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Don't Miss the Party! by Carol M. Simpson, Associate Pastor 10 October 1999--Ordinary 28 TEXTS: Matthew 22:1-14; Philippians 4:1-9

Can you imagine? The king threw a party, a free party, a wedding banquet to honor his son, and nobody wanted to come! Compare that to the eagerness with which some are willing to pay egregious prices to have dinner with the President or some other celebrity figure. As stories go, at first glance this one just doesn't make sense. The king throws a party, invites all the important people of his realm, and they mock him and snub him and even murder his servants. Whoa !!!! There's something very unreal about this whole situation.

Maybe that's because this doesn't even pretend to be a true story. It is a parable told by Jesus to make a point. The plot may be embellished and exaggerated in order to emphasize his message. This is only one of many parables Jesus tells about the Kingdom. In fact, there are striking parallels to the story which immediately precedes it, the story about the wicked tenants which we studied last week.. The king in this story parallels the vineyard owner, the guests who refuse the king's invitation parallel the wicked tenants, etc. In both stories, waves of servants are sent out; in both, servants are mistreated and killed; in both, severe punishment is meted out; and in both, something is expected of the newly invited. Both stories also conform to historical events: to Israel's mistreatment of the prophets, Israel's rejection of early Christian missionaries, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the movement of the church toward a Gentile constituency. Much more than a simple parable, this story is actually an allegory. Matthew is writing not of a banquet and guests but of God, the kingdom, Jews, Gentiles and the demands of the kingdom life. The vehicle of his message is the parable known to us as the parable of the Wedding Banquet.

Jesus begins his parable by telling us that "The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son." That's all this is, a comparison, but we can be certain that Jesus intended to make a powerful point by telling the story. This is the last of three parables against Israel's leaders that are set by Matthew in the context of Jesus' last days in Jerusalem. In that context, it is clear that because Jesus' time is growing short, he is increasingly desperate for his message to be understood. Perhaps that accounts for the more shocking and dramatic elements in these parables.

In Jesus' day, table fellowship was of utmost importance. Being invited to share someone's table was a sign of acceptance. Rejecting such an invitation would have been seen as an insult and ultimate form of rejection. The people who opposed Jesus couldn't find many things about him to criticize. After all, it's hard to say something bad about someone who goes about doing good, helping the poor, and healing the sick, and all of it for nothing. But there was one thing they could pounce on: He went to too many parties, they said, and furthermore, he usually went with the "wrong kind" of people. They didn't understand that for Jesus there was no "wrong" kind of people. This parable undoubtedly adds fuel to their fire.

It begins in an innocent and happy enough way. A king, brimming with pride and excitement, prepares a marvelous wedding feast for his son and sends out invitations to the wealthy and powerful of his realm. Then, as the time draws near, he sends out his servants to call those who had been invited and tell them that the fatted calf has been prepared and the party is about to begin. With what appears to be extraordinary discourtesy, those invited refuse to come. (At this point you and I might wonder how this could be. How could people respond in this way to their king? ) This incomprehensible situation only goes from bad to worse. The king sends out more servants whom he hopes will be more persuasive. Not content to merely reject the invitation, however, the invited guests offer ridiculous excuses, and finally resort to brutality and even murder.

Meanwhile back at the castle, the king fumes. His son is to be married. There has to be a feast. Everything is ready, surely someone will come. Evidently those invited first are not worthy, so now the king sends out more servants and tells them to bring in everyone they can find. It matters not who they are; the party must go on. So out they go, out into the world's unlikely highways, where they invite everyone, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, even the Gentiles. Then just when it seems that the party will at last come off as a wonderful festive celebration, the king spots someone who is not appropriately dressed, and has the poor soul thrown out. The final lines of the parable make it clear that this poor man is not just thrown into the street. "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?" To us the answer seems rather obvious. If these people were yanked in from the streets, it stands to reason that many of them would not have been dressed for a wedding. But again, there is a deeper meaning. "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.'" Jesus is not being at all subtle here. It is obvious that the man lands not in the street but in hell. This suddenly ceases being a story about a party and becomes an allegory about God's kingdom.

There are two fairly obvious interpretations. First, Jesus was telling the crowd that God had originally invited to the heavenly kingdom a chosen people. Thus we have the whole story of Genesis and Exodus, the election of Israel and God's repeated intervention in Israel's history, the covenant and the promise. God had originally invited a chosen people, the Jews, and they had refused the invitation, much like the guests in our parable. Remember the Golden Calf and the many times they turned away? Not only did they offer unworthy excuses (like that Moses stayed up on the mountain too long), but they also persecuted and killed the king's messengers, the prophets. And Jesus undoubtedly knows that they are about to do it again. Since those originally invited wouldn't accept God's grand invitation, he finally sent messengers out into the world's unlikely highways, where they invited everyone, including Gentiles. Remember that Matthew is writing this gospel approximately 50 years after Jesus' death. The young church is composed of Jew and Gentile alike. This message is for everyone. Matthew is aware that the current church is undergoing change. In his view, there were too many false prophets and false disciples cropping up, weeds are growing among the wheat. This is an important message for the young church to hear.

Matthew seeks to remind Christians that they are by no means exempt from the judgment that fell on those who rejected Jesus and the gospel. The final part of the parable about the guest without a wedding garment is troubling. It seems unreasonable under the circumstances to expect the guest to have propre wedding attire. And why should the king even ask, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?" The answer seems so obvious. But remember, this is not a story but an allegory. The wedding feast is not the church but the age to come. The required garment is righteousness, that is, behavior in accordance with Jesus' teachings. The man is speechless because he has no defense; he accepted the invitation of the gospel but refused to conform his life to its teachings.

The second interpretation is one we can make and take more personally. Our Lord has prepared a great celebration, the grand homecoming of heaven and eternity. He has invited everyone to come to this greatest-of-all celebrations. But like the people in the parable, many of us refuse the invitation with absurd excuses. We give more attention to the passing, relatively inconsequential matters of life than to an opportunity to come to the Kings' feast. The concluding line, "For many are called but few are chosen,"

should be interpreted not as a means of frightening us with the thought that the statistical odds of entering the kingdom are against us, but as a form of encouragement, as a call to intensify our efforts to live the Christian life.

Paul's letter to the church at Philippi served much the same purpose. It was addressed to a church with a problem. Apparently Euodia and Syntyche, both respected leaders of the young church, have come to odds over some issue. Paul obviously respects them as leaders and urges them to "be of the same mind in the Lord." He then urges others in the church to help these women who have, until now, worked so well, struggling beside Paul, for the sake of the gospel. Paul knows the joy that should be theirs. He knows that the banquet has been set, the feast prepared. He doesn't want these faithful servants to miss the party because of silly or petty differences. So he urges reconciliation. He urges them to be one in Christ. And then in the next section, you can almost hear the party in the background. He writes, "Rejoice in the Lord, always; again I say, rejoice." Knowing Christ is cause for rejoicing. Living in Christian community is cause for celebration. Paul encourages the church at Philippi saying, "Let your gentleness be known to everyone...Do not worry about anything, but in everything, in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." And then he reassures them with a sort of benediction, "And the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

The parable from Matthew alluded to being properly dressed for the wedding feast, to wearing the clothes of righteousness. In this epistle, Paul tells the church, and us, how to do that. He says, "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you."

Let's make one final analogy. Think about the servant who was sent out to gather the invited guests. Imagine his shock and dismay when people refused to come. How astonished he must have been that they cared so little about an invitation from the king. Perhaps he wanted to forget his role as servant and shake some of them saying, "Don't you realize who it is that's inviting you? Can't you see how much of an honor is being extended to you in an invitation to share with the king in the marriage of his son?"

Now imagine a young Christian, infused with the lovely, bubbly enthusiasm of someone who has just been overwhelmed by the grace of God. She can't wait to share the Good News with someone she loves. "You won't believe it," she bubbles. "The most wonderful thing has happened to me. You know how confused I used to be, how I wasn't sure why life was even worth living? Well, now I've found what I was looking for. Let me tell you about it." But much to her surprise and dismay, the friend isn't the least bit interested, and is even indifferent. In the parable, the invited guests "went away, one to his farm and another to his business." So it is that the young Christian's friends respond to her. "I guess religion is OK for some people. It's nice that you're so enthusiastic and happy, but frankly your ideas are a bit quaint and I find your insistence a bit offensive. Just try to keep it to yourself. I have more important things to do. By the way, have you noticed what's happening on the stock market?"

If we don't want to miss the party, we'd better get with the program. "Many are called, but few are chosen." We are all called; we are all invited to the heavenly feast. We know how to weave the fabric for a lovely wedding garment. A garment of righteousness is woven with threads of love and compassion; it is embroidered with seeds of justice and embellished with humility; it does not bind or restrict, but offers freedom; it flatters all who choose to wear it for they glow with inner joy; it is always large enough to be shared with someone in need; it is tied with strings of fellowship and community.

The king told his servant to go out and compel people to come to the party. We're not very comfortable with that idea, especially when we're talking about religion. People get squirmy when one pushes religious buttons too hard. That is why we need to never lose sight of the fact that we are inviting people to a party. Sure, Christianity has its responsibilities, but the joys far outweigh the burdens. A person may be brought to Christian commitment by the attractiveness of heaven or by the fear of hell, but people who are mature in their faith and Christian experience find their highest joy in a personal relationship with God. The longing for that joy and peace may well be one of the most, if not the most, compelling reason for our quest for God. As such, it is a prime reason for the inviting servant, and for us, to be insistent, even compelling. What a privilege to be able to invite someone to a party for which they have always instinctively longed! How can we help being insistent when we carry such an invitation?

So if you have a good friend, someone for whom you really care, invite him or her to the party. And if you have a son or a daughter, a parent or a sibling or a spouse, hurry with the invitation. The king said to the servant, "Compel them!" Say to them, "Don't miss the party!" It is the one event in all of time and eternity that we dare not miss. We are all invited. Have we all accepted the invitation?

Paul said, "Rejoice in the Lord, always; again I say, rejoice." "And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ." Amen.

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