Chuckie's Page

Chuck is the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Kingsville TX. He has served the church in Kingsville for the last 17 years. Below is the Bi-weekly newsletter, he hopes you enjoy it!

One of our hobbies is bird watching and a lot of this observing is accomplished by looking out our kitchen window. We keep feeding stations out year round, changing the type of food in a couple of the feeders according to what species might be migrating at the time. Some of our feathered friends, like the Inca Doves, White-wing doves and those humongous (but elegant) Collared Doves, are year-long residents.

At the beginning of each new year, we put a 3x5 card under a fridge magnet and keep track of the different guests that come to dine at our house. Sort of like keeping a guest book at your house or church. It is always exciting when we spot our first Goldfinch, Hummingbird or Oriole, etc. And of course, it’s sad when we realize they’ve headed out to who knows where, and we’ve seen the last one of the season.

It goes without saying that we have an overwhelming bunch of Sparrows and Grackles who come to pig-out on our free smorgasbord. When we first began to stock the feeders, it bothered me that these common, garden-variety birds would come and join the feast with what I considered the more elite crowd. After all, they were not invited and had not been considered worthy of even entering them on our guest list!

Then one day the thought entered my mind that when God throws a feast, he doesn’t place restrictions on the guests who gather. It may well be that you and I would prefer that access to God’s Banquet Table be “by invitation only.” And that it be limited to those of us who are more worthy or who are more refined than say, a scrubby House Sparrow, or not as obnoxious as a Great-tailed Grackle. The truth is though, that God goes out of his way to make certain that “the least of these” are among the honored guests on his invitation list.

In Luke 14, Jesus gives a workshop on dinner etiquette according to life in the kingdom of God: “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Vss. 12-14).

This coming Sunday, June 1, God is going to be hosting a banquet at our church, as well as at churches around the world. You may feel that you are unworthy to come to such a feast. You may be uncomfortable because you are rarely ever included on anyone’s guest list, let alone God’s. But make no mistake…on the register kept under a magnet on God’s fridge…your name is written in capital letters and is at the very top.

The invitation has been issued. No RSVP required. Just come hungering and thirsting for God’s righteous mercy.

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