21st Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 23
Matthew 22: 1-14
The Guests
1* ¶ And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,
2* "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son,
3* and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come.
4* Again he sent other servants, saying, ’Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.’
5* But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
6* while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
7* The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8* Then he said to his servants, ’The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
9* Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’
10* And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11* "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment;
12* and he said to him, ’Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
13* Then the king said to the attendants, ’Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’
14* For many are called, but few are chosen."RSV
Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
Our gospel lesson this morning is another parable in a series of parables that Jesus taught about the kingdom of heaven. Remember the last two weeks, there was the parable about the father who had two sons, he asked one to go into the vineyard, but he said no but then changed his mind while he asked the other son and he said yes, but in fact did not go as he promised.
And then there was the parable about the another vineyard where the renters did not want to give the fruit of the vineyard to the owner’s servants. And the vineyard was taken from them and given to others.
Those two parables dealt with the kingdom of God!
And this weeks parable also deals with the kingdom of God.
Jesus says the kingdom of God can be compared with a king who gave a marriage feast and invited special guests. But the guests were too busy to attend, so the king told his servants to go out into the streets and invite anyone they see.
The story is definitely an allegory. That means that the king in the story stands for God. The people found in the highways and byways are probably the Gentiles, the invited guests are the children of Israel, and "the king’s troops" is probably a reference to the Romans who burned Jerusalem in AD 70 (a rather strange designation for the Romans).
But what matters is that the king gave a banquet and the invitations to the chosen guests were rejected.
All the invited guests had excuses not to attend the banquet. The invited guests were the people of Israel, but they were not interested in attending. The scribes and the Pharisees as the religious rulers were not interested in the Kingdom of God that Jesus was bring into the world. They made excuses!! They asked by what authority does Jesus do this. They asked, how can a son of a carpenter be the Son of God.
They came up with excuses after excuses not to believe in the Kingdom of God which was coming through Jesus Christ.
And a lot of those excuses made as little sense as the following:
There is an Arabian fable which tells about a man who went to his neighbor and asked to borrow a rope. "I can’t lend it, because I am using it to tie up a pile of sand." his neighbor answered.
"But," the man came back, "you can’t tie up a pile of sand with a rope."
To which his neighbor slyly replied, "Oh, yes you can.. In fact, you can do anything with a rope when you do not wish to lend it to your neighbor."
Excuses!! Excuses, excuses!!
And in this day and age, a lot of people have a hundred and one excuses not to be in the kingdom of God, too.
We come up with a lot of different excuses not to be in church on Sunday where the kingdom of God is manifested on this earth. It is through the church, the body of Christ, that the kingdom of God comes. For Jesus says, where two or three are gathered in my name there will I be also.
In the Lutheran tradition, we start each worship service with the words, ’In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen". We invoke the name of Christ so he will be present with us.
The invitation is given to all members to be present on Sunday to be part of the Kingdom of God. But sadly, we can come up with many excuses not to be present.
But a pastor came up with a way to solve all those excuses in the following:
No Excuse Sunday
This is called No Excuse Sunday. In order to make it possible for everyone to attend Church next week, we are planning a special No Excuse Sunday.
1-Cots will be placed in the vestibule for those who say, "Sunday is my only day for sleeping late."
2-Eye drops will be available for those whose eyes are tired from watching TV too late on Saturday night.
3-We will have steel helmets for those who believe the roof will cave in if they show up for Church.
4-Blankets will be furnished for those who complain that the Church is too cold. Fans will be on hand for those who say that the Church is too hot.
5-We will have hearing aids for those who say that the pastor or priests do not talk loud enough. There will be cotton for those who say that the pastor or priests talk too loud.
6-Scorecards will be available for those who wish to count the hypocrites.
7-We guarantee that some relatives will be present for those who like to go visiting on Sunday.
8-There will be TV dinners available for those who claim they cannot go to Church and cook dinner too.
9-One section of the Church will have some trees and grass for those who see God in nature, especially on the golf course.
10-The sanctuary will be decorated with 30 Christmas poinsettias and 30 Easter lilies to create a familiar environment for those who have never seen the Church without them.
We are the invited guests and if we do not show up, the Kingdom of Heaven will be given to someone else. So please come each Sunday as the invited guests of the King, God himself to be present in his kingdom.
As you look closely to this parable, there is a warning to the guests. A warning that one needs to be dressed appropriately.
For example:
How did you get in here?" the waiter asked with great hostility
The young man stammered, "Why . . . I was invited . . . the groom is a good friend of . . ."
The waiter cut him off maliciously, "I’m sorry, but you are simply not dressed properly, you will have to leave.’’
’ But I was invited, protested the young man as he searched through his tattered jeans to find the small, gold embossed card that gave him the right to be there.
"I’m sorry," said the waiter as he guided him to the door.
"But I belong here," the young man protested.
As they neared the door, they passed the bride’s father. "Sir," the young man called; the older man turned to him with arched brows. "You remember me, don’t you, sir’ I met you at your daughter’s engagement party. I’m James,a good friend of the groom’s."
The bride’s father looked the young man up and down carefully for a moment, then called the waiter aside and whispered to him. James was relieved, until the waiter returned took him by the elbow and pushed him more firmly toward the door.
"Hey," James responded, "didn’t he tell you who I am?"
"He did," said the waiter, "and out you go!" James did not understand and still could not find his invitation.
"But I was invited!"
As they reached the door, the bride, groom and wedding party were entering, so the waiter pulled James aside, out of the way. As the groom came in the revolving door, he saw James and the waiter exiting through the swinging door. "Hey, James," he shouted (but no one could hear him above the cheering), glad you could make it. Come back when you change into your suit and tie."
So the wedding reception went on for hours and hours and the groom never noticed that James hadn’t returned. James stood outside, and never understood why they would not let him in.
Just like the wedding guest in the Jesus’ parable this guest was asked to leave because he wore the inappropriate clothes.
And you might be asking, what are the appropriate clothes for one in the kingdom of God? The appropriate clothing is the robe of righteousness of Jesus Christ. We are to be clothed in his forgiveness and grace.
All are invited, all attend, but those who stay are those who believe that Jesus is the Christ and the only way of salvation. We need to be robed in Him, it is as simple as that.
But I was invited, yes many are invited, but all must we dressed in the robe of righteousness.
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale October 7, 2002
