21st Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 23
Matthew 22: 1-14
"The Invited"
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 it can be difficult to have that interest in God day after day, Sunday after Sunday.
A teenager noticed this in his own life and sought out his pastor.
A teenager was sitting in the pastor’s office saying,"Sometimes I don’t think I am a Christian. I don’t seem to have the same interest and excitement, or enthusiasm I once did. It isn’t easy for me to remember God, to come to church, and to pray. It is too easy to find excuses to stay away from church and then to make those excuses into reasons why I should stay away. Pastor, I know God hasn’t left me, but boy I sure feel as if I have left Him."
The pastor said, "Remember the time your father was away from home on those long business trips? Was it difficult for you to remember him?"
"Not a bit," the boy said, "I had letter from him and I kept thinking about him, and he sent me gifts in the mail so I would remember him
"Suppose," said the pastor, "there was no letters, no gifts and you never mentioned his name in conversation around the house. What then???"
"Then, maybe, I would have forgotten about him. that would have made a difference.
"Well,"said the pastor, "that is the way it is with God. Sure it is tough to remember God, it is tough to stay a Christian in this world. But God has given us His word, like your father’s letters, to remember him. God has given us His gifts of Holy communion and Baptism as a physical reminder of His love for us, like the gifts your father sent you. God also wants us to include Him in our conversations, not just on Sunday, but throughout the week, sothat we will remember Him. It is tough to stay a Christian, it is tough to remember God doesn’t leave you, it is tough to keep a relationship with God alive, exciting and fresh. God is working on His end and he wants you to continue to work on your end. He has given you all the tools, necessary, only, you have to decide if you will use them."
The boy smiled and nodded, yes.
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.
God never alters the robe of righteousness to fit man; He changes the man to fit the robe.
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.
As we are robed in him, we believe in His saving grace and trust in it for our salvation.
It is like the boy in the following:
A pastor said I heard about a young boy that had a large fierce white cat named Lollypop. The cat had one problem: he loved to climb trees. When he got to the top of one of those tall pine trees, however, he could not get down and would let out a howl that could be heard throughout the entire neighbor. One day when his parents were away, the boy heard that familiar howl and took it upon himself to rescue "Lollypop." Using a stepladder, he climbed the tree, and with great determination he reached the howling cat, only to discover that he also could not make the descent!
When his dad arrived he heard his son’s howls above those of the cat. In the rescue that followed there came a point when the boy’s short legs would not reach the next limb. When his father said, "Jump son." He responded with a leap of faith knowing that his father had never failed him. This demonstrated faith not only effected his rescue but also proved his obedience to the his loving father who caught him."
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale October 3, 2005
