A Feast for All People

I woke up to a feeling of serenity, of peace. Bright sunshine was streaming in, and a little breeze teased the curtain. The wine-rich air smelled of yellow leaves and fading mums. Later, Marie and I will take a walk around the block, crunching the dried maple leaves and kicking them into windrows. Tonight, we’re promised a full Harvest Moon, complete with eclipse… No one can be an atheist in October!

Lessons for this period of Kingdomtide focus in on God’s Great Bounty. We begin this weekend with Isaiah of Jerusalem, who has his usual warning about the zealous Might of a Righteous God. But then he offers a vision of Grace to the needy: “For you have been a refuge to the poor,…a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.” (25:4) And then an invitation to abundance: “On this mountain {Zion} the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines.” (v.6) More, “let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Even Paul gets in the joyful spirit of Grace! To the Philippian believers he writes, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (4:6-7) Don’ worry, be happy? Nathan Eddy has said, “Prayer here is relationship with God, not a technique….even in difficult situations, one lets go of being one’s own savior.”

Matthew’s recollection of Jesus’ parable of the Wedding Banquet continues his direction of building the Church out of the remnants of Israel. (22:1-14) Jan Abel points out that the killing, destruction and casting into outer darkness can be “ghastly”. Yet the spirit of the story is not so much revenge upon the unrighteous as it is the generosity of the Lord in bringing in EVERYbody, riff-raff & all!

Dr. Oz–whose word is law in my house–has advised us that we feast entirely too much, that our over-indulgence is killing us. But when the Kingdom has fully drawn near, you can bet that I’m gonna enjoy every fork-full! Even the Green Marshmallow Salad…

God Bless Us (urrrp), Every One Horace Brown King