Loving God, you draw the circle wide and include all sorts of different people in your family.  Teach us to accept those who are different from us as brothers and sisters in Christ and to acknowledge the abundance that all of us have received from your hand; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Those of you who were part of the World Day of Prayer back at the beginning of March may have noticed that the parable that we heard today is not quite the same as the version that is found in Luke.  Luke’s version of the parable is definitely not as violent, and is also the basis for the song called “The Wedding Banquet.”  However, Matthew includes the parable as we have heard it today for a reason, and the challenge for us is to figure out what message God has for us in this parable.

         One of the things about the gospel of Matthew is that there is far more judgment imagery to be found there than in the other gospels.  Matthew mentions “weeping and gnashing of teeth” on six different occasions, whereas Luke includes it only once, and the other gospels, not at all (WorkingPreacher.org).  Matthew was also written for a primarily Jewish audience, and this parable would have been aimed, at least in part, at the Jewish religious leaders who had rejected Jesus.

         There are hints of these religious leaders in the people who were initially invited to the wedding banquet. These people would have been powerful and wealthy – just like the Pharisees and the Sadducees – and they are so assured of their own importance that they don’t even bother to give an excuse for not coming to the banquet.

         Of course, the people brought in off the streets could have been just about anybody – Jew or Gentile, slave or free, rich or poor, faithful or faithless, good or bad.  There is a hint here of the radical inclusiveness that is part of the kingdom of heaven.  We might also be reminded of the people that Jesus himself chose to hang around.

         So, what exactly is this parable trying to say?  Historically, some interpreters have tried to make it into an allegory, where the king is God, and the wedding banquet is for Jesus, and the Jewish people who were invited at first were not worthy, and so Gentiles were brought in.  These same people have debated about the man without a wedding garment, and some have said that the wedding robe represents baptism.  However, there are a number of difficulties with this kind of interpretation.

         For one thing, the king in the parable does not act like God.  Killing all the people who wouldn’t come to the banquet and burning their city seems over the top, to say the least.  And the guy who shows up without a wedding garment? – Does that really sound like a good reason to “throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 22:13)?...  This king simply reacts with rage and anger and pretty much destroys anybody who doesn’t do things his way.  On the other hand, God is patient, “not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

         At the same time, there is a very real danger that some might take this allegorical type of interpretation and use it as an excuse to kill Jewish people.  As bad as that sounds, if you believe that the ones who were first invited were all Jewish, and that God is the one who kills them all and burns their city, it’s not that big a leap to start killing those who don’t accept Jesus.  There is no way that this is the message that Jesus intended, for he is about the business of loving and saving people, rather than putting them to death.  The parable, though, was intended to get people’s attention.

         Really – in this parable – there is bad behaviour all the way around.  The invited guests not only can’t be bothered to show up for the banquet. They also can’t be bothered to give an excuse.  And then to mistreat and kill the slaves who come to announce that the feast is ready? – What kind of people do that?

         Of course, the king is no better, as we have already seen, handing out punishment that seems way over the top.  And then there’s the guy without the wedding garment.  While some have been sympathetic to him, given that he didn’t know he would be going to a wedding banquet, others have observed that everybody else managed to find a wedding garment.  The image is maybe of somebody who just can’t be bothered.

         Whatever else we might think of this parable, there is no doubt that God invites us – not only to the banquet – but to enter the kingdom of heaven.  We are invited to put our faith in Jesus and to leave our sins behind. We are invited into abundant life and salvation.  The parable invites us to think not only about how we respond to that invitation, but also how we extend the same invitation to others.

         Perhaps the parable also invites us to reflect on our own behaviour.  For example, are we indifferent, or even rude, when it comes to God’s claim on our lives?  Are we too busy with everything else to bother spending time with Jesus?  Or, do we show up – but with no real desire to be present or to be respectful?

         Alternatively, are we perhaps the ones who do the inviting? – the ones who are sent out in order to announce the banquet and then to invite everyone?  Or, do we behave like the king – allowing rage to dictate our decision making? Or, might we be the judgy ones – weeding out the people who don’t belong, and making sure that they don’t come back?

         It is not just about me and Jesus, but about the community that Jesus brings with him – people who have been brought in off the street from all races and nations and economic statuses.  For Jesus has come for all of us, gathering us into God’s family, and feeding us with the bread of life.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lent 3 (NL 1)                        Matthew 22:1-14

March 24, 2019

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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