08/28/2026
There is a line in a parable Jesus tells in St. Luke about a great dinner that I have always liked: “Come, for everything is ready (14:17).” Jesus tells about a man who prepares a great dinner and invites people to come. When the meal is ready, his servant goes out and tells the invited guests that it is time. But one after another, they begin making excuses. The man could have stopped there. Instead, he sends his servant back out and tells him to bring in others from the streets (Luke 14:16–24).
Charles Wesley took that story and wrote one of the great hymns of our Methodist tradition, “Come, Sinners, to the Gospel Feast.” It was published in 1747, and Wesley originally wrote twenty-four verses. The version in The United Methodist Hymnal includes five of them. He begins, “Come, sinners, to the gospel feast, let every soul be Jesus’ guest; ye need not one be left behind, for God hath bidden all mankind.” I love that second line: “Let every soul be Jesus’ guest.”
I think Wesley heard something in Jesus’ story that he did not want people to miss. When the first guests do not come, the man does not give up. He sends the servant back out so others can be welcomed to the table. That sounds a lot like the early Methodist movement. John and Charles Wesley did not wait for people to come into a church. When church doors were closed to them, they went into the fields and streets and preached there. Charles Wesley even wrote in his journal in 1743 that he stood in the street and invited people to the “Gospel-feast,” using the words, “Come, for all things are now ready.”
The meal in Jesus’ story is ready, but someone still has to go out and tell people. The servant goes into the streets and lets others know they are welcome. Sometimes inviting somebody to church is as simple as telling them there is a place for them.
As Methodists, we have passed our faith from one generation to another through our hymns. Many of us learned about grace, mercy, forgiveness, and the love of God by singing hymns before we ever knew how to explain these ideas. A few notes begin to play, and words we have not sung in years suddenly come back. Sometimes the hymn also brings back the memory of a church, a Sunday morning, or somebody who once sat beside us. When we sing together, we are doing more than remembering old words. We are singing the faith that people before us sang, and those same words can still speak to us.
That is one reason I am looking forward to our Fifth Sunday Singing. We are going to gather and sing some of the hymns that have meant so much to people through the years. Some of them you may have sung most of your life. Others may bring back memories you had almost forgotten. Now we have the chance to invite someone else into that singing. You may know someone who loves the old hymns. I hope you will think of someone you can ask to come and sing with us.
Charles Wesley wrote, “Let every soul be Jesus’ guest.” Jesus said, “Come, for everything is ready.” There is still room. Come and sing with us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Blessings,
Joshua
