Invited and All Decked Out
Isaiah 25:6-10a; Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20; Matthew 22:1-14
There are seventeen parables in the Gospel of Matthew. If you had to choose one that was the hardest to interpret, this week's Parable of the Wedding Banquet is a good candidate. It reads somewhat like a combination of a soap opera, an episode of Joan Rivers’ “Fashion Police” and somebody's bad dream.
Are you confused by it? Perhaps even disturbed? If so, you’re not alone. You’re in good company with those who heard Jesus speak this parable two thousand years ago. And you know what? That’s not by accident, but by design. Because with every parable, Jesus intended the hearer at some point to be jolted or shocked. The parable is meant to provoke and to incite - to arouse conversation, as well as introspection. Ultimately it should lead to action. A parable weaves together a story which is relatively believable and familiar in terms of details and customs; yet also contains within it the unbelievable - the startling. Rome didn't execute Jesus for telling feel good stories, so we shouldn't be surprised by a parable that shocks.
So in our Gospel today, we hear about a king who prepared a royal banquet for his son's wedding. This is no backyard barbecue. It’s not even like the wedding that was just held a few weeks ago in Venice between the world’s most eligible bachelor, George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin. It's the royal wedding of the king's son, akin to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. It was THE event of the season!
The hall is decorated. The finest meats are roasted. The most delightful vegetables are prepared to perfection. The wine has been properly aged. And the host begins pacing as the appointed hour approaches. He sends his servants out to tell the invited guests that the time has come, the feast is ready, come to his table and share in his joy, his generosity, his friendship.
Who in their right mind would turn down such an imperial invitation? But some did. Some people "refused to come." Others "paid no attention." Another group even killed the king's messengers.
After a second round of messengers, a B-list of guests accepts the king's invitation. If the privileged people refused his generosity, then he would extend it to "all the people his servants could find." So at long last the banquet hall was full. But one guest stood out like a sore thumb. He was a wedding crasher who dressed like a slob — to the wedding party of the king's son! In the royal palace! What was he thinking?! How could anyone be so cavalier?
So, the first part of this parable describes the rejection of an invitation, and the last part an expulsion because of presumption. The people who refused the king's invitation didn't deserve to come. The guest who showed up inappropriately dressed didn't deserve to stay. Both scenarios end badly. To those who refused his invitation, the king "sent his army and burned their city." The one who dressed inappropriately was "tied hand and foot, and thrown outside into the darkness."
But I’m sure you’ve guessed, this story isn’t about clothes and banquets; it’s a story about seriousness and faithfulness in responding to the grace of God. It is a story not about kings and slaves and prophets and Jews. It’s a story about us, and about God’s invitation to us, and about our response to God’s gracious invitations and promises. This is a story about taking God and God’s Kingdom seriously, about not presuming upon the grace of God to the extent that we assume that God must forgive and accept us no matter what we do. It’s a story about the paradox and mystery of God’s love.
The Gospels walk a very narrow path between two large ditches. On the one side is legalism, which sets out a series of things we must do to be saved. We fall into this ditch when we insist that in order to make God love and accept us we must hold a certain form of theology or follow a particular type of worship, or practice a strict code of morality. The other ditch is antinomianism, which is theological jargon for “anything goes,” an attitude that says that no matter what we do God, being God, has to love and accept us anyway. It’s the sense of entitlement some feel simply because they have received the invitation.
But this parable seeks to point us down the middle path between the ditches:
INVITED! You have been invited to the Wedding Banquet of the Son of God.
INVITED! Everyone without exception has received a free invitation to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a banquet of excess and extravagance.
INVITED! This invitation is extended to each of us not based on who we know, what we’ve done, what our status is, or what financial success we’ve achieved.
INVITED! No legalism, no prior requirements, no price of admission.
INVITED! This invitation is extended simply out of the love, generosity and graciousness of our God. BUT - it doesn't come cheap. It asks us for everything.
INVITED! Once the invitation has been accepted, it’s expected that ones' life will be changed in response to God’s gracious gift of love.
The challenge that today’s Gospel presents us with is twofold: to watch the mail and to watch the mirror: What’s our RSVP to our King’s invitation? Are we excited about this invitation or have we delayed in our response? Do we put it off - trying to live the “good life” while we can and perhaps get more serious about this “salvation stuff” when it’s more apparent that the “good life” has run its course and the end is in sight? Or have we rejected it – brooding over past hurts, things that haven’t gone right in our lives that we’ve blamed God for; or angry at the Church over its teachings, or the behavior of some of its clergy?
Today’s gospel also challenges us to look in the mirror. What’s our wardrobe like? Do we wear a garment of grace? The fabric of faith? The cloak of compassion? The robe of righteousness? The vestments of virtue? Are we decked out in love and mercy? Do we wear the ensemble of charity, service and justice? Or do we wear the soiled and tattered rags of anger, bitterness, hatred, revenge, self-righteousness, and indifference?
Food! Banquets! Rejoicing together! It's the stuff of a royal wedding. It’s also the stuff of the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the wedding banquet is greater than we can imagine. The mystery is deeper than we can understand. The invitations go out to more people than we realize. The invitations have been written in blood, sent and delivered. The table is set. The food has been prepared. The wedding singers have rehearsed. All that’s needed is the guests.
The favor of a reply is requested.
