Everyone is Invited
The Heavenly Banquet: All are Welcome
At God's table there is plenty of room… God is the host, and there is a place at the table for people of every kind, even including people like us. — W. Eugene March
W. Eugene March (1935-2024) was a Presbyterian pastor and seminary professor; after the horrific events of September 11, 2001 he wrote a book to celebrate the many different religions and spiritualities in the human family called The Wide, Wide Circle of Divine Love: A Biblical Case for Religious Diversity.
It’s been my experience that some people seem to naturally accept, and even appreciate, how diverse our world is in terms of so many different wisdom traditions. But others have a harder time simply accepting that pluralistic reality, perhaps because of certain religious ideas that were indoctrinated into them at a young age. “Our way is the only way, and all other religious traditions lead to hell” is, unfortunately, a widely held religious view, at least among some Christians. Because of this, March’s commitment not only to celebrating religious differences, but even to argue that the Bible itself supports spiritual diversity, makes this book an important contribution to the Christian literature of our time.
One of the loveliest metaphors for heaven — which could be defined as “eternity enjoyed in happiness immersed in the presence of God” — is the image of the heavenly banquet. With roots in Isaiah 25:6 (“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.”) but also appearing in the New Testament, the idea that heaven will feature an amazing dinner party has been part of our tradition for some time. Julian of Norwich is one of many mystics who has incorporated the imagery of the eternal feast into her visionary mystical writings.
But Dr. March takes it a step further, by celebrating the heavenly banquet as a party for everyone: “there is a place at the table for people of every kind,” he enthuses, before adding a bit of irony: “even including people like us.” If heaven is a party, it is naturally a party for everyone (no exceptions). It might be an adjustment for some people to accept that God is so unconditionally welcoming and inclusive, but once we taste the feast, and share it with many different types and kinds of people, soon it becomes impossible to imagine anything less than complete.
If you want a heavenly banquet, then please: make sure everyone is invited.