Uninvited Guests

I am feeding the squirrels.
I don’t want to feed the squirrels, I want to feed the songbirds.
I am feeding the chipmunks.
I don’t want to feed the chipmunks, I want to feed the wild birds.

Each day, when I water my plants, I fill my bird feeder.
My side porch has a wooded area next to the original stone farm wall.
There are so many birds that come to dine on the wild birdseed I put out each day.
Living among the large stones are the chipmunks; sitting in the trees are the squirrels.

It’s not that I don’t think squirrels and chipmunks get hungry.
It’s just that they are eating food that is not supposed to be for them.
The squirrels climb the pole of the bird feeder in the most brazen way.
The chipmunks scurry underneath the feeder to try to get any seed that falls on the ground.

The squirrels wrap themselves around the pole in a contorted way.
Then they have the audacity to get annoyed at the birds who are trying to eat there.
When they hear me come out onto the porch, the squirrels and chipmunks flee.
I will sit on my porch swing and marvel at the distinctive birds God has created.

Bright red cardinals, yellow goldfinches, and noisy blue jays all have a place at the feeder.
Tiny wrens wait their turn.
Robins will come and go when no other bird is about.
The hummingbirds have their own feeder that they visit all day long.

I hear the hummingbird’s wings.
I see them dart back and forth sipping from the tiny holes in the feeder.
The hummingbirds are my favorite.
They make me smile.

I will sit on the porch swing and make a deal with myself.
I am not going inside until I see a hummingbird.
I will sit there for a while and then one arrives and then another.
Sometimes it seems like a party is at the feeder to which I was not invited.

But then the squirrels return.
They boldly climb up the pole.
The brazenly lean over from a nearby tree branch.
They scare away the tiny birds that are happy to get the leftovers.

I thought of the squirrel and remembered elementary school.
There was always that one child in the classroom that disrupted everyone else.
There was always that one child who got everyone else in trouble.
Even if you did the right thing, this one person disobeyed and everyone suffered.

That’s not fair, was the usual lament.
That statement usually got another consequence tacked on to the first, since you don’t complain.
But it wasn’t fair.
Everyone else was doing the right thing but for the sake of the one, we were all punished.

I understand the squirrels’ activities.
I just don’t like them very much.
They are not being fair to the birds.
They are coming to the feast uninvited.

When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, “Give this man your seat.” Then humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, “Friend, move up to a better place.” Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Then Jesus said to His host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or you 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.” (Luke 14:8-14)

The woods are home to the squirrels, the chipmunks, and the birds.
My feeder is designed to feed only the birds.
The squirrels are uninvited guests.
I thought of the parable as I watched them.

What if they just ate the seed that dropped on the ground?
What if they didn’t presume the feeder was for them?
What if they allowed the birds to come freely and eat?
What if they stopped being so bold and brazen?

People are no different.
They desire to be part of the “in” crowd.
They desire to be in the right place at the right time.
They maneuver themselves into position, often uninvited.

It is not wise.
We all position ourselves from time to time.
Our own exaltation will be found out.
It is far better for us to be exalted in God’s eyes rather than our own.

We are to presume nothing.
We are to be amazed at the grace that is bestowed on us, knowing that we don’t deserve it.
We hear the Banquet host say, Friend, move up to a better place.
And we do so with gratitude.

Have you heard the invitation from your King?
Come, eat at My banquet table.
We are the undeserving.
We are the ones who can never pay Him back for all He did for us.

But we come.
And the banquet is ready.
And we eat at the place of honor.
The place that He prepared for us before the foundation of the world.