|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Isaiah
25:1–9 |
Psalm 23 |
Philippians 4:1–9 |
Matthew
22:1–14
|
Jesus’ parables of the past two weeks affirm that God holds us accountable and responsible for our actions. Today’s Gospel passage continues the same theme and is obviously tied together with the previous ones. Yet I have suggested that rather than simply putting the faults of others in the spotlight, we look at ourselves, we hold up a mirror to our faces and not gather arrows to shoot at others.
Today’s Gospel seems to be a combination of two stories. The first is about God’s invitation to humanity and tragically humanity often makes light of or refuses it. The biblical history readily admits that there is a long record of people called to be people of faith, who reject their heritage, toss out their prophets and scorn their wisest teachers.
The second story is about the choice we have, to either accept or reject God’s gifts of grace. Sandwiched in between the two stories there is that jarring passage about the king who sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. This seems to be a later editorial edition referring to the invasion by the Roman Army who in putting down a rebel uprising finally had enough and razed of the whole city of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. Unfortunately many early Christians saw the destruction of Jerusalem as a judgment against those who had rejected Jesus and had expelled His followers from their synagogues. It is reasonable however, to conclude that the original parable of Jesus had the guests making excuses for not attending the wedding and then the king sending his servants out into the streets and inviting the whole community, rich and poor to the wedding feast.
The second story follows after the story of the king sending out his emissaries to invite everyone to the feast. This particular story is highly allegorical in that practically every detail seems to stand for something else. The wedding garment was likely a reference to the special robe put on when someone was baptized. One was totally immersed in water, and when they came out a fresh robe was put on them as they dried off. The robe symbolized one’s acceptance of the community and the willingness to live in the new life of Christ. Paul would write to those who accepted baptism, “these are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things — anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.... (You) have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all! As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.... Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”1
Hence this story is not primarily a parable of God’s invitation, it is more an allegory about our acceptance and recognition that God seeks to include everyone. The one who refuses to put on and clothe oneself with the wedding garment of baptism is the one who feels too good or too virtuous to associate with brothers and sisters in Christ. The one who refuses to put on the wedding garment is the one who stubbornly insists on rejecting the new fellowship of Jesus for the old ways of alienation and hurt, and the old games of powerful versus powerless. The one who refuses the new garment is like the one who stomps angrily away from the reception because someone he thinks does not deserve to be there shows up and is welcomed. That is why it is often observed that God will not send anyone to hell. Hell is populated exclusively only by those who have chosen to dwell there. God doesn’t write any lousy sub=prime mortgages on our lives, only we do that.
The one without a wedding garment is like one who cannot believe God’s love for all people is genuine. There must be a catch, and so he comes clothed in the rags of distrust and refuses to let God embrace him. We all know people and sometimes those people are ourselves, who refuse to trust in a good thing, who refuse to accept God’s goodness and love that is reaching out to hug them.
There are children out there who do not realize how much their parents love them. There are parents out there who have no idea how much their children love them. There is a large part of humanity out there who do not know that God loves and values them. God offers to gather us, to embrace us around the table, today, and all the days that follow. The job of this parish is to get the word out.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
1 Cf. Col. 3:7-14
