"that a feast of fat things might be prepared for the poor; yea, a feast of fat things, of wine on the lees well refined, that the earth may know that the mouths of the prophets shall not fail; Yea, a supper of the house of the Lord, well prepared, unto which all nations shall be invited. First, the rich and the learned, the wise and the noble; And after that cometh the day of my power; then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb, and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come."
As extended metaphors go, one of the mortal Christ's most striking is his repeated references to a covenant people as the bride of the Lord. The wedding ceremony, an occasion of great joy signifying the unity of separate beings is apt as the ritual by which we become Inheritors with our Lord through an avowal, and a permanent alteration of our relationship with Him. And all are invited. Sadly, according to the parabolic allegories, across various retellings and delivery contexts, many who think they are going to enjoy the fruits of this relationship and its attendant celebrations are going to be disappointed while many who didn't consider themselves worthy will accept the invitation.
It's been a point of faith for me that the day of the Lord's "power" is manifest when the poor in heart and handicapped in body are drawn in to the celebrations, because it always seemed just and merciful to my human understanding to think of the Savior as more powerful for having targeted the least powerful for symbolic and eventually real exaltation. It humbles me to know the Lord I worship needs my humility, and will reward it with power.
However, this passage came up in one of my first district meetings as a young missionary in Africa with a counter-intuitive, but accurate reading done by a faithful young zone leader. And it caused a bit of a controversy with my first in-field companion. The zone leader, under the direction of the Mission President, led eight of us or so through a reflection on the order of invitations in this passage and how they might relate to our current work as some of the nation's first waves of missionaries. I think the mission might have been in its third year of operation by the time I was called. The economic capital, which had ballooned in the prior two decades through urbanization processes like many of its sister cities across Africa and the developing world in general, boasted 10 or more Branches of the Church by this time. But under a strategy we called "centers of strength" we were encouraged to limit our proselyting efforts to within two kilometers of the nearest meetinghouse. There were enough unconverted souls within such a radius to support the finding and teaching efforts sometimes for four or more missionary companionships. And this zone leader took the Mission President's direction seriously when the "centers of strength" concept implied that even within those geographic limits, our efforts to find converts should be even more selective: we should target full families with stable, job-holding heads of household who could bring tithes to the storehouse and serve in Priesthood callings. My own companion, from a sense of compassion and genuine desire to share the Gospel, came to the meeting with a much more open attitude about who to share the Gospel with. But he came away, as did I, convinced of the wisdom of being open to sharing with all as the Spirit would direct, but also of doing our part to align with the Lord's own priorities as communicated both through living Priesthood channels, and through this 200 year old scripture.
In effect, the passage counterintuitively places the invitation priority on the rich, the noble, the educated, and the wise. If success could be found in efforts to bring the Gospel to these, they would effectively form a solid base for rapid and sustainable growth as others joined them. They might even be best placed to help convince others and accelerate the work of conversion. In any case, in a developing country as we were, the numbers of poor and suffering would likely be much larger than the numbers of those with the means and leadership skills to support them, so seeking the latter group first made strategic sense. We were never closed off to the poor and needy--by no means--but we took the Lord's direction seriously enough that our goals. efforts, and time often reflected the harder, more rigorous task of seeking the more established wherever we served.
Please note, however, that the great day of the Lord's power is defined not by riches, but by service. The order of invitation says nothing about the rate of committed response to the invitations. And those wise, learned, rich, and powerful whose money, education, connections, and influence seemed sufficient unto themselves, would be left behind to weep, wail, and gnash teeth over what they failed to accept in time once the day of power arrives. God's justice gives to all at least one chance to accept His Son's sacrifice, and wo to those who reject the chance, because the mercy and healing we all need can't extend eternally to those who reject it.
One more image, perhaps also allegorical, comes to mind in connection with the kind of celebratory feast at the symbolic union of the Lamb with His Zion described in this passage. It was expressed to me, by a kind-hearted bishop, as a humorous story that one could nevertheless find a serious lesson in.
The story goes that a man dreamed of his own death one night, and his spirit was accompanied to the center of a hallway with a door at either end. One door was marked "Hell" and the other "Heaven". The doors had windows through which an accompanying angel invited the man's disembodied spirit to peer. He looked first through the door to Hell, and was surprised to see a banquet table spread with the most delicious and varied foods in great abundance. Sadly for its denizens, the utensils laid out for this feast were oversized to the point that no one could bend their wrist to get a spoon- or fork-full into their mouth. The banquet thus became a tantalizing torture, with victims never able to satisfy their appetites despite deliciousness all around them. After taking in that scene, the spirit wandered over to Heaven's door, and was again astonished to see the same banquet spread with the same overextending utensils as the only tools supplied for the attendees. There was, however, a difference in heaven: the people there organized to feed each other across the table. Service to others made all the difference in the same conditions.
Zion is a state of heart, not merely a physical place. The pure who live out its principles, wherever they are, tend to produce the results of unity in their communities--families, wards, neighborhoods, stakes, cities, and nations--that the heaven society in the story displayed. The allegorical great day of the Lord's power is powerful in its ability to create healing, joy, peace, and belonging for those who accept His invitation (which comes to them through authorized representatives, let's not forget, and therefore requires faith and order), partly because the Lord has precisely those powers, but also partly because His influence on each individual attendee causes them to reflect and magnify His power for the benefit of each other and all.
There may not be a "centers of strength" strategy in place in your community, and the time for prioritizing the more fortunate may be past where you live. But the Church is not a kingdom except for under its King. It is also allegorically a hospital which employs only one Physician. All of us suffer, each in our own ways, if not also from our body's corruptible states, at least from our own sins and from the effects of others' sins upon us. In accepting His love and forgiveness through repentance and covenants, we can help each other suffer less until that great day of the Supper where the healing and joy will be complete. Until then, our challenge is to live Zion like it's already here--inviting all, serving those in need as best we can, and lifting our hearts and heads to He whose will was swallowed up in His Father's so we can emulate being swallowed up in His will as well, to the power of all, and to the eternal praise of the Lord.
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