, "Happy the man who will be at the feast in the kingdom of God." And the rest at the table would certainly agree.
And then Jesus told a parable that certainly astonished and puzzled those who were at the table.
In that parable, those who were invited to the banquet started to make all sorts of excuses not to go.
In the end, the host, in a rage, sent his servants to all the odd places and to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.
And as if that is not surprising enough, the servants were sent to unlikely places to force people to come to the banquet.
So what is this parable telling us. Among other things, let us not be surprised at who might go to heaven, and who might not. Yes, it may just surprise us.
Also, we are God's chosen people, and we are first in His guest list to come to the banquet of the kingdom of God.
Let us take this invitation seriously, otherwise we might just be surprised that we are not at the banquet of the kingdom of God, and have to spend eternity in regret.