"Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come."
Luke 14:16-20
This is the first part of the parable of the great supper. In the parable, a man plans an event including a great banquet, and invites many guests, but when it is time for the meal to start, no one comes. They all have various excuses, some perhaps better than others, but the fact remains that the man has this huge meal and no one to eat it. He sends his servant out to invite the poor and the disadvantaged instead, and those people come, but there is still plenty of room at the dinner. So, the man has his servant go out to the roads to grab anyone he can find to fill the remaining space, determined to not leave even one spot for those who had turned him down.
If we look at the story as just a dinner, then we might get a little off track wondering why bailing on the event is such a big deal. I mean, it is sort of mean and thoughtless, especially if they agreed to go ahead of time, and if it was a super important event, but we all have things come up. The fact that every single person that was invited declined is scary, and I can understand the man being upset by what was happening for sure. I think the real story here is the symbolic one of God inviting us to partake of the gifts that he has given us such as the gospel, the scriptures, the church, and especially the atonement.
A lot changes in our understanding of the story if we know it is God asking us. Firstly, there are certain people that we probably wouldn't refuse an invitation from, no matter how inconvenient. We would bend over backwards to plan around it, and make sure we were there. Maybe the person would have to be one of our heroes, or super famous, or someone that we just like a lot. Thinking about the story abstractly, we might think that the man is just some random guy and we distance ourselves from the idea that it matters, but in this symbolic story the man inviting us is *the* most important man in our lives, and one minute in his company is worth anything else we have to give up.
Another thing that is clarified is the event itself. This isn't just some random dinner that someone invited us to 15 minutes ago. The food isn't some TV dinner that was microwaved inadequately in anticipation of our arrival. What we are being offered is the best food anyone has ever eaten. The bread of life, the living water, the fruit desirable above all other fruit (1 Nephi 8:10-12).
The story is basically God offering us everything, and to gain it, we just have to attend the dinner. Now, attending might take some preparation. We need to be clean and well-dressed and show up in the right place. We need to be able to get along with the other guests. Symbolically, this means we need to repent of our sins, and make sure that we are putting God first and loving and serving others. We need to be willing to attend, meaning to be willing to read the scriptures and attend church and do the things that it takes to welcome God into our lives and learn the gospel.... things that invite the spirit into our lives (the spirit could be the oil in the parable of the 10 virgins, which is another feast story). Compared to what we are getting though, the preparations we need to make are relatively small, and things that are within our power.
Today, let's determine to accept God's invitation and sit at his table, enjoying the generous gifts that he offers us. Wandering off to do something else or prioritizing anything over God only hurts us, and prevents us from partaking of joy and perfection. Let's realize how important it is to come to God's table, and not think that we can refuse and then show up later for dessert. The time to come to the supper is now, and God invites us all.
And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come."
Luke 14:16-20
This is the first part of the parable of the great supper. In the parable, a man plans an event including a great banquet, and invites many guests, but when it is time for the meal to start, no one comes. They all have various excuses, some perhaps better than others, but the fact remains that the man has this huge meal and no one to eat it. He sends his servant out to invite the poor and the disadvantaged instead, and those people come, but there is still plenty of room at the dinner. So, the man has his servant go out to the roads to grab anyone he can find to fill the remaining space, determined to not leave even one spot for those who had turned him down.
If we look at the story as just a dinner, then we might get a little off track wondering why bailing on the event is such a big deal. I mean, it is sort of mean and thoughtless, especially if they agreed to go ahead of time, and if it was a super important event, but we all have things come up. The fact that every single person that was invited declined is scary, and I can understand the man being upset by what was happening for sure. I think the real story here is the symbolic one of God inviting us to partake of the gifts that he has given us such as the gospel, the scriptures, the church, and especially the atonement.
A lot changes in our understanding of the story if we know it is God asking us. Firstly, there are certain people that we probably wouldn't refuse an invitation from, no matter how inconvenient. We would bend over backwards to plan around it, and make sure we were there. Maybe the person would have to be one of our heroes, or super famous, or someone that we just like a lot. Thinking about the story abstractly, we might think that the man is just some random guy and we distance ourselves from the idea that it matters, but in this symbolic story the man inviting us is *the* most important man in our lives, and one minute in his company is worth anything else we have to give up.
Another thing that is clarified is the event itself. This isn't just some random dinner that someone invited us to 15 minutes ago. The food isn't some TV dinner that was microwaved inadequately in anticipation of our arrival. What we are being offered is the best food anyone has ever eaten. The bread of life, the living water, the fruit desirable above all other fruit (1 Nephi 8:10-12).
The story is basically God offering us everything, and to gain it, we just have to attend the dinner. Now, attending might take some preparation. We need to be clean and well-dressed and show up in the right place. We need to be able to get along with the other guests. Symbolically, this means we need to repent of our sins, and make sure that we are putting God first and loving and serving others. We need to be willing to attend, meaning to be willing to read the scriptures and attend church and do the things that it takes to welcome God into our lives and learn the gospel.... things that invite the spirit into our lives (the spirit could be the oil in the parable of the 10 virgins, which is another feast story). Compared to what we are getting though, the preparations we need to make are relatively small, and things that are within our power.
Today, let's determine to accept God's invitation and sit at his table, enjoying the generous gifts that he offers us. Wandering off to do something else or prioritizing anything over God only hurts us, and prevents us from partaking of joy and perfection. Let's realize how important it is to come to God's table, and not think that we can refuse and then show up later for dessert. The time to come to the supper is now, and God invites us all.
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