thoughtful thursdays

this is my 150th post. weird. so i decided, since i need some more Jesus, some more Bible and so more discipline in my life, to make an attempt at a weekly ritual... coined cheesily thoughtful thursdays (i am sure that the title will die when the this turns into a when-i-get-around-to-it-during-the-week ritual).

so each thursday, i am going to make an attempt at ruminating on one of the lectionary passages for the week.

this week: matthew 22:1-14, the parable of the wedding feast.

"For many are invited, but few are chosen."

the killer thing about the lectionary (when it doesn't skip over the hard passages) is that it makes you confront the words that makes you squirm. having just spent as evening getting jazzed about opening up the church to the least, the last and the lost, and i am more than a little distressed to see..

"For many are invited, but few are chosen."

... especially being one of those presbyterians who hasn't quite figured out the just way to understand predestination/election. i want it to say, for many are invited, but few choose to come. that i would get. but, few are chosen? how do i understand vision of God with the vision of God in the prodigal son? with the Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman? with the sermon on the mount?

in this parable, for not wearing the proper clothes (to an event he had not been invited to ahead of time i might add... where was he supposed to get the proper attire?) the man was tossed out on his a$$ "into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

pardon?

"For many are invited, but few are chosen."

so here is what i learned from my too short meditation on this passage:
1. God is a mystery.
2. often, so is scripture.
3. my brain ain't always (if ever) enough to figure it out.
4. community helps.
5. so does prayer.

so if you have any insight into this one, let me know. if not, i will ponder it til next week...