The parable of the marriage feast as told by Matthew and Luke may be seen as an allegory on God’s plan of salvation. Luke provides a slight difference of emphasis from Matthew in two respects. The first is that there are two invitations to the supper. And the second modification is in the forcefulness of the command: ‘compel them to come in’ is the expression used in Luke 14:23, whereas Matthew merely emphasises an invitation (‘invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet’). In our own time and in a different context – when thinking about the welcome to newcomers in church – Luke’s is obviously not a text on which we would wish to base our welcome strategy! Yet Matthew’s more modest ‘invitation’, rather like the use of invitation cards on ‘Back to Church Sunday’, may not in itself be sufficient.
The evidence about the welcome to newcomers – and the data on those churches which attract and retain new worshippers – stresses that it is the quality of what we offer to worshippers, and particularly the warmth of our fellowship that is the decisive factor in their choice of whether or not to stay with us. The existence of truly holistic small groups, which nurture the participants and deepen fellowship, is also another factor inducing new members to stay and become participating Christians. But above all the welcome has to be joyful. The message of Jesus’ parable may be a hard one, but there is a note of joy in the summons – in Luke’s gospel, ‘all is now ready’, and in Matthew’s gospel, ‘everything is ready’ – which is echoed in Paul’s expression ‘behold now is the day of salvation’ (2 Cor. 6:2). It is that note of joy which we need to replicate in each and every one of our services.
