All Dressed Up with Somewhere to Go

Matthew 22:1-14

The Peasant Wedding, Peter Brueghel the Elder 1566-1569 (PD)

HOW’D I GET THIS PARABLE!?

I’ll tell you how!

My colleague played the shell game with the liturgical readings between this Sunday and last Sunday!

I’ll tell you EXACTLY how!

After attending a Synod wide conference with our Bishop, I met with some colleagues. 

While in that meeting, my phone started buzzing. 

I checked the messages which read something like this. 

*TEXT MESSAGE* “Hey, let’s switch the bulletins for GIFT Sunday and New Member Sunday”

“NO!” *TEXT REPLY*

*TEXT MESSAGE* “Yes, I have good reasons”

“NO!” *TEXT REPLY*

*TEXT MESSAGE* “Too late, its done”

*TEXT REPLY* CENSORED

This Gospel, just as many of the parables we’ve been dealing with these past few weeks, is often avoided because it is considered such an unpleasant portrayal of God and Jesus’ vision of God’s Kingdom. 

The fact is, that this isn’t really a story that Jesus just pulled out of his back pocket. 

It is a story that can be found in many Jewish teachings, teachings called the Talmud. 

Many of these stories are reflections on King Solomon and Israel under his reign. 

But Jesus applies these stories to God, God’s Kingdom, and how people, to include OURSELVES will be treated at such a banquet. 

And this is where the unpleasantness so often comes into play. 

We are really worried about what has two thumbs and doesn’t like what Jesus has to say, rather than what the parable is honestly pointing to. 

And how can we help but have such thoughts about this text with all the death and destruction, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, and general abusive unpleasantries. 

But my friend was right, not just about GIFT Sunday but about New Members Sunday. 

This text is incredibly appropriate for this day, a day in which we receive new members into our midst. 

This is the moment when all our new members get pretty tense, their eyes start searching for the exits. 

That’s why we have ushers, folks, don’t even try it…

But before you start tensing up, waiting for the hazing to begin, let me point something out to you; 

This text isn’t intended to draw our attention to the punishment we hear in the parable, it is meant to draw our attention to the invitation of the King. 

It is meant to draw our attention to the OPPORTUNITY given by the King, a King whose invitation is consistently rejected. 

The slaves of the King aren’t sent out to some plain old road or even an intersection. 

All roads surrounding a kingdom or a city in the Ancient Near East funneled into one major thoroughfare which passed through that kingdom or city. 

In this parable, the King is sending the slaves to gather in anyone and everyone at the bottleneck where all travelers would be passing. 

Photo by Enrapture Media on Unsplash

And so, it is a collection of all kinds of people. 

Good people and bad people. 

Probably some who are faithful to this King. 

Perhaps some who are opposed to this King. 

Certainly some travelers who may not even know the King at all. 

Yet, they are all invited to enter into the feast. 

Just reading this story or having it read to us, something gets lost. 

Perhaps it is the fact that we are placing the King’s image onto God, holding God to our own standards rather than considering the immense sense of generosity involved in this parable. 

Within my own context, I can’t imagine such an invitation. 

When I take my kids to the bus stop, go for a run, or even a drive through my own neighborhood, I can’t help but cast a suspicious eye at anyone who doesn’t seem to belong there. 

As if anyone that I don’t recognize is a terrorist agent for Al Shabbabity Boop or Cobra Commander. 

That’s not just paranoia, sisters and brothers, that is a sense of mistrust that leads to complete inhospitality for one another. 

It keeps us locked in a state of silence and mistrust in grocery stores, traveling, even on the beach!

Preparing for this week I started reflecting on the number of times I’ve told my kids to leave other families alone on the beach this past summer, as if I am trying to discourage their own hospitality. 

Yet here in this parable, we find a King that opens up every opportunity to share the immensity of his wealth to all people, regardless of their worthiness. 

REGARDLESS OF THEIR WORTHINESS!

And yet, we still look to the punishment of this text as if that is its main theme. 

Even though we aren’t capable of THAT kind of hospitality. 

Even though we aren’t open to THAT kind of generosity. 

And if not because of our own greed, then at least because we are scared to make ourselves that vulnerable. 

After all, what kind of riff raff would that let in?

~

A man was entering into heaven, when he came to a large gate. 

Stopping at the gate, Peter came to meet him and proclaimed; 

“Welcome to Heaven! All I need you to do now, is spell the word love for me and you may enter!”

“Oh, that’s easy!” he said,

“L-O-V-E”.

"Great come on in!” replied Peter, who then asked,

“Could you watch the gate for me a moment? I need to go speak to Gabriel.”

“Sure!” responded the man.

“Great, just remember to ask anyone who comes to the gate to spell the word love and then let them in!” instructed Peter.

“Got it!” assured the man.

A few minutes later, the man’s wife came walking up to the gate.

“How’d you get here?” he asked

“I got in an accident leaving YOUR stinking funeral!” replied his wife.

“No worries,” assured the husband,

“You’re almost in, all you’ve gotta do is spell Czechoslovakia and I'll pop the gate right open!”

~

We don’t have the same standards as God when it comes to just about anything.

And when it comes to welcoming others, FULLY, into our lives, giving them access to all that is ours, truly taking them in as our own, we certainly don’t have the same standards as this King, much less God. 

But the point of the parable is not to extend the kind of invitation that God extends, it is to accept the kind of invitation God extends to us. 

Photo by Sweet Ice Cream Photography on Unsplash

Recognizing both the cost and the value of that invitation, and savoring it for the gift it truly is.

And here is where Pastor Nate uses the same old cliche’ he uses all the time…

At the font, at the table, in the forgiveness of our sins, in the Word. 

Blah blah blah, he used that last time. 

But that isn’t a line, I really mean it. 

THAT IS the oxen and fat calves, brought to this table for us. 

Yet it just doesn’t carry the same weight anymore. 

It doesn’t stand up to sports, sleeping in, having some alone time, or the late Saturday night that seemed to bleed into our Sunday morning. 

And I’m not sure when I became so out of touch with it all. 

I never saw when or where our faith became more about who we said we were, rather than showing up to receive the invitation extended to us. 

Showing up hungry for the feast, excited to extend our hands, hearts, and voices to the One who is responsible for all things bestowed upon us!

I don’t think that this is a recent development either, because Matthew speaks directly to this issue. 

Not only does Matthew’s telling of this parable begin with two extremes, it ends with two extremes. 

Those who are initially invited are a bit too busy, one managing a farm and one managing a business. 

They sound like pretty responsible folks, right? They get a pass don’t they?

Yet, they get lumped in with the rest of the group who commit an unequivocally evil act; MURDER!

Matthew takes a little of the edge off of this motif in the end when he plainly states that both the “good” and the “bad” are gathered into the banquet during the second round of invitations. 

But we can be assured by the language that these two groups of good and bad are about as distinguishable as the previous group that was lumped in together. 

And herein, Matthew clarifies this parable in a way Luke never attempts to, Matthew’s telling goes ahead and outlines the expectation. 

He does it with the part of the parable that no one likes, no one wants to hear, and we all seem to find personally offensive for one simple reason. 

The King seems like a petty snob!

~

Now every vocational call I have ever answered required a uniform, but only during the inspection of that uniforms care was it ever declared a possession of mine. 

If I ever failed to meet the standards or expectations of that uniform, I was warned that it represented something higher than me. 

I was warned that I needed to care for it because of what it represented, and if I failed to meet these expectations, it was a uniform that could be removed, because in all reality, it didn’t belong to me. 

My father and I in the first days of wearing one of many uniforms

It is why all Marine recruits dream of the day they can wear those coveted dress blues and all seminarians strive to don a stole upon their shoulders. 

But these uniforms do not really belong to the one that bears them on their back, because these uniforms represent something higher than the wearer. 

So does the wedding garment. 

This “friend” who becomes the center of attention for the King didn’t forget to pack his formal dinner wear and it isn’t because he can’t afford the right attire or doesn’t have a reasonable fashion sense. 

Just as those who were first invited to attend the banquet were unwilling to receive the King’s invitation, this guest is unwilling to wear the proper wedding garment. 

Some say that it was customary for the guests to be given wedding attire by the King, and in the Talmud, the King does in fact provide the garments to his guests. 

Regardless of the cultural or historical context, the language is clear; this guest has been less than willing to wear the expected garb BY CHOICE. 

Big deal! Right?

But this is a direct sign of outright disrespect to the King, it is the highest offense one can commit, because it only involves the simple act of willing participation. 

The community Matthew is seeing take shape is a smorgasbord of Gentiles, Jews, pagans, Zealots, and curious eyes on the fringes of the first century Christian community. 

Folks who have suggestions like, 

“This isn’t how we did it back when I went to Aphrodite’s temple!”

Or

“I liked the big tv screens and goat sacrifices at Zeus’s place!”

Matthew is painting a picture of radical hospitality and an open invitation to all, yet drawing the line that they are gathered together for the purpose of one thing alone; 

To worship the Lord God with a sense of reverence and authenticity for the identity they’ve received in the waters of their baptisms. 

~

I’ve said it time and again. 

All those who’ve visited and most of our new members who’ve spoken with me have heard me say it. 

I don’t work in sales, I work in customer service. 

I want people to worship God, and whether that is here or somewhere else, I DON”T CARE. 

Not because I don’t want to see us grow, not because I don’t think we have something here to offer. 

But because Matthew seems to say the same thing that the great theologian, Popeye, once said,

“I yam’s what I yam’s”.

And you are welcome to be part of who and what we are in this place because all are truly invited -and all means all-.

But make no mistake, we are here for the sole purpose of conformity, not to stand out or demand to be recognized individually but to conform to the One who first loved us, who willing died for us, and who wrapped that garment around our shoulders in the waters of our baptisms and will once again wrap us in that garment in our final breaths, 

Because that garment is the faith given to us through Jesus Christ that we are honored to wear daily, especially on this day. 

Amen 

Photo by Michael D Beckwith on Unsplash

Sources

Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath 153a

Faith: Just DO it!

Matthew 21:23-32

Photo by Maja Petric on Unsplash

Last week, Pastor Stephen mentioned some pretty sound advice from his own parents. 

Advice that not only his parents shared, but so did mine. 

In fact, I continue to share it with my children; “LIFE IS NOT FAIR”

It’s not. 

My father gave me a variation of this advice throughout my life, and it stuck with me.

It sticks with me daily.

He asked me one day what the reward was for doing the right thing. 

“Not getting in trouble?” I responded.

“Nope, doing the right thing can still get you in trouble sometimes, so don’t count on that one!” he retorted.

“Being nice?” I asked.

“Doing the right thing doesn’t always mean it is the nice thing, sometimes people will like you less for doing the right thing, sometimes they’ll even hate ya for it,” he informed me.

Stumped, I just shrugged, to which my father responded,

“There is no guaranteed reward for doing the right thing, except knowing that you did the right thing”

So, why on earth would one want to do the RIGHT thing?!

When I asked my father that same question, he advised that knowing you’ve done the right thing -the thing that authentically expresses character, faith, conviction, principle, and courage- is itself a reward because no one can take that reward away when you face yourself in the mirror the next day. 

This week, I had to face this same question with my own children. 

At the bus stop, a child was being teased and humiliated. 

I wasn’t there but I got a full report from a few witnesses. 

As the first hurtful remark was hurled toward the child, my children pivoted on their heels. 

Performing a flawlessly executed about face, then they were like wolves surrounding a wounded deer. 

Like any wounded animal, the child who had made the comments turned their insults towards my own kids and the sibling of that little boy.

And so, the question as to whether or not their defense of that child was even worth their efforts was bound to arise. 

And it will come up again and again for the rest of their lives, because that is the question we all ask… daily; 

Is it really worth doing the thing that we are called to do, the “right thing”? 

Especially when it is at our own expense?

~

Matthew’s Gospel is a teaching gospel. 

Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ role as a teacher and a good teacher at that. 

Matthew also emphasizes Jesus as an authoritative teacher, and his authority is called into question in what we heard today. 

His authority is called into question following several disruptive actions. 

First, riding a colt and a donkey down the Mount of Olives, clear as day for the entire Temple, its leaders, and pilgrims to see. 

Assisi Frescoes entry into Jerusalem, Pietro lorenzetti 1320

Pilgrims had gathered from all around to be in Jerusalem at the Temple for the week leading up to Passover, so this causes quite a scene and an appalling one, considering the declaration being made by this action. 

But it is Jesus’ second action that may be the most disruptive, in fact, it is probably the second action that seals his fate on the cross. 

Jesus makes a B-line right into the temple, flipping tables, driving out vendors, and just causing general pandemonium. 

So, it’s a pretty audacious move for Jesus to head directly back to the temple -the scene of the crime- and hold court among his followers as a teacher among his students.

It’s a bold move, but if we take off our Christian lenses for just a moment; it is an offensive move!

Jesus has marched into town causing complete upheaval by the very manner he makes his entrance, leading the people to proclaim him as a king or some kind of messiah. 

And while many believe, I wonder how many came out in support as if this act was done in some satirical fashion. 

An act of mockery or defiance against the authorities of the temple or even Rome. 

Civil disobedience is not a new thing, nor was it something that was beneath the people of Palestine under Roman rule. 

But this isn’t an act of mockery, defiance, or some satirical jab at those in power. 

This is a legitimate declaration that the Christ event has begun.

An event that is not intended to just upset the given order for no reason, but an event intended to upset the very way we respond to the grace and love of God. 

So, when we hear the Chief Priests and the Elders question the authority of Jesus, of course we imagine them entering the scene like Darth Vader as the Imperial March from Star Wars drums on in the background.  

But who else is it that we find in this audience, this crowd gathered around Jesus?

Obviously, the crowd gathered is one that intimidates the Chief Priests and Elders. 

A crowd that seem to be pretty big fans of John the Baptist. 

A crowd that also seems to be pretty big fans of Jesus. 

At least, for right now. 

What gets me, is that we know exactly where the Chief Priests and the Elders are at in this passage. 

They’re no fans of Jesus, but the crowd on the other hand?

What an amazing cheering squad to have on your side!

Jesus has caused a complete state of disruption and disorder, he should be hauled away if he doesn’t have the common sense to flee Jerusalem!

But instead, he stands in plain sight of the authorities, indignant against their authority. 

And the authorities are too fearful to haul him away, because of the crowd that surrounds him. 

Here is where I find our gospel the most intriguing. 

Whose side will this crowd stand on in the next few days?

Who will they stand for?

Whose authority will they recognize?

Whose authority will they mock?

We all know where this story goes! +

But what changes among the crowd?

Perhaps there’s a reward for following this charismatic figure for that particular moment in time?

Perhaps it is the reward of following what everyone else is doing?

And is that truly an authentic sense of being a follower?

Is that a sense of “doing” for the right reason?

Or is the “doing” of following Jesus meant to be its own reward?

~

This past week got off to a pretty crazy start, that's for sure. 

I haven’t really followed football since taking the call here. 

I just haven’t had time. 

But you really couldn’t avoid hearing about football during this past week, unless you live under a rock somewhere. 

The debate has raged throughout the week regarding the actions of NFL players taking a knee or just not being present during the National Anthem. 

Photo by Ministries Coordinator on Unsplash

Debate has divided households and our country. 

I’ve seen some of the most enraged and angry rhetoric on display since our last presidential election. 

But something left me completely confused, baffled in fact, about all this rage and debate. 

And hear me out, because I’m not exaggerating and T’m not being facetious here. 

People have called into question the patriotism and even the right to call oneself an American citizen because football players have chosen to kneel and even forego being present during the national anthem. 

But on a Sunday morning, how many who call themselves Christians forego attending worship or kneeling before God in a house of worship ANYWHERE for just one measly hour out of the week?

Yet, I have not heard outrage or accusations of a lack of faith, at least not with the same fervor I have heard over these football players this past week. 

It’s as if we consider one action a necessary litmus test to prove a title, but another title, which should hold far more weight, is free of any kind of commitment, devotion, action, or -dare I say- discipleship?

It isn’t about the national anthem or the flag or stewardship or church attendance for that matter. 

I’m not implying that we drive around in a blacked out van throwing bags over the heads of people who only see the inside of this building at Christmas and Easter. 

I don’t think this text is implying this action either. 

What I do think we need to consider, in light of our Gospel today is how we define the word; 

Conviction.

Conviction is a legal term, any way you swing it. 

Convictions mean that there are inescapable truths that cannot be avoided. 

A conviction in court condemns the accused to a sentence based on the amount of evidence that has persuaded the jury. 

A personal conviction on the other hand, this is when we are presented with certain truths, 

Truths that are embraced so strongly that those truths become ingrained into our character, our very identity. 

And when this happens, personal convictions drive our very actions. 

Personal convictions are what makes our skin bubble up with goosebumps at the sound of that first “Oh say can you see…”

Or why tears begin to form in the corner of our eyelids as we reach out for that bread or that cup. 

Personal convictions are not expressed from our bed or couch on a Sunday morning, nor are they expressed by saying that our brother or sister's problem is not our own because, there just isn’t anything in it for me. 

Conviction is not about what we say, it is very much about what we DO. 

There it is, I said the D word!

DO!

The act of DOING doesn’t give us anything. 

It doesn’t assure us the promise of salvation and it doesn’t release us from our sin, but DOING is the response to our faith that we just can’t help because we are CONVICTED by that FAITH. 

And personal faith may not be a work that assures us paradise but it is our work to do. 

The faith that assures us paradise is the faith we receive in Christ, the faith that stems from that event is the faith that sanctifies and embraces the love we have for the One who first loved us. 

It's the action, the doing, that we just can't help but DO!

So, why do I keep saying DO?

Because that is what they teach us in seminary today, don’t say anything about DOING anything. 

Well, DO DO on that, because the Gospel has something else to say about what we DO today. 

~

In the parable Jesus shares, he limits the answers available to the Chief Priests and the Elders. 

After presenting a parable about two children, one who SAYS they are going to fulfill the task and one who DOES the task after claiming that he will not. 

The Pharisees Question Jesus, James Tissot 1886-1894

It may be one of the simplest parables Jesus presents.

It is only found in Matthews Gospel, and it is presented before a crowd that is far from being personally convicted to follow Jesus. 

So, when Jesus asks the question, he limits the parameters of the question to merely who DOES the will of the Father. 

It seems straightforward, we and the crowd gathered just can barely resist the urge to point at the Chief Priests and Elders as we shout triumphantly, 

“Ohh, you just got burned!!”

But the burn is not on the Chief Priests or the Elders, it is on the crowd whose personal convictions to both John and Jesus will fade away at the first whiff of mob rule. 

It's hard to stand against the masses and the louder they cry and scream, the harder it is to do the right thing, the faithful thing. 

Because when our response to faith is not part of our character, our principles, or our convictions, its no longer worth it, unless there is immediate gratification or a tangible reward. 

And that is the problem with faith, the reward has already been given but we seem to have lost sight of its value, not to mention its cost. 

~

In the film "La La Land", a throwback to the golden age of Hollywood musicals, one of the main characters named Sebastian spends the film sharing his love for jazz. 

He walks the streets of LA giving tours of old jazz clubs and locations where revered musicians frequented. 

At one point, he stops off at a club that was once called "The Vanbeek" where Count Basie and Chick Webb once played. 

When asked what happened to it, he proclaims that it is a “Samba/Tapas place now”

A place where Samba music is played and Tapas food is served, two completely opposite tastes. 

Responding to his friends confused reaction, Sebastian explains, “It’s typical of LA, they worship everything but they value nothing.”

~

When we gather in this place to worship, it is an expression of the value we find in that cross, in this Word, at that rail, in that font. 

We aren’t called to worship in the place with the best coffee, the best sermons, the best music, or the best programs. 

It isn’t that we don’t strive for those things or want to provide those things here, 

But we are gathered in this place to express our personal conviction, our value of the justification we receive by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 

And it is meant to evoke a response, in here and out there. 

No matter whether there is a reward for doing the right thing, or if the masses will endorse or support our action. 

Because it’s not supposed to come from us, it is meant to come from that cross + that has been planted in our hearts. 

Amen

Sources

Chazelle, Damien. (2016) La La Land. Santa Monica, CA: Summit Entertainment