An Offer We Can’t Refuse
Lent 3 – Narrative Lectionary 1
March 8, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Matthew 22.1-14
As a pastor, I have been doing weddings for almost 19 years and generally speaking, I really enjoy doing them. Well, perhaps the exception is some outdoor weddings. The problem with outdoor weddings is that couples want an indoor wedding outdoors and it just doesn’t always work very well. Even so, I like working with couples and getting to meet their families and friends. However, unlike most people who prefer the reception to the wedding, I don’t care for receptions much. (I learned very early that about half of all invitees will attend the wedding, but all of them will attend the reception.)
Maybe I don’t care for receptions because they are usually Saturday evening and I’m tired and thinking about Sunday. Or maybe it’s my closet introversion and the thought of spending several hours with a few hundred people doesn’t do much for me. Maybe it’s because couples make us sit around forever before we eat because they are off taking pictures and even longer until we get desert. Whatever the reasons, I prefer the wedding to the reception.
So, I can understand a bit why the king’s subjects rejected his invitation to the wedding feast. We have in Matthew’s gospel today what David Lose calls an “ugly parable.” It’s a very difficult parable in so disturbing on many levels, not the least of which is the violence wrought by the “king.” Traditionally, the parable has been allegorized: king = God, son = Jesus; the guests who refuse to come = Jewish people; the new guests = Christians; and the improperly robed man = rejecter of the new life that grace brings. The problem with this interpretation is it lends itself to anti-Semitism and triumphalism. In fact, Martin Luther’s occasional anti-Semitic streak reared its ugly head in a sermon on this parable. But the other problem is that allegorizing also blunts the force of the parable.
Instead, it’s best to read the parable with the understanding that this is more like an inter-family squabble. As this parable indicates, Matthew’s church struggled with two important questions. The first has to do with our loved ones who don’t accept God’s grace. In this vein, it’s important to remember context and Jesus’ increasing conflict with the religious leaders of the day, the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. Initially, the parable attacks the religious leaders who should have seen God working in, with and through the ministry of Jesus Christ but who are threatened by him and reject his message. The second question has to do with those people who do accept God’s grace through Jesus Christ, but don’t live it out.
In the ancient world, rejecting a king’s invitation was an act of open rebellion, subject to violent reprisals. If we were to update the parable, we might substitute blockades and trade sanctions for the burning of cities. However, lest we are tempted to join our ancestors in a crusade or inquisition, I suggest a different approach. Realizing that Jesus uses hyperbole to get our attention, while also doing justice to the parable, I suggest we probe what Jesus wants to tell us through the inappropriately attired wedding guest. This is someone who seems to have responded to God’s gracious invitation but is found wanting.
On Ash Wednesday, we entered the season of Lent promising to intentionally work on our relationship with God. The parable reminds us that God’s grace calls us into a relationship with God that makes a difference in our lives. In other words, it’s something of a “gut check.” It’s important for us to ask ourselves periodically how it’s going. As Socrates or Plato said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Jesus says it another way: the only life worth living is that kingdom life. We need to remember that the kingdom life Jesus brings is not just some future hope available after we die. Rather, the future breaks into now and we live the kingdom life today.
The fact is that God wants more for us than we often want for ourselves. The pointed question for today is: do we trust God to act in all areas of our lives or only the ones that meet our approval? Another way for this parable to open us up is to ask, what is getting in the way of kingdom living? As I mentioned on Ash Wednesday, what gets in the way for me is too much focus on the future. I keep running from one thing to the next, often missing the joy of the present. Since then, I have been trying to be mindful about staying in the moment, being present to what is happening and looking for God in it. Some days it goes better than others. What about you, where is God inviting you to live kingdomly?
Jesus’ parables are not so much puzzles to be explained as they are mystery’s to be explored. Or perhaps even more so, they are mysteries designed to open us up to deeper, richer life. It’s so important that Jesus takes a risk by grabbing us by the scruff of our necks to get our attention. Here’s the kicker: when we most fully live the kingdom life, those we love will see it in us and want it for themselves. Even better yet, on this side of the crucifixion and resurrection we know that the outer darkness is not beyond God’s reach. Ultimately, the offer of God’s love is one too irresistible to refuse. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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