October 9, 2005 At St. Mark Church in Norman, OK
Isaiah 25, 6-10 + Pilippians 4: 12-14, 19-20 + Matthew 22: 1-14
A guest called “friend” is discovered to have come to share the banquet
without being properly dressed.
This detail of the parable is unique and found only in Matthew’s version.
The parable sums up a series of story/instructions about fruitfulness in the vineyard and the responsibility of those called or given an opportunity
to bring in a harvest for the owner.
So this little detail is about far more than a fashion faux pas,
and Matthew makes it obvious from the beginning
that the parable is directed toward us, the people who are here for the banquet:
the church going, rule keeping folks
who make the effort to be here and keep the commitment to stay.
Picking up this parable without remembering what has gone before in chapter 21,
can leave us to wonder what norm had been breached.
We might even think it unfair and wrong to pick on someone who came when invited and then was thrown out because they didn’t look right.
Thinking that can raise an important issue that is part of this parable’s message. Those invited to the feast are held accountable to God’s standards for entry.
Those standards have been put before us all through Matthew’s Gospel:
doing God’s will
being righteous with a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees
and producing the good fruits of the Kingdom.
These are considered the only adequate response to God’s gracious invitation;
these things will assure the believer’s place at the table.
It will not simply be a matter of just showing up.
Week after week, we “rehearse” the scene of this Gospel:
the final banquet, the complete “wedding”, the final union of God with His people.
It is, in a sense, a “dress rehearsal.”
For us, it is not a matter of who is here and who is missing.
For us because we are here, it is a matter of what we are going to wear,
or of how we shall appear.
Some of us have worked all our lives at this business of discipleship;
some have just come to the vineyard.
Yet, this is not the issue.
For us, it is a matter of the standards we find in Matthew’s Gospel,
and how we shall be accountable to God’s expectations.
Our casual attitude about the “rehearsal”
might be called into question by this parable.
Coming late for a dinner party
would be thought rude and thoughtless prompting an apology.
If it happened often, there might well be fewer invitations.
Jumping up and leaving early would probably have the same consequences.
But this parable is not about Sunday Mass.
It is about the coming Kingdom of God.
Yet attitudes and behavior displayed here
may reveal a lot about our readiness for what is to come.
We are nearing the end of Matthew’s Gospel. There are only six more weeks.
Since Advent a year ago, we have listened and explored the poetic images
that describe what is to come and we have studied what it takes to get there.
In the few weeks that remain, we shall be reminded
that “reserved seating” should not be assumed.
Taking for granted the gracious goodness of God and failing to recognize the invitations of God, in whatever manner and through whomever these may be extended is serious business that ought not be taken lightly nor casually.
We have all but lost the powerful symbol of food.
Fast food, frozen food, eating in our cars, and eating alone
have cost us the ability to grasp the metaphor set before us.
Breaking bread with another
has always been considered a sign of friendship and intimacy.
This is particularly true when we eat from a common plate.
It is a bond of friendship and intimacy.
About the only remaining symbol of this
is the experience of drinking from the same cup.
It says something about how close we are.
When we see people doing it we recognize their trust and love.
When we feel uncomfortable about it anywhere in public or in our homes,
we are beginning to get the point.
Eating and drinking together is a matter of trust.
It is a moment when we lower our guard.
Eating together confirms reconciliation of enemies, if only for the duration of the meal. This is what we have been invited to:
intimacy with God through intimacy and reconciliation with one another.
This is God’s will for us, that we would be one, that we would live in peace, that we would make forgiveness and reconciliation as common as daily bread,
and that we serve each other to make certain
that no one was left outside and hungry in a creation of such bounty.
To live this way is to wear a garment fit for the banquet.