The Rev. Dr, Patricia Ramsden                  First Presbyterian

MT 22: 1-14 It Doesn’t Fit                           Oct. 9, 2011

 

         Most Sundays I preach from the lectionary, which is a set of pre-chosen scripture passages designed to keep pastors honest – so we don’t just stick with the passages we know and love. 

         So on Monday mornings I generally sit down with the lectionary and my Bible and I read and pray about which of the three texts I should preach on come Sunday.  And as soon as I read this passage, I knew it wasn’t going to be the gospel.  I don’t like this story, and I definitely don’t understand it.

         But God wouldn’t let go.  Whatever I was doing all week long, somewhere in the back of my mind was this story.  I kept wondering about it, studying on it, struggling with it, until finally I decided to preach on it.

         It starts out just fine.  Jesus is telling another of His parables about what the kingdom of God will be like, and I like His description. 

         It’s going to be like a wedding party --- a celebration of joy and love and new beginnings, a party with no expense spared, a feast with music and dancing and good times --- and a party that will go on forever.

         That matches my vision of God.

         But then something odd happens.  When the king sends out the invitations, no one wants to come.  It just doesn’t seem worth it to them.  They’ve got other things to do, places to go, people to see.

         It wasn’t that the people were ignoring the invitation.  It just didn’t fit into their plans for the day.  They needed to get the crops in.  Keep the store open.  Get the washing done.  They weren’t bad people --- they were just busy --- too busy for a party ---- too busy for a celebration --- too busy for laughing and singing and sharing the joy of their king.

         The more I thought about it, the more I recognized those people.  People who just wouldn’t or couldn’t take the time to come to a party.  And my heart grew heavy inside of me.   More than once we have probably all turned down our king’s invitation to come to the party.

         “Well, I’d love to come to church, but Sunday’s the day when I mow the lawn, clean the house, get to sleep in.”

         “I love worship whenever I get there.  It just seems to make my whole week go better, but it’s hard to get myself up that early.”

         “I’d go on the mission trip, and I know I’d get a lot out of it, but I don’t know if I can afford a week of vacation right now.” 

         So we go on, week after week, missing the party, and wondering why we’ve lost that sense of joy we used to have, or the sense of adventure in our lives --- wondering what has happened to all the good times.

         And all this time, God just keeps sending us invitations.  I imagine some of the people who were invited actually did show up, although the story doesn’t say so.  But most of them just kept making their excuses.  And some, a few, got so annoyed at being asked time after time, that they decided to kill the messengers.

         And that was the straw that broke the king’s back.  He destroyed the murderers.  But the kindness and the generosity and the love that the king had for his people couldn’t be defeated by the hatred of a few.  God’s grace never gives up, never quits reaching out, never hesitates to invite others to the party that is the kingdom of God.

         And so, when one group of people kept refusing, He sent the invitation to even more people, to different people.  But a party he would have – a celebration for the love of his son.   And out on the streets and out to the byways and highways, the servants were sent. 

         “Invite them all,” the king said.  “Let them all come in because the party is going to begin and I want my house full of guests.”  So hundreds came, thousands came --- the good, the bad, the rich, the poor, all of them filling the king’s house and partying together.

         Now, I understood this.  This fit my picture of God’s heavenly party.  This fit what I know about Jesus --- this constant reminder that even in the face of our refusal, God’s love and grace would continue to be there, reaching out, until we decide to accept it.  And when we do accept it, we find that everyone else is already there and our only regret is that we didn’t come sooner. 

         What a great story.  It should have ended there.  But the problem is, it didn’t.  The story goes on, and this is where I run into trouble because the rest of the story doesn’t fit what I know about Jesus.  It doesn’t fit my preconceived concept of grace.  It stretches my mind and my faith to see what I don’t want to see there. 

         Because Jesus says that when the king came in to see his guests, he found someone standing without a wedding garment and the king said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a robe?”

         And the man was speechless.  Then the king said to his attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Then Jesus goes on to say, “For many are called but few are chosen.”

         Now I quite frankly could have gone on much more cheerfully if Jesus had just left that part of the story out.  But I have to deal with it.  I have to struggle with it.  I have to try to make sense of it.  And that struggle will be going on for a while.

         But I can tell you where I am right now.  I can say where I have come down at this time, at the end of this week.  But I am telling you this with much fear and tribulation because I need to struggle more with this passage.

         But the point I came home too was the danger that exists when we emphasize grace to the exclusion of everything else.  Now, don’t misunderstand me.  I don’t think my strong emphasis on grace is misplaced.

         But I do think we need to remember that God’s grace doesn’t intend to leave us where we are.  We can’t stay in the dirty garments of sin that we were wearing when we first got invited to the party.  We need to clean up and put on new clothes of joy and love.

         God does not call the alcoholic to keep drinking.

         God doesn’t call the bigot to keep hating.

         He calls them --- He calls us --- and then says put on new clothes, take off your old.  Here, I’ll help you.

         I think the point of these last verses is that there is a difference between God’s call and loving acceptance of all persons and His willingness to condone all behavior.  Once the call is given and received, once the invitation to the party is accepted, it is our responsibility, our work as subjects and disciples of the King, to make ourselves ready for the feast of love.

         But at the same time, we need to remember that this is not some act of drudgery to be avoided or dreaded.  It is a part of the wonderful and exciting adventure of faith, for as we take off the old soiled clothing of hate or depression or of constant worry, we will experience the joy of putting on love and peace.

         We are to prepare ourselves with all the joy of a bride getting ready for her wedding day, glorying in the moment, anticipating the love to come.

         Let us be among those who choose to accept the king’s invitation.  Let us take off the old, put on the new, and join in the party.