You're Invited

On Saturday my daughter and I went to the wonderful celebration of the marriage of a friend who was celebrating the love she has for her wife. They had invited all those who love them, to celebrate their marriage and pray for their life together. There were no unexpected guests, but I felt sad that this was a wedding banquet that the Church of England still won’t do, hence it was a celebration following a Civil Ceremony.

On Sunday, a day nominated Disability Awareness Sunday, I listened to Margaret preach about the parable of the wedding banquet, and the radical call of God’s Kingdom to include everyone. 

It made me ask myself; when did the good news of the Kingdom of God become so exclusive? How did the call of God become written to such a limited list of invitees?

With the imminent announcement of the name of next Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England, it is a very important moment to hope for the possibility of an open invitation to God’s wedding banquet. Who will lead and write an invitation that includes everyone?

Jesus calls us to follow him and his call is to be part of building a new Kingdom that is rooted in love, joy and peace with an invitation to include the unexpected and most excluded, where the first will be last and the last will be first, where transformation and new life comes when we are known and loved by our Creator.

So, this is an invitation to pray for the Archbishop of Canterbury in waiting, for our leaders to boldly declare an invitation to be part of this new Kingdom. It is a call for each of us to journey into this week celebrating the invitation to a banquet that is open to everyone.