Twenty-second Sunday After Pentecost Year A 2008

In the tradition of Disciples there is a rich heritage of lay leadership. In recent years, Philippi has been blessed with many signs of the Holy Spirit's blessing, among them the growing passion of various of our members to lead God's people. One of these is Fred Dant. Fred is a retired veteran with many gifts, chief among them a warm and loving heart, a passion for learning and a great sense of humor. Fred recently was endorsed by our congregation as a candidate for licensed ministry, a form of service oriented to those for whom seminary is not a viable option. He has been studying hard, taking online classes and meeting with our denomination's leaders.

This sermon was his first effort, delivered with joy during Pastor Mike's vacation. We think you'll enjoy it.

MATTHEW 22:1-14

The reading today was from Matthew, and again Christ has spoken in parables.

In Matthew 13:10-11 the disciples asked Jesus; “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He answered,”To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”

Jesus gives the people room to wonder about what the setting and the characters represent. I guess this was so the people would have to think and figure out themselves what he meant. This way they could get a better understanding of what He was trying to get across to them.

In this story, Christ says that the kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king that made marriage for his son. The king planned this fantastic party where everyone would have nothing but joy and happiness. He sent out his slaves with invitations to the wedding party, but no one came.

Hard to believe, isn’t it? A king invites you to a party, and you snub him. You know, this special and powerful person has reached out to you and invited you to something that is very special to him and you ignore it. I won’t even turn down a cookout, not that I get invited out that much. Well, if you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough.

Can you imagine having a wedding party, and no one shows up?

I was invited to a wedding party once that was supposed to be the biggest event that ever hit town. You can believe when I got my invite, I was gonna go. And I did go. Of course back in those days I was a Beatnik. You know, before the hippies. We dressed weird, had goatees and listened to poetry that made absolutely no sense at all. We joined anything anti-establishment, thought Maynard T Krebs, before he became Gilligan on Gilligan’s Island, was the coolest person alive, drank coffee with a stick of cinnamon in it, said things like, Cool and Right on, and some even smoked those left handed cigarettes. Of course I can honestly say that I have never even tried them, unlike some, that said they just didn’t inhale. I never did smoke them because my good friends made sure of it. Back in those days, I was a little chubby, now I’m just a little thick. Isn’t it great what a little time will do? My friends kept telling me that it would give me the munchies, and if there was one thing I didn’t need back then, or now I really didn’t need the munchies.

Any way this was going to be a great wedding feast and the theme was going to be Adam and Eve. This party was going to be on the up and up. Everyone wore fig leaves covering the correct places, so everything was very appropriate. Lots of people came to the party, and then a couple showed up, and to the amazement of everybody, we immediately knew they had to be the original Adam and Eve. Now, it wasn’t because of their age, because they must not have aged since leaving the garden, but because of physical characteristics both of them had, we had no doubts about their authenticity. Now that was a party to remember.

Well, back to our parable.

Anyway, the king sent out more invitations to the wedding banquet by way of his slaves. He told them to let everyone know that everything is ready, and it’s free. Nothing to cook, no dishes to do, the drinks are cold, and the band is playing. Just come to the party.

But again they refused to come. Too busy, I guess. One had to go to his farm and another to his business, and the rest, THEY BEAT UP AND KILLED THE MESSENGERS. Well, you done it now honey!!! You done really upset the king, and somebody’s gonna pay.
I’m sure you have heard the old saying, ‘It ain’t smart to mess with Mother Nature, Well, it ain’t smart to make a king mad at you either.’

So the king sends his army out to punish them for what they did.

And punish them he did. He destroyed their cities, burned their temples and those he didn’t kill, he scattered to the four corners of the earth.

Then the king returns and says everything is still ready for this party, so let’s have it. So again he sends out his servants and tells them to tell everyone they meet they are welcome at the party.

Everybody is welcome. Look everywhere and tell everyone they see. Tell the good and the evil, I don’t care, just let everyone know, everyone is welcome. And his servants did as he said. And finally they all show up. And the king is very pleased. Everyone is eating, drinking, dancing, and having a fantastic time. His party is a success.

All of a sudden, he notices someone that doesn’t exactly fit in. It that looks like a party crasher. He must be a party crasher, because he is not dressed properly for this wedding banquet. So the king asks him how he got into the banquet without having proper attire, but he was silent. Bad idea to crash a party put on by a king.
The king says bind him hand and foot. I think that is how they tie you when they run you out of town on a rail. The king says throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Not just the darkness, but the outer darkness. Where do you suppose that is? I’ll just leave that up to your imagination. And what about that weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now that’s definitely not the kind of place for me. How about you?

So what did we just learn, besides a lot of things about me that I probably shouldn’t be telling in church anyway?

God has summoned us to his feast, which is his church. This is a feast of mercy, grace, and forgiveness. We are offered all the privileges of church membership, the blessings of the new covenant, the pardon of sins, the favor of God, peace of conscience, the promises of the gospel and all the riches contained in them access to the throne of grace the comforts of the spirit and a well grounded hope of eternal life. There we partake of his sacred foods, those that are filled with grace of the holy mysteries.

But for the feast we must prepare. We must attire ourselves with the proper garment, or we shall be cast, like the man in the parable, into the outer darkness, with all that weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Now the question is, have I been wearing the wedding garment? Have I ever not been wearing it? Have I refused the invitation? Did I come when I was called, or did I have other things to do that I thought were more important at the time?

If I come to the meal with hate in my heart, or my faith and love is cold, or I attend church for social reasons, or to show off my brand spanking new suit, or to visit acquaintances, or any other reasons not consistent with the love of God, then spiritually speaking, I am not dressed in a wedding garment pleasing to Jesus Christ. The garment is a spiritual one. Without it, without preparing yourself for the feast, we are no better than those who rejected and crucified Christ.

We are blessed by God to be members of his church, and we have been invited to partake of the feast and have accepted the invitation to share in this feast Christ has prepared for us, and in doing this we prepare ourselves for an eternal feast in the life to come.

Remember: Throughout Jesus’ ministry, it is obvious that great crowds came to see him at various times, but that far fewer people really accepted his rather difficult path and we do not hear about them anymore.

But still, God continues to call us over and over and over again, and some still don’t answer.

Only a few listen and end up wearing the wedding garment that is pleasing to God.
Do you think there is much difference among these people?

Many are called, but few are chosen. Few are chosen because so many refuse to answer the Invitation, or try to answer it on their own terms, and that is something God abhors.

God calls and God chooses. I know I want to answer his call.

By the way, the reason everyone at the Beatnik party recognized Adam and Eve immediately, was because they didn’t have BELLY BUTTONS.

Remember, they were the only ones not born; they were created by god, so they were not born of the womb, hence, no Belly Buttons.

Amen.