Will You Marry Me?Sample

Fear of Being Invited

One of my closest friends was telling me that she doesn’t have FOMO (Fear of Missing Out); she has FOBI (Fear of Being Invited.)

I get FOMO when I see a group pic on Insta that I’m not included in, but she’s just the opposite. When she gets invited to something, a sense of dread comes over her and she thinks, “Oh no. What do I have to go to now?” We laughed, but this illustrates the next parable we’re going to explore.
 

In this parable, the king is throwing a wedding banquet for his son and sends his servants out to call those who had been invited. With the king throwing the party, you know it’s going to be amazing! 

Can you believe it? They don’t come! It’s the party of the year with all the best décor, finest foods and wines, most breathtaking music and dancing—all free of charge—and the people in the community snub the king. They don’t want to be included. 

They not only turn the king down, but also kill his servants who come to generously invite them. This would be like getting a personal invitation to attend the royal wedding and feast with the Queen of England, then not only rejecting the invite, but murdering the inviters. Can you imagine? 

The king in the parable can’t understand this logic and cruelty either. He avenges the death of his innocent servants by sending armies to destroy the murderers and set their city on fire. 

He then decides to invite people outside his social circle and community. His servants go to the streets and invite everyone they come across, both good and bad alike, and they’re able to fill the banquet hall with unlikely guests who gladly accepted the invitation. 

Let’s examine the meaning of this parable. 

The Jewish people were chosen by God through Abraham to carry the seed of Jesus. But when He came onto the scene, He wasn’t what the Jewish people expected. They expected a warrior, and He came as a suffering servant. 

Most of the Jewish people didn’t accept Jesus to be the Savior—and in doing this, they rejected the Father’s plan. They were invited, but turned down the invite. 

So, the Jews are the people in the parable who were invited first to the wedding. They’re God’s chosen people, but after they rejected His plan, He extended the invitation to the Gentiles. 

As we read in Romans today, the Gentiles—those who aren’t Jewish—are grafted into God’s family when they accept His invitation. We all get to come to the wedding! God used this part of the plan to include us all. 

In His sovereignty, God was always going to include us, because He loves the Jews and Gentiles alike. He calls us all to be His bride. 

Under the New Covenant, there is no Jew or Gentile. It doesn’t matter what your denomination, gender, background, race, family, or social status are. Only one thing matters: You either believe in Christ as Lord or you don’t. 

God doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to repent. But just as those who rejected the king’s invitation in the parable were burned and killed, those who reject God’s invitation will face an eternal death. This is not God’s will for us. He longs for everyone to come! 

Let’s not be foolish and reject God’s free gift of salvation. We’re all invited to the future wedding. We just have to RSVP. Will you accept the invitation?