Happy Medium: Metaphors

Yesterday, the sermon at church was from Luke 14:16-24. It's the parable of a man who gave a great banquet, but none of the people he invited would come, so he sent his servant out to "compel" people to come.

There are a lot of layers to this sermon, which I may get into later, but the one thing that struck me yesterday was the fact that Jesus, in telling this story, uses the metaphor of a banquet, a huge, lavish party to describe the Christian life. A joyous celebration with food, wine, laughing, eating, music, and lots and lots of fun! And I was amazed at just how much this fit into what I've been thinking about in terms of a more balanced Christian life recently.

See, here's the thing: the Bible gives a lot of metaphors for describing the Christian life (e.g. a race, a battle, a pilgrimage, a journey, a marriage), and it's definitely right and good to think of the life of a believer in those terms. But, the degree to which I gravitate to one or the other of those metaphors says something about my view of the Gospel at any given moment. The convicting thing is, most of the time, I have no trouble thinking of the Christian life as a race or a battle. I mean, it's hard, it's exhausting, and it's a fight that I have to constantly be alert in. Rarely, though. . . maybe never, do I think of the Christian life as a banquet. I don't taste the good food and wine, I don't hear the music, I don't laugh at the jokes, or get blessedly lost in the din of the noise of all the conversations.

I need balance in my life. I need to live in the reality that all the metaphors the Bible offers to help me understand this life I've been called to are true, and yet, I can't help thinking today that I might need to, just for a while, live more on the side of the banquet, the party. The feast that I don't deserve to be at, but the one that guy sitting at the head of the table with that enormous smile on his face, laughing at the jokes and encouraging us all to have seconds and thirds, our host, was so gracious to bring me to!