Reading through Matthew with some students in our ministry. Just passed through chapters 21 and 22 and was struck by two of the parables.
The first is the parable of the vineyard workers, where the owner of the vineyard hires day workers throughout the day and pays them all the same at the end of the day no matter the amount of time worked. God's grace system is nothing like ours (think about Jesus' forgiveness pattern in 18:22-forgive your brother 70 times 7).
The second is the parable of the king's banquet, where the king invites specific people who don't come, and then just pulls anybody off the streets to party with him. Everybody's invited to God's party, not just the people who are expected to be there...but come to party ready to celebrate or get kicked out (22:11-13).
What does this look like for us? What does it look like to live a life of forgiveness, to extend welcome to all? If God is the God of the "outsider", is it possible to be the church of the "outsider"?
2 comments:
yes. let's start.
There's a church in Colorado named "Scum of the Earth" or something like that...
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