What Are You Doing Here?

I believe that we have all experienced "it" at one time or another in our lives. "It" is that embarrassing moment when you personally realize that you have knocked on the wrong house, reported to the wrong job, dialed the wrong phone number, showed up to speak at the wrong church, etc.

I once hosted a baby shower at my home. It was a lovely affair considering I'm not good at this type of thing in the first place. It was several weeks later when the mother shared with me that she had shown up for the shower a week early and was completely surprised and embarrassed as she walked up my driveway and she did not see any cars or people. It was not a surprise baby shower and she could not understand why the house was vacant. We had another engagement on the date she originally showed up.

As embarrassing as these moments can be, they become the lively conversations at subsequent events. "It" is only a problem when you have no explanation, or the explanation that you give is not satisfactory or sufficient. You seem not to be able to wiggle out of the direct confrontation by the "One" in charge - "What are you doing here?" This is especially embarrassing when the question is asked with a condescending tone.

Mark 22:1-14 tells of a wedding feast where people are invited to come and celebrate. When the original invitees made excuses for not coming, the king invited as many as could be found in the highways, good and bad. All were welcome, but there was one who did not have on a wedding garment. The king confronted him and asked how he could come to the wedding without wearing the proper garments. For what would seem like a perfectly innocent mistake, especially in our 'come as you are society', the king had his servants bind the person hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For a wedding garment? Yes. Because the wedding garment represented the guests relationship to Jesus Christ. We have a grand opportunity on this earth to get our relationship right with God through His Son. After death it is too late to put on the wedding garment. What are you doing here?