15 October 2023 Pentecost 20

This week we again have a gospel with a message that is very difficult to hear.  And we are again warned not to see it with ‘antisemitic’ overtones.  Jesus tells another parable about ‘the kingdom of God’, but this parable appears to paint God in very challenging ways and I struggle to reconcile ‘this God’ with ‘the God I know’.  You may have previously read or heard this parable explained as ‘the king’ is God, the son or bridegroom is Jesus, the rejected or murdered slaves who are sent to bring the guests to the wedding feast are the Old Testament Prophets, and the ‘A’ list guests who refuse to attend are God’s ‘chosen people’, the people of Israel.  And the ‘B’ list guests who come from the streets and fill the banquet hall?  Well, they are us.  The gentiles.

And that scenario may leave us feeling pretty good about ourselves, after all, we get to go and eat our fill, drink ‘till the cows come home’, and pretty much ‘kick up our heels’ having a ripper of a good time.  But there a number of things about that scenario which disturb me.  This scenario once again puts the Jewish people as the ones who ‘get it wrong, AGAIN’.  They lose their place on God’s ‘A’ list; they get usurped by a ‘more faithful and more deserving’ ‘gentile’ church.  And this angle just continues the long and abusive history of the church’s bloody relationship with the Jewish people from whom we come.  And as well as that, I have to ask, ‘do I really see God as this petty, thin-skinned, vengeful and fiery king in the parable’.  A God who would burn entire cities to the ground in order to appease his wounded ego.  A God who forces people to come to celebrate his son’s wedding while outside his armies are wreaking devastation.  And, of course, the answer is a resounding ‘No’, this is not the God I know.  And let’s not forget that poor guest who didn’t come in the right clothes and is then bound and gagged and thrown in the ‘outer darkness’. 

Now, only Matthew tells this parable story in this way.  Luke, and the author of the Thomas gospel, just have the king putting on a ‘big dinner’, not a wedding feast.  They also just immediately invite  lots of people from the highways and byways to replace the invited guests who decline, whereas Matthew sends the servants out a second time (kind of like last week’s parable) and then reacts violently to their refusal to attend.   Now it has been suggested by some commentators that Matthew may be ‘laying it on so thick’ because Matthew’s community are caught in a struggle with their Israelite kin about how to be faithful to this God of Abraham and Sarah and, in particular, whether this Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah that Israel’s prophets were promised.  Matthew is not making this the Jewish-Christan dispute that we so often see it describing, he is just revealing the pain of a community separated from its family and trying to justify itself.  One commentator I read even suggests Matthew has willingly made this story so dark because he is willing to say that God not only rejects those cousins and kin that rejected Jesus, but actually sent the Romans to destroy the Temple as punishment.

So, in light of this, I think we need to consider carefully about how we hear, and read, this passage today precisely because of the dark history of its interpretation.  And despite Matthew’s struggle with rejection, there is good news in this parable.  And that good news is that God invites all, good and bad; Jew and gentile; black and white; LGBITIQ+  and heterosexual; because God is a God of expansive love and radical inclusiveness.  And we are disciples who see, especially in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, not only just how far God will go to make this invitation of grace, but also that God’s words of love, and forgiveness are more powerful than any words of punishment, hate, or fear.

But there is still one part of this parable that we have not yet dealt with.  And that is the ending, the man who, having come from the highways and byways with everyone else, seems to have arrived inappropriately dressed and when the king sees it he is summarily removed and thrown out.  Now this part of the parable has always troubled me.  Many years ago I think I read that, in the time of Jesus, in situations where you were invited to such ‘swish’ affairs, you were not expected to ‘own’ suitable clothing to wear, you were provided with them when you arrived.  So this guest is not being thrown out because he does have the right clothes, he is being thrown out because, having been provided with the right clothes, he chooses not we wear them.  Many are called, but few are chosen.  God provides us with an open invitation to life, we are provided with all we need to live a glorious life, showing who God is for us, sharing God through our lives with all who would see it.  But sometimes we decide that while we ‘accept the robe that is provided’; while we ‘have the right stuff’, we prefer to ‘keep it hidden’ for now.  We have it ready, but we will choose when and how we will wear it.  But the thing is, ‘just showing up’ is not enough.   Saying I am a Christian is not enough, I have to show it by how I act.  ‘Knowing’ that I am a Christian is not enough unless I ‘put on the robe’.  It is not enough to say that I go to church, read the bible, pray privately, and ‘do the right things’ as far as ‘ticking the boxes’ to be called Christian, if I have not ‘shown’ that that name means something for me, that I have ‘done’ something to show ‘others’ that the word Christian is not just a label I wear sometimes but it ‘means’ something to me and for the rest of the world.  ‘Showing up’ will not be enough, I need to be ‘wearing the uniform’ too.

We all have talents, we all have abilities, but often we keep them hidden because, well ‘I know I can do it’ that’s enough isn’t it?  Soon we will be holding Ministry Sunday, where you will all have an opportunity to offer your talents, skills and abilities, to assist in keeping this parish to be the success we are, but if you don’t offer it, then it will not help us.  Just knowing you can is not enough if you don’t offer it.  ‘Just showing up’, will not help unless you offer your time/skills/abilities/your ’whatevers’ as well.  This man in the parable declined to use what was freely offered, and the consequences for him were devastating.  The consequences for you will not be as dramatic if you don’t offer your skills when we ask, but the consequences for the parish may be the difference between filling rosters safely and not; between being able to do things to help our community and not; between being able to successfully ‘pull off’ fundraising events, and having to cancel them. 

So let us all revel in the good news that God invites all to God’s wonderful feast in the kingdom of God.  Let us all be ready to say ‘yes’ to all God’s invitations of grace, love and forgiveness and let us be willing to show who God is for us and be ready to ‘wear the robe’ and offer all that God lovingly gives us in our lives.