Lenten Reader | Day 20

March 11th, 2021

Invitation

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

- Luke 14:16-24

She looked in my direction but didn’t make eye contact. I tried to catch her eyes and couldn’t quite get them to focus on mine, so I then followed her eyes. I looked in the direction that she was looking – four feet to my left. As if I was actually sitting 4 feet to my left. So, I got up and moved because it felt awkward. Liz spoke to me even if I wasn’t in the right physical position and it finally clicked. “Oh, you are blind, Liz.” “You are more blind than I am,” she said. Liz has always been feisty. She had to be as she lived outside off and on for the last 6 years.

Stubborn, obstinate, addicted, lonely, abandoned, and blind.

Last year we (Metro Relief) made an extremely difficult decision to put Liz in a Hotel. $360 every week. As we listened to God’s invitation to step out in faith, we knew this money wasn’t accounted for in the budget. We were down in donations. It was harder than normal to help Liz, but this was different. We tried it all. Disability, Home for the Blind, other non-profit housing specialists. It took nine months – each month harder than the last. And then we received a check at the end of the year that more than covered her expenses.

Looking me in the eye, Liz said to me, “Thank you, Austin. You saved my life, and now God is giving my sight back one revelation at a time.”

-Austin Bonds