COME TO MY BANQUET

Matthew 22 1. And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3. And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: (KJV)

Have you ever prepared a banquet or dinner, invited folks over and not have them come? Metaphorically speaking, I have had this happen to me at least twice.

Many years ago, I was working my way through college as a family man with two children. I was also a volunteer youth pastor at a Baptist church in Rhode Island. I met with the officers of our youth group and planned a halloween party.

The day of the party the teen youth leaders helped me decorate the hall. The party was to begin at 6:30 p.m. I arrived early, made certain that everything was in order and waited for the kids to arrive. 6:30 came and went but none of the youth arrived. 7:00 p.m. and still no kids came. At 7:30 I went home totally confused.

What had happened?

The following morning before Sunday school I approached Charlie, the teen leader of our group, and asked him what happened. Sheepishly he told me that all of them had gone to a party at the housing project where they lived. They did not mention it to me when we were decorating because, "They did not want to hurt my feelings!" They never knew that the costs of the decorations and food had come out of my meager income as a janitor.

This past weekend I prepared another banquet. It was to be in the form of a workshop I was to present at our local bookstore. It was based on my book, Divorce and Remarriage Made Beautiful In His Time." I spent many hours developing my outline and materials for the presentation.

Barnes & Noble put up posters and displayed my books prominently for several weeks in advance of the event. I wrote up news releases for our local papers. Saturday, as promised, Barnes & Noble staff set up a table and several chairs for the event.

Sharon and I arrived early and carried in our workshop material. Everything was in order, but no one, other than three of my friends came

As we were driving home from my non-workshop the above verses of Scripture came to mind. It redirected my thinking as to where I should spread out my banquet. What better way could there be than to share it with those who come to visit me on my blog.

In the coming weeks I will be taking parts of my outline and sharing them with you. I know some of you are visiting my site because you are in a divorce situation and are looking for answers. Others come to visit who are considering remarriage.

Each week I will publish part of my outline on portion dealing with divorce and another portion concerning remarriage.

Quotes from my book will be shared with you. I hope you will find it interesting and helpful.

Let's begin with the first four paragraphs from the introduction in my book.

Several years ago, during her lecture on death and dying, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was asked, "How do you explain anything as horrible as death to a child?"

Dr. Kubler-Ross responded, "With that attitude, you don't."

Those in the early, traumatic stages of divorce may be struggling with a very similar question. "How am I going to get through the horrible death of a relationship?"

This book speaks to that question. Walk with me through the valley of the shadow of divorce in to the rich assurance that He makes even divorce beautiful in His time. Learn what many of us have experienced as we travel down that lonely, guilt-ridden path. It is a path that can lead to depression and defeat, or to the exhilarating challenge of growth and victory.

I hope that in the coming weeks you will come and feast at the banquet I have prepared for you.

Hugs, In Christ's & My Love,

Don E. Cunningham, Author