Wedding Banquets and Robes
The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 32:1-14 • Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 • Philippians 4:1-9 • Matthew 22:1-14
Many of you know that the other hat I wear is that of an attorney for a public agency. Most of my work is advisory work. I try to present legal frameworks for decision makers, to provide them an arena in which they can operate – frameworks in which they can make decisions. And I invite them to work within those frameworks, and I trust their ability to make good policy and operational decisions based on the realities they face. Often, the circumstances around which I am asked to provide the advice will determine how sensitively that advice is delivered.
I think we see the same thing happening here in Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew’s author shows Jesus getting a little more pointed in his parables of the Kingdom of Heaven. Remember: Matthew’s author was writing for an audience in a fledgling Christian community. The text was written at a time when the identities of followers of Jesus Christ were being newly formed, and there were different communities. The circumstances of the times surely led to some of the pointedness of this parable. The contrasts at play here implicate a number of things, both historical and theological, but I would invite us to set the seeming harshness of the parable aside as we look deeper to mine its wisdom and consider what else it may be speaking to us today, in this place, at this time, at this moment in history.
Today’s parable follows other parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. Now remember that when Jesus speaks in parables about the Reign of God, he is not speaking only of something far off, something that awaits us in the future. Jesus also is speaking of the here and now. You may remember, that earlier in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus reminds his disciples that the Kingdom has come near – very near. We understand this to mean that the Reign of God that Jesus speaks about is right here, right now, maybe not yet fully, maybe not yet perfectly, and not in any final sense, but it is here. It has not yet been fully perfected, but we are in the midst of it.
So what is Jesus teaching us about the Reign of God?
It is like a wedding banquet – a feast, a party, a gathering of the community. It is a celebration! We see this theme throughout Scripture: the celebration of God’s victorious and liberating movement and Reign. This gathering is joyful; it is alive with activity! Think, for example, of the joy expressed by the Psalmist who still calls us to worship: “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!” Or perhaps from today’s psalm: “Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever.” This is the nature of the Reign of God now and yet to come. This is the Reign of God we, the People of God, are called to live into.
What else is the Reign of God like? It is a gathering of God’s people both good and bad, showing us God’s radical inclusivity. It is not a gathering of the usual suspects, or those from a particular class, or social location, or country, or nation, or tribe, or people. Rather, God moves far and wide through us, among us, to invite that all may be gathered into a community of followers and believers – both good and bad, and everyone and everything in between. This is
the nature of the Reign of God now and yet to come. This is the Reign of God we, the People of God, are called to live into.
And what else of the Reign of God? It is a reality we are invited into, not compelled, but invited. God doesn’t stop inviting. God is not dissuaded. God seeks us out, one by one, and draws us nearer, brings us closer, includes us. This is the nature of the Reign of God now and yet to come. This is the Reign of God we, the People of God, are called to live into.
And when we accept God’s invitation, in our tradition we understand that to be accompanied by a commitment. It is a commitment to put on our own wedding robe.
‘What might our wedding robe look like?,’ you may be asking. Consider this:
A robe of the finest linen of joyfully and lovingly continuing in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers.
A robe whose pieces are sown together with the thread of joyfully and lovingly persevering in resisting evil, and, whenever we fall into sin, repenting and returning to the Lord.
A robe dyed in the color of joyfully and lovingly proclaiming by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
A robe tied about the waist with a belt of joyfully and lovingly seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
A robe adorned with the embroidery of joyfully and lovingly striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being.
This, the wedding robe of our Baptismal Covenant. When we put it on, that wedding robe may feel big in places, and it may feel tight in places. It may itch a little and cause you to scratch. There may be days it is tough to wear. It might get you a little hot at times. But, little by little, as we wear these together, and with God’s help, we will continue to grow into them, that we might live more fully into the Reign of God. That we might tend to the needs of the world with joy, and with love, and with a spirit of radical inclusivity. That we might gather at this wedding feast for nourishment and strength, so that we can be dismissed into the world to love and serve God. That we might love and serve God by loving and serving others. That God’s gentleness might be known through our gentleness.
In the words of St. Paul, “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen..., and the God of peace will be with [us].” The world surely needs this, and so do we.