Presence

I’ve said this before, I don’t really like it when churches invite the Lord into their midst through worship. Why? Because he’s already with us (“…even to the end of the age,” Matt. 28:20 NASB), and because to do so presumes that we might be his hosts, that he should be honored to be invited to our house of worship. Yes, he stands at the door and knocks (Rev. 3:20), asking us to invite him in, but once Jesus shows up, do you really think you’re still hosting the party? What we find in every dinner party described in the gospels (Jesus at the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus at Zaccheus’ house, Jesus at Mary and Martha’s house to name a few) is that Jesus really steals the show. Also, side note: The amount of dinner parties Jesus goes to in the gospels shows us the importance of gathering and of feasting, of enjoying one another’s company.

In Matthew 22, Jesus tells a parable of a great feast to which none of the host’s friends can attend. They’re all too busy. So what does this party-thrower do? He commands his servants to, "Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast” (Matt. 22:9 NASB). The servants go out and gather anyone they encountered among the poor, the needy, the orphaned, widowed, anxious, ill, and oppressed. The king’s party is no longer for his friends; more than anything, he desires that his house be full. It’s a weird story because then the king pronounces a curse on all those who were too busy to attend his party, Jesus says God’s sovereign choice no longer falls on the Jewish people, and then, when one guest arrives dressed business-casual instead of in the formalwear befitting this lavish party, the king has him thrown out. All very difficult stuff to decipher. We have to keep in mind that Jesus was talking to Pharisees and to Jewish church-goers, so the subtext of this parable is that those closest to God—his chosen people, the Israelites—have grown too busy and distracted to answer God’s highest calling (salvation, or as Jesus says, resurrection). So God elected to widen his covenant and invite Gentiles like you and me to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. We are those scrubs, those peasants gathered to fill his house and honor his kingship.

Often when we throw a party, we get several cancelations and no-shows. This is especially true of dorky guys like me. Sadly, in our world of limitless opportunity and distraction, people just have better things to do than to come to our nephew’s 6th birthday party in the church fellowship hall on a Saturday mid-morning. One of the things that irks me most about the cellphone and social media age is that people no longer commit to anything. “Will you be there?”—“Maybe, who else is coming?… I’ll see what Saturday is looking like a little later in the week.” And when we throw a party, it’s all about who attended. I took classes on fundraising for my business degree, and let me tell you, principle number one of a good fundraiser is to get the mayor and a couple of local celebrities on board. If you were to land a Peyton Manning or a Phillip Fulmer, whoo! You’d have everyone in Knoxville lining up to buy drink tickets and sponsor tables.

When Jesus throws a party, his primary goal is to fill his house. He said he wants to draw all men (John 12:32), he desires that all might be saved and he gave himself up as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:1-7). Sadly, as he said, "it is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” (Matt. 9:12 NASB). Some people have so much going on, and so much going for themselves, that they simply can’t recognize their need for God. Thomas Shepherd, the great Puritan, wrote, “I find it my duty—out of a sense of emptiness—to go to Christ, possess, enjoy his fullness as my own… for I find when I am empty, I am a vessel most ready to be filled.” We who are broken and empty and hurting know that we need Jesus. Nothing else can meet our great need. Jesus extends his invitation to us because we, the broken, are most in need of a good party. When Jesus throws a party, it isn’t about who shows up, it’s about how many show up; Jesus will fill his household. He said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations” (emphasis mine; Mark 11:17 NASB).

Not only is it about how many fill his house, when Jesus throws a party, it matters greatly how we show up. According to Jesus' parable, the man who didn’t wear his wedding clothes was thrown out, “to a lake of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Odd that Jesus describes what we believe to be Hell here, couched in a story about throwing a party. The king’s invited guests were couldn’t bother to attend, so the king opened his invitation to all who would come, but once they arrived, he expected they look and act like they belong in a king’s house. Some people take this to mean, when we show up to church we ought to do so in our ’Sunday best.’ There’s a crowd in north Knoxville that forces its male congregants to wear a dinner jacket, as if they’re at some swanky restaurant, and forces its ladies to wear long dresses. Failure to comply will get you thrown out of this so-called church. But it isn’t our outward appearance that Jesus’ parable is concerned with. If it were, we’d find the Lord himself in something other than rags. And James, the brother of Jesus, said it best when he said, "For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:2-5 NASB). It isn’t about our outward appearance, in Jesus’ parable, it was about the preparedness of that guest’s heart. He didn’t come prepared for a wedding (without his wedding clothes, as Jesus puts it). When Jesus throws a party, you better come expecting incredible, beautiful things to happen.

After Jesus fed the 5,000, some followed him across the lake to get another meal. He rebukes them. They weren’t looking for another miracle, nor were they looking to hear more of his teaching. They were looking for a hand-out. They wanted another free lunch. All they cared about was their physical bellies. They did not come expecting to be spiritually filled. Jesus is the bread of life! Eat this bread and never hunger again. Jesus is the water of life! Drink of him, and never thirst again. Experience God! He wants you to experience his love, to know it to your core, to allow it to change you completely. It isn’t enough to just show up. You have to show up with the expectation that God is going to do something amazing. Henry Blackaby, in the book Experiencing God, wrote, "“There is a world of difference between knowing something to be true in your head and experiencing the reality in your life.” We know the truth about God, that he is at work in our world, but are we willing to experience this truth? To allow him to work through us, specifically, personally? Jesus said that the true worshipers will worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). I’m a logical guy, I use my head a lot, I tend to overthink things. But when my head and heart align, and I allow the truth of God to engage my emotions, and I begin to feel God’s presence, not just know that he is there, it is then that become a worshiper. It’s then that I’m led into his presence in worship.