The Kin-dom That Invites Those Who Know How to Receive
Hod of Malkuth Day 47 of 50 · Splendor within Presence
The Wedding Feast
The forty-seventh saying of the living Christ as spoken by Mary Magdalene:
The kin-dom of Heaven is like a human king who made a marriage feast for his son and sent out his servants to call those who had been invited to the marriage feast, but they did not come. He sent out other servants to call them again, but those invited made light of it, and went their ways: one to his farm, another to his merchandise, and the rest captured the king’s servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. When the human king heard that, he was angry and sent his armies, destroyed the murderers, and burned their city. The human king then sent out his remaining servants to the thoroughfares and gathered all they found to come to the wedding feast, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests. When the human king came to see the guests, he saw there was a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. When he asked how he came in not wearing wedding clothes, the man was speechless. The human king said to his servants to bind the hands and feet of the man, and to cast him out into the outer darkness, where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be. Many are summoned into the kingdom, but few allow themselves to be remade by it1.
Why did the human king act like this? This king was unchanged by the message of the gospel, and claimed ownership over the kin-dom which belonged to all life, not to him alone. In the man without a garment, the king beheld the nakedness of his own spirit. He cast the man out not for his lack, but to hide from his own reflection. So he had the man bound and cast out so he would not have to see that he was not wearing his wedding clothes either. He saw himself as master of the feast, forgetting that God calls us to the marriage banquet, not a man who puts himself in the place of the Divine as a King. To be a part of the kin-dom is to live it from the heart. His reception of the kin-dom is hollow and he cannot savor the food at the banquet.
Those who refused the invitation had no room in their lives and hearts for the kin-dom. They had fields to tend, oxen to examine, and businesses to run. When the kin-dom comes to those who have no space to receive it, they cannot yield to the transformative power of God. Some killed the servants because they could not receive the invitation and saw it as a challenge to their own power and authority.
Why did the human king send his armies to kill them and burn their cities? The king was challenged by their rejection of life and believed it was a rejection of him. Since he refused to be a part of kin-dom, but chose to lord over it, they had challenged his power, and power was all he had. His life was empty of everything else.
Many are called, but few are chosen. The invitation goes out to all, but not everyone who hears the call chooses to live in the light of the Word, Presence, and Glory of the Divine. All are welcome at the grand banquet of God, but not all are ready or willing to join in the feast.
The receptive guests are the souls who are gathered from the road and put on the garments of right relationship. They have cultivated the fields of their hearts so the tree of life can grow. They yield to the invitation to live in mutual indwelling because taking care of one another is the greatest way to heal ourselves. Joy dances through the grace we cultivate between us.
Humility is not criticizing ourselves, but being available to the call of the Spirit flowing through all things. The receptive guest does not arrive at the feast convinced they do not deserve to be there. No one deserves grace. Grace is like the air, available for all to breathe so they may live. They arrive at the banquet with an open and present heart, already fed and transformed by what the table offers.
Our restoration is the cultivation of our inner availability. It is the deliberate practice of opening space in our lives for the invitations that do not fit our plans. When the kin-dom lights the way home, we shed resentment like an old garment. We walk the road chosen and choosing, so we never fear that we are alone.
Our souls are healed when we can receive the grace ever present around us because the banquet does not require worthiness, but availability. It has no achievement, but a humble willingness to sit and be fed by the Divine Grace. As our wholehearted joy flows out from the table, the world is healed as others behold the splendor of a life lived in the light of the One.
Matthew 22:1-14
The oak knows. The well knows. The land under your feet has always been the first teacher. Creation’s Paths: A Creation Spirituality Primer gives that knowing a companion for the journey.
