Hi everyone,

A few days ago I was talking with a friend about how I need to be careful with what I say. As a pastor, it isn’t exactly becoming to have a potty-mouth, for example. Not that I have one or anything. Nor am I saying that any pastor that does isn’t a good pastor. Just that I, personally, feel like I need to be careful with what comes out of my mouth as there are people hearing those words, and they might be impressionable.

My friends response? “That sucks that you can’t be yourself.”

Again, it’s not like I really have a potty-mouth or anything, but I was curious as to what “myself” my friend was talking about. They haven’t experienced me being anything that I’m not on a Sunday morning. They didn’t know me from before I was a pastor. And they certainly don’t go to where I preach enough (or at all) to see that I’m myself or not.

Because the fact of the matter is, I would watch what I say even if I weren’t a pastor. I would be careful with my conduct in any profession. I would be me no matter who signs my cheque.

And if I weren’t, I’d question more who the “me” I’m trying to be, and how perhaps that was never “me” to begin with.

Here are the readings for next week:
Isaiah 25:1-9
Psalm 23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14
and a video of them being read:

This parable that we get from Jesus can be a difficult one. I mean the king seems like a pretty nice guy at first, inviting his friends to a banquet. But then he goes and punishes those who don’t accept the invitation. And then when he finally gets people to come, he punishes the guy who didn’t come in proper attire. I mean, no wonder no one wanted to come to the party initially. This king starts to sound a bit petty as the story goes on.

But then I wonder if the punishing, the banishing, and the weeping and gnashing of teeth is really the king’s doing. Or was it just part of the package of who these folk were, in that they didn’t understand the grace that was extended to them in their being invited to a party and so they didn’t play the part. They didn’t take the gift of welcome seriously. It looked like they were being punished because they are the kind of folk who don’t accept, who don’t share in grace, who don’t appreciate what is given to them.

Not saying that we need to be that kind of person or have those kinds of traits in order to be loved by God or anything. No, clearly the king invited these folk from before they could reject the invite. But I’m saying that in being that kind of person, we can better see God’s love for us. And in not being that, we just don’t see it and maybe things will look a bit more bleak, more hopeless, more like weeping and teeth gnashing.

This isn’t for us to be forced to be different, but maybe to see how we can live more the life that truly is life.

Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!