Matthew 22
“The
Wedding is Ready”
In today’s parable, Jesus uses the imagery of a wedding
banquet to illustrate what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Throughout the scriptures, the prophets also
used the imagery of marriage to speak of God and God’s people. At times, God is
the groom and Israel is his wife. At
times, Israel is the groom and they have married away from God, as God calls
them back from their idolatry.
So, as Jesus begins this parable, those that are familiar
with the Hebrew scriptures are hearing an echo of their heritage. They are hearing yet again, the voice of the
prophet that asks: are you my bride? Are
you truly my people? Except the imagery
has changed, no longer is relationship that of groom and bride but now the
people that Jesus speaks of are guests. This
too should catch the listeners attention.
If Jesus spoke of a parable about a wedding banquet where all was ready
but the bride did not come, the Hebrew people would sit up and take
notice. They have always been the bride
so who are these guests? And why don’t
they want to come to the wedding banquet?
Most of us enjoy parties, especially weddings. When it comes to a family member or a really
good friend, to turn down a wedding invitation is usually not an option. Seven years later, I am still disappointed
that I was not able to attend a really good friend’s wedding, but I was
pregnant with Andi and very sick. I
couldn’t muster up the energy to drive eight hours so I had to tell her, we
just couldn’t make it. And, for my own
wedding, there were a few really good friends that could not come and I
remember feeling rather disappointed that they were not able to be there. When it comes to family and good friends,
attending the wedding can be a reflection of the relationship. Yes, you are truly a good friend, I will make
sure I do everything I can to make sure I am there for you on this special
day.
But then there are those invitations from friends, but
not close friends. And sometimes those
are easier decisions to make. Well, yes,
we went to high school together but we haven’t really stayed involved for the
past ten years and it is going to be expensive to get a hotel and travel
expenses so I think that perhaps this is one wedding that I can easily say
thank you for the invite but I am not able to attend. And then, there is the rarer invite from
someone that you are extremely surprised to get an invitation from. Why in the world would this person invite me
to their wedding?
So, what is going on in this parable? The King, sends out an invite to a wedding
banquet and no one shows up. This is the
King, does he not have any friends? Does
his son not have any friends? Are there
no relatives that want to be a part of this celebration? There are very few royal weddings in our
world today, but when there is one, people want to be invited. Even if they don’t know the couple, they want
to be a part of this special day. In
fact, they line up along the streets to just catch a glimpse of the couple,
they get themselves as close to there as possible without actually being there. And it becomes part of their story. They go back and tell their friends, hey, I
saw the royal couple, I saw them enter the church, I saw them leave the church,
I saw them in their royal carriage, the bride, she waved at me. But none of this is happening in today’s
parable.
Why does the king and his son have no friends? Why does no one want to come? So he sends out his servants to bring the
people to the wedding banquet. And, just
like last week’s parable, there are not good results. Why won’t the guests come? What is so hard about attending a party? Being a guest involves very little
obligation, doesn’t it? Or does it? What would coming to the banquet obligate
these people to? In a literal sense, it
would involve a loss of a day’s work, it might involve purchasing a gift, it
might involve having to buy the right clothes.
In a literal sense, there might be some financial obligations that the
people just cannot meet.
In a spiritual sense, since this is a parable about the
Kingdom of Heaven, what are the obligations for the guests? They are not being asked to be the bride, but
just come and attend and be a part of the celebration. Why won’t they come? Perhaps because this is something new and
different. The people are comfortable
in the way they are living their lives and they are not seeking anything new
and different in their faith, in their understanding of God. By coming to the wedding banquet there is a
sign of respect for the family members that are getting married. Spiritually, there must be a response of
respect for God and for Jesus.
Spiritually, there has to be a connection to this king, to God, to what
he is doing in the world by presenting his son to the world. If there is no connection, there is no need
to attend. If there is no relationship
building there is no reason to attend. If
there is no respect, there is no reason to attend. So, is the Kingdom of Heaven about the king
or about the guests? Who is at
fault? If the king was connected to the
people wouldn’t they have come? Or are
the people just too busy to pay attention to the king?
So, the parable continues. The first round of guests don’t come, so
anyone and everyone on the streets are gathered in and brought to the
feast. And they come. The wedding is ready. Although this parable has some really rough
edges, the spiritual message behind it is that God’s grace is extended to
all. Everyone is invited to the wedding,
but, just like the people on the streets, perhaps not everyone knows they are
welcomed. God does not act alone, this
parable illustrates that there are servants, there are loyal people connected to
the king that go out into the streets.
This parable is a spiritual message of both/and. I asked earlier, who are the guests? But I didn’t ask, who are the servants? The wedding feast is ready. What does that mean for us? Who are we in the parable? Are we the first round of guests, are we the
second round of guests, or are we the servants?
If we are the second round of guests, let us come and enjoy the
wedding. Let us feast on God’s word, and
God’s love, and God’s grace in our lives.
Let us celebrate that God is good, that God loves us, and God desires us
to be at the wedding. Let us build our
relationship with God so that we hold God as one of those dear friends that we
would drop just about anything for in order to be there for him.
Do often think of God being there for us, but what would
it look like to think about ourselves as the guests and being there for God and
for the son? Take a minute and think
about one wedding that you have attended as a guest that was extremely
meaningful for you. I just did a wedding
vow renewal for a couple that have been married almost fifty years. At that celebration people shared how they
were at the wedding almost fifty years ago and what a wonderful relationship
they have had with that couple over the past fifty years. God desires that of us. God desires us to say, I am so glad to be a
part of this spiritual wedding and what a wonderful relationship we have had
over these past – ten, or twenty or eighty years.
But let’s take a second look, what if we see ourselves as
the servants. God sends those servants
out to gather others in. Do we feel
called in any way, shape or sort to go out and bring people in? And if we do, what does that look like? Some people have invited friends to come to
church. Some people have invited friends
to come to Bible Study. Some people have
invited friends to come to the community breakfast. Some people have invited friends to come our
events such as the Tea or Strawberry Festival and this is a great start.
I just heard a story about a church that was having a
community breakfast with the agenda of bringing in families. But families did not come, instead those that
came were homeless or on the fringe of homelessness. The congregation was surprised and didn’t
know what to do. They wanted families
with children. As I heard this story, it
just reminded me of us. Now, the
difference between this other congregation and us was this, they held the
breakfast on Saturday and when they had worked through what they wanted and
what God had sent them, they decided to put together a very informal worship
service during the breakfast. Now, some
of you have heard me mention wanting to do this with our breakfast, but I have
not figured out the logistics. Do I do
it during the breakfast maybe at 9:30?
Is there an elder or two willing to lead this service? If I lead the service would an elder or two
lead our worship service upstairs? How
can we make this work? I was so
surprised to hear this story because it showed me that another church stopped
asking the logistic questions and just did it, and it worked.
The servants went out, they offered a breakfast, and the
people came, and they fed them with food and the word of God and new life
emerged. Nothing like what the people
expected, but truly the Kingdom of Heaven in their midst.
Come, the wedding is ready, come and build a loving
relationship with God, come and feast on God’s love and mercy and grace. Come, and then go out and bring others
in. The wedding is ready and it has been
prepared for all. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment