Back in the summer I was fortunate enough to officiate at my niece’s wedding and then to go to the reception after. A couple of years ago I took part in a wedding for another niece and next year there’s another niece getting married ! It sounds like I have a lot of nieces but actually that’s it and they’ve just got married fairly close together !
A lot of people like a good wedding, and in the gospel reading today (Matt.22:1-14) we hear about a big party – a party thrown by the king as a wedding banquet for his son. Surely lots of people would want to come. There would probably be great food and lots of it, plenty to drink, wonderful entertainment, and of course the chance to mingle with royalty.
There would surely be no shortage of people wanting to come – but there was ! The slaves were sent out to give the invitations to all those that the king wanted to come, but people ignored them… And so the king, furious and keen not to lose face, sent them out again, this time to the other streets to invite anyone who wanted to come. And from this invitation there was no shortage of takers. We’re told in the reading that the wedding hall was filled with guests, good and bad !
It’s a great parable as it reminds us of the incredible riches that God has prepared for each one of us as we are invited to join his family, but we’re also reminded that so many don’t bother to respond, and sometimes when we do respond, that response is not really all it could be…
And 2000 years after Jesus told this story it still rings true. Today throughout the world Jesus is still issuing an invitation to all of us to receive his abundant love, to receive his mercy, to come into the kingdom he has prepared for us all. But today people are still failing to respond.
Some are too comfortable – perhaps like those invited first. They didn’t think they needed to attend the king’s banquet, and often those who are most comfortable today are the most apathetic as they are challenged to think about their faith. Some are too busy to attend, some are perhaps scared of making the decision to attend, some just think they’ll get another invitation at a more convenient time for them. But then there are some who haven’t got, or recognised they’ve had, the invitation!
As we think of God’s invitation to us, we can see the parallels all too clearly. Some people are listening, some are responding, but some are still finding excuses to put a decision off until another day, or even reject God’s love altogether.
This parable is about saying ‘Yes’ to God. It’s about coming forward to pick up the gifts that he has laid out for us – the gifts of things like love, joy and peace which are promised. In churches throughout the country we’re in the harvest thanksgiving season ! Harvest is about responding to God’s goodness.
And that is what our lives are ultimately guided by – our response to God, and our recognition of his goodness… We are called by God, and we move forward in faith.
That moving forward means that Christ has called us to be faithful with our time, to devote time to prayer, to public worship, to service in the church. It means that Christ has called us to be faithful with money, to help those in need, to support the work of the Church. It means that Christ has called us to be honest in our dealings with other people, to be honest in relationships.
It means that Christ has called us to live a life that will draw people to Him. In other words, he calls us as his followers to be the kind of person others will want to follow… Those are some of the things that Christ calls all of us to do — but he probably has other plans for our lives as well, and we must be ready to respond.
In the reading from Philippians (4:1-9) Paul was writing to the people from his prison cell – and in that short and incredible letter, he talks over and over again about joy and about rejoicing. His prison cell would have been pretty horrible I’m sure, his life was undoubtedly in danger and yet, he was rejoicing… He had made a conscious decision to recognise that whatever problems he may be having, knowing Jesus made it all worthwhile…
And we too are called to recognise that call to actively chose joy! Not to walk around with cheesy smiles, not to imagine that our lives are going to be perfect, but to know that it is all worthwhile because of Jesus – God’s love and his promises are sufficient…!
And how we choose to live as Christians is important, important because of the witness we offer to people simply through how we live…. And this parable doesn’t end with the story of people being invited and not coming, and then others taking their place. It has a bit of a sting in the tail as well ! At the party the king notices someone is not wearing the proper wedding clothes – he has the man thrown out.
Now, my mother may well have tried to convince me when I was younger that the parable is about wearing proper clothes to Church – Sunday best and all that, but it’s not about clothes at all. What it’s about is a person coming to the party without really committing themselves to it.
A response to Jesus and his love for us can never be half hearted. Whilst Jesus doesn’t explain clearly what the wedding robe represents, it is clear that it means allowing God to change us to be more the people that he wants us to be. Augustine thought of it as the robe of charity. Luther said it was faith. Calvin thought it was good works. I haven’t got their wisdom, but I think it’s probably a combination of them all.
Wearing the right garments indicated a person’s participation in the joy of the feast, and our behaviour, our attitudes are a good indicator of our willingness to sit at the same table as Jesus and celebrate the joy of his feast.
And so the first message of this parable is Listen... Listen for Christ’s invitation — listen so that you will hear where He wants you to be and what he wants you to do. And when you hear his call, answer it… Come to the party that he has laid on for you!
And second, it’s good for us all to examine our lives sometimes. Have you made a commitment to follow Jesus ? What does it mean to you ? Do you spend time in worship? In prayer? Are you willing to let God reshape you into someone beautiful not only on the outside but on the inside — someone holy? Or maybe you’ve done all that, so where is your journey of faith heading now… Living relationships don’t stop changing and healthy relationships don’t stop growing…
Christ has big plans for you — for you personally. He wants you to accept His invitation – but He also wants to change you. And so, let Christ reshape your life. Let Him continually change you into the person he wants you to be…
As we gather in our churches, we have some amazing privileges and some amazing gifts and God calls us to help reveal those things to others – to help show others by our lives the riches of a life lived in the service of Christ and filled with the knowledge that wherever we are and whatever we are doing God loves each one of us.
Through our words and through our lives, let’s invite those around us to the greatest party of all and let’s make sure that we are making the most of the party ourselves ! AMEN
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