Crowned for a Night, Royalty for Eternity

Luke 14:12–14: Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Whenever I was feeling bad about myself growing up, my mom would always remind me that in the end, I was a princess. I'm a daughter of The King, heir to a heavenly throne. I'm not sure that I always bought it completely, but now that I'm older I understand far better what she meant. Further, I’ve come to understand that I’m not the only one; far from it, in fact, I’m in very good company…

Last Friday I attended Southland's annual "Jesus Prom". Sarah and I went last year, and this year we brought Justin and Matt along with us. We volunteered for the games and activities part of the evening, where ‘promers’ could play games like corn hole, ring toss, and other such classy prom games. Sarah and I volunteered to give out prizes to promers who won -- and everybody always won. Justin and Matt had especially interesting jobs – as part of a live production of "Deal or No Deal". Justin declined the host position and instead acted as a very good looking stage hand, and Matt was the Elvis impersonating banker. Good times.

However, far better than hosting games for the ‘promers’ was the joy of getting to share the evening with them. From the coronation of every promer in the room, to the movin’ and groovin’ on the dance floor, it was such a joy to see everyone forgetting about his limitations and truly feeling like royalty! As we prayed for at the start of the night, we all saw through new eyes, even if just for a few hours. Those in wheelchairs danced the night away, the mute had deep conversations, and the weak were strong -- we could see others as Jesus sees them, and hear as Jesus hears. We got a chance to do what we should all have been doing all along – exalting the least of these, showing love to those who may seldom feel it. And in the end, Jesus was right, it was we who were blessed.