Since the days when I heard this parable for the first time as young person, I realize that throughout the years, I have been judging those who refuse the dinner invitation due to life’s circumstances: one just completed a huge real estate transaction, another is tending to his newly acquired oxen, and yet another is about to go their honeymoon. I have viewed these busy folks with a healthy dose of disdain because of their unwillingness to accept the invitation, and perhaps reserve even harsher words because of course, this is God’s invitation… who would ever refuse such a divine invite to a beautiful dinner? I mean really.
But this time, I found my heart softening for these folks. Maybe because I see myself among them. They are all carrying the responsibilities and duties that are part of ordinary life and doing what it takes to survive in their social and economic context. I don’t think we can blame them for making the decisions they made. Sometimes duty calls, work beckons and I know what life would be like if I cancelled my honeymoon in favour of a random dinner invitation.
It became quite apparent to me, that the invitation decliners are a lot like me and perhaps a lot like us. We are busy with our lives, our scheduling, our responsibilities, our priorities. In our culture, we work long and crazy hours, we admire busyness—we are rewarded for it according to our social and economic conventions. On the one hand, I don’t think we get a lot of reward when we say to the boss, “Sorry, I’m leaving work early today because I’m having dinner at a friend’s house”. That’s an invitation leading to potential job loss. On the other hand, a call home saying, “I’m sorry honey, I’m closing a big deal today. Don’t worry about setting a place at the dinner table this evening, I’m going to be late… give my love to the kids”, is usually considered acceptable and often rewarded. But at what cost?