“So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (Matthew 22:10, NIV)
If you’ve looked at today’s accompanying video, you’ll see that I’m in the environment I adopted long ago: the golf course. I wish I could say it was my native environment, but my family didn’t move into a golf neighborhood until I was a ripe old second grader.
In those childhood days, we sold lemonade under a tree behind the seventh green and fed the ducks near the pond alongside the eighth fairway. Since then I’ve always been comfortable on the golf course. Scientists say green is the easiest color on our eyes, and the fairway is sure softer under my feet than it is when I stroll the concrete sidewalks near my house. So even if I wasn’t a golfer who knew the etiquette and nature of the game, I might be at ease here.
Many, you know, are not. They’ve made their way around a putt-putt course or lashed feverishly at those computer-chipped balls at Topgolf, but a regulation course would be foreign to them.
They talked like they wanted to join the party, but when the invitations went out, they whispered among themselves and conspired to disdain the host and his son.In the same way, groups like Links Fellowships, where women and men meet up to study the Bible, talk of Jesus, and pray together, are the last place some people would look for companionship. To them, religion is spooky, and its practitioners come across as prudes who speak a language all their own.
Let’s change that. Let’s be gatherers, both for golf and for God.
When Jesus told his parable of the wedding feast, he outed the insiders. They talked like they wanted to join the party, but when the invitations went out, they whispered among themselves and conspired to disdain the host and his son. Despite the tantalizing entreaties of the host—fine meats! rare wines!—the intended guests refused to come. So here is what the host-king did: He invited the masses. Come to the table. Let’s fill this hall!
So we still gather, the people of the king. We come to celebrate the life he has given us in his Son. But we must be careful, for we too can fall into exclusionism. Instead, let us be revelers, gathering in Christ’s name, cheering his excellence, and doing it all with a welcoming spirit that encourages others to come along.
—
Jeff Hopper
May 31, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
MORE DEVOTIONS IN THIS SERIES
On Location 2: Then and Now
On Location 3: New Ventures
On Location 4: Partners in Ministry
On Location 5: Making Connections
On Location 6: The Round Ahead
On Location 7: Helping Others
On Location 8: Stepping Out
On Location 9: Lifelong Learning
On Location 10: Tough Stuff
On Location 11: Learning Together
On Location 12: A Good Solid Why
On Location 13: Room for Reflection