THOUGHTS ABOUT GRACE 2

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come . . . the king was enraged . . . Then he said to his slaves, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.  Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found , both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in there without wedding clothes?"  And the man was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, "Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  For many are called, but few are chosen" (Be sure and read all of Matthew 22:1-14).

I believe this parable illustrates both the universe and the boundaries of God's grace.  God's love extends to the farthermost star in the universe and all in this world benefit from it.  The invitation to the feast is open to all, the good and the bad.  It is in this way that God's grace has no limits--it extends to all.

Though the text does not say it, I have been told that it was customary for a wedding feast offered by a king in these times to include the wedding garment to each guest.  It sounds reasonable because the very poor would have not been able to afford dress clothes.  As well, it would have established each guest as being equal in value and importance.  For the person who refused the wedding garment,  he might have thought that his own garment was better than the king's garment, he might have thought himself to be more important than everyone else, but in any case it was a matter of disrespect to the king and the wedding.  God offers the wedding garment, Jesus Christ, to all.  Will you make the decision to wear it? Or, will you reject Him?

Our Father's Love,
Tom