Chickens, cafeterias and social ordering

Chickens can be very nasty to their own.  In any flock, the more dominant chickens will peck at the weakest members, leaving bald spots where feathers once grew.  Thus the origin of 'hen pecked.'  No one wants to be at the bottom of the social ladder, not even chickens.

Think about this as school re-opens.  Take your high school cafeteria. There was the 'cool' or 'popular' table.  Then were the techies, the geeks, the nerds, the artistic types, the jocks....and somewhere at the very bottom were the kids who ate their lunch alone, every day.  No one invited them over to share the table.  They were the object of disdain and often nasty pranks and 'jokes.'

Not that it goes away after high school; we all experience social ordering in our lives.  But it is a very difficult maze to master as a child - school bus, sports fields, lunch rooms, birthday invitations and all that.  Our children understand a system where shame is real and impacts all portions of your day.  Before they learn how to read well they understand the honor of being invited to move up to the higher place at the line, or being chosen first on a team.

So, Jesus pictures a banquet where those at the bottom are honored by the host.  You know, those folks who will never be able to invite you back for dinner or do you a favor at the office or even lend you a rake .....those are the folks you honor by inviting them to the banquet.  Our world doesn't work this way.....which is what makes it so God inspired, or we could say, which makes it the kingdom of God.

Come to the table and be fed.