Unconditionally Invited
David C. Myers
October 12, 2008
Matthew 22:1 - 14
Text: "The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the
wedding banquet."
. . . Matthew 22:8 - 9
It has been a long time since I seriously studied history; but every time I read the story of the wedding banquet there is one event in our country's history that comes to mind. It was the inauguration of President Andrew Jackson as the seventh president of the United States. It wasn't the usual inauguration ball. Jackson felt he needed to open the occasion to the "little people", not just the celebrities and politicians. So all the Tennesseans who knew Jackson and all the old soldiers who had fought with him at New Orleans came to Washington and descended on the White House. The results were predictable. It was written: "They devoured the food, tracked mud into all the rooms, swung on the drapes, spat tobacco juice on the carpets, and generally ruined the furniture." [John Killinger, Christmas Spoken Here, Broadman Press, 1989.]
This morning's Gospel lesson is the story of the wedding banquet for the son of a king. And what a wedding this is. The allegory is clear - this is the wedding of the union of Christ and the Church; it is the coming of God's Kingdom. And the invitations are out. There is an unconditional invitation; but there is an important RSVP.
Having been serving local churches and having to preach nearly most every Sunday for some 32 years, I have become acquainted with numerous resources to help us local church pastors prepare sermons. Some are better than others. But there is something common about this particular week in the lectionary cycle. Most of them find a way to help you preach from the OTHER prescribed lectionary texts - the ones from Exodus about Moses' brother Aaron trying to build a golden calf while Moses was up on a mountain meeting face-to-face with God; or the wonderful passage from Philippians that calls us to "rejoice in the Lord always." After a lot of research I did find some help with this Matthew passage; . . . well, with about 2/3 of Matthew's passage. Seems they didn't want to deal with the last part about the one person who did not have a proper robe on. The response of the King (God) was, "Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
This lesson is filled with judgment. I doubt that it ranks in your top ten list of parables about God's Kingdom. It's another difficult story that challenges our understanding of grace. We love God's grace; most of the time it is like refreshing rain; a cold front coming through after a major heat wave. Grace is one of those words that is basically very pleasant to think about. Well, until today. And today it also challenges our understanding of judgment - especially from where the judgment comes. Maybe there is some truth to what German theologian and leader of Christian resistance to Hitler Hans Asmussen said, "The church that cannot pronounce a curse also cannot pronounce a blessing."
But first let's look at grace. Let us hear again the opening words of the parable: "He [the King] sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet. This parable begins with invitation; and then it moves to those who refuse the invitation. They wouldn't come. But the king is persistent. He sent out his slaves again and instructed them to say to the invited ones: "Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet."
But, we are told, the invited ones made light of it. They acted as if they were annoyed by the invitation. They had better things to do. One went to his farm, another to his business. And there were other guests invited and they were even less respectful of the king. They seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.
And the king, we are told, "was enraged. The king sent in his troops, destroyed those murderers and burned their city." The king crossed these people off his guest list . . . . for good.
This is not exactly a pleasant parable of Jesus thus far. Let's look more closely. Who were the corpses lying around after the king's hostility? They were the ones who had a right to be at the royal wedding. They were the nobility, the privileged, the ones who had worked hard and achieved, the entitled ones of society. They were, in short, the beautiful and the good. They did not lack for socially-acceptable good works; and furthermore, they have the style to make a royal wedding look even better.
And, as was revealed last week, maybe it is because of their success, that they are . . . . well, just too busy to show up. Apparently they had little respect for the king, and felt they could not only ignore him, but also dispatch his troublesome and annoying slaves who were trying to get them to RSVP. They are people who are so well established in society that they "are above" the common conventionalities of showing up when invited.
Well, by now we know this story is another haunting allegory told by Jesus to have the hearer find ourselves in the story. It's pretty clear that the king is God, the Son is Jesus and the bride is the church. Since few of us think we are God, or even Jesus, that leaves us as the invited guests.
Who are those invited guests? They are the first ones invited and are people who have life all figured out; they are people who think that by their own efforts can achieve salvation; they are people who have "picked themselves up by their boot-straps" and are "successful". They are the people who believe that it is by their own good works they will find their way into the Banquet and that God's graciousness is so good, that God won't mind if they don't show up if they have something more pressing or more entertaining. We are told that one went back to his farm, another to his business. Gosh, they were busy - they had better things to do!
And the King eliminates them, burning their city and destroying them. The finality and harshness of the king's judgment is alarming. But perhaps for good reason. They saw the King's invitation as something they could ignore. They treated the King's slaves as annoying - much like mosquitoes at a picnic - and killed them. They figured that by their own good works and position in society they were already good enough! They didn't need the King - and certainly couldn't be troubled by the king's party!
So what does the King do next? "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy [that is, they refused the invitation]. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' Thos slaves went out into the street and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests." (Mt. 22:8 - 10)
Let's admit it: we have no problem with the good, but the bad?!?
We might have a problem with the bad, but evil is not a problem for God. As a matter of fact, all through the Gospels Jesus goes out of his way to make heroes out of life's losers. Evil is not a problem, because Jesus death and resurrection has defeated that. The only thing that can possibly be a problem for the kingdom is a faithless non-acceptance of God's invitation to the banquet. God does not invite the good and snub the bad. He invites us all, while we were yet sinners; and God simply asks us to accept that invitation.
So, let's see where we are in this story.
1.) First of all, everyone is invited. Everyone is invited, and it is an invitation filled with grace. The rich are invited, the poor are invited, the good are invited, the bad are invited. God's grace is for all! Never once through the whole parable does the invitation lose its graciousness. The king makes no stipulations at all. There are both the good, . . . and the bad. They do not have to get their act together in order to worthy of the party, any more than the prodigal son had to guarantee anything before he got the fatted calf. You see, everybody is invited! Nobody in this parable is outside the king's favor; everybody starts out being "in". As far as the king is concerned, everybody is invited! God's grace is available to all of us.
2.) However, we need to respond to the invitation of grace. Well, the invitation is there for all - but how can you experience the extravagance of God's grace which is described in opulent terms of a wedding banquet if you don't show up?!? In other words, if you want to experience God's realm of grace, you better be there! But when it is refused in distrust or disrespect, judgment descends on those refusing.
3.) But some refuse the invitation. And this where the harsh judgment enters in.
Did you ever get an invitation to a party that you really didn't want to go to? One that a friend sent, but it was on a busy weekend; and you just didn't want one more thing to do? And then that friend kept asking you whether you were coming or not? And the party came and went. And all those who attended told you that it was something spectacular! They had you favorite band there. They served your favorite food and the best drinks! You are haunted by your refusal. Golly - gosh - gee whiz - dad gum it - I should have gone! You vow to yourself that if this ever happens again, you will go.
That, in a very minor way, is like what it is to refuse God's grace.
But the harshness of this story shocks us! The King acts so harshly - he sends his troops and destroys those who don't show up. And at the very end of the story there is this one poor guy, who was invited late and he doesn't have a wedding robe on - and the King singles him out and sends him off to the same darkness and gnashing of teeth. I mean, what's with that?
Notice that the man was speechless. He made no attempt to relate to the king in any way. Even the prodigal son made a speech - not a great one, but it was a speech. This man made no effort to relate to the king at all. No apology, no excuse. Nothing. The guy just didn't care.
It's true, hate is not the opposite of love, apathy is.
Now, if this truly is an allegory of the invitation we have been given by God to attend the wedding banquet of Christ and the church; and we are the ones who refuse the invitation - well . . . who really initiates God's wrath?
God's wrath certainly is not initiated by God; rather judgment comes from us each time we choose to refuse God's invitation of grace. It is not God who sends us to hell, it is only ourselves when we do not accept God's invitation and come ready to celebrate. By still operating under a merit system trying to earn our way into God's favor, we continually get frustrated because that never allows grace to break through.
Perhaps you have heard the description of hell. There is this big banquet. The most delicious food and drink are laid out before all the guests. But they cannot bend at the elbow. Therefore they cannot eat or drink any of the banquet. They sit in torment.
And perhaps you have heard the description of heaven. There is this big banquet. The most delicious food and drink are laid out before all the guests. But they cannot bend at the elbow. But they enjoy the feast anyway - because they are feeding each other! They are laughing, having the time of their lives!
They made a decision. They decided to enjoy the banquet set forth by God.
God's grace, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, God's realm of love is always there for us all. All we have to do is claim it. We simply have to accept the invitation.
And you know what? . . . Hell ultimately is not the place for punishment for sinners; sinners are not punished at all; they get to go straight to the banquet just for saying "Yes!" to grace. The refusal of grace is the self-imposed punishment we place on ourselves.
I'm doing enough good things, I already know the right people, and I don't need to go to one more party!
In other words, the hardest thing to understand about this parable is that it exposes exactly what our difficulty is with God's grace - namely that we can't finally give up our control. Accepting God's grace means that we have to give up our idea that we can control our destiny and thus God.
God's grace finally says that there is nothing you can do to work your way in to God's realm; there is no amount of good works, there is no number of prayers, there is no number of study groups, there is no number of sandwiches made for sandwich brigade. Oh yes, those are good things and they are needed; but in the final analysis they can't be used as bargaining chips with God to earn God's grace.
We want our merit system in place. At least subconsciously that is our way of trying to control God. We forget that God already has sent us our invitation! Just show up!
This God of ours certainly seems not to act like any self-respecting God of our own making. And that's precisely the point.
God's grace, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, God's realm of love is always there for us all. All we have to do is claim it. We simply have to accept the invitation.
And you know what? . . .
You are invited to the most amazing banquet of your life!
The choice is yours - hmmmm, . . . banquet?? Or, place of darkness and gnashing of teeth??
Even Woody Allen knows the answer when he said, "95% of life is just showing up."