"Are You Coming to the Dinner, or What?"

Matthew 22:1-14

Our gospel lesson from the book of Matthew speaks about a great and powerful king who was planning a wonderful wedding feast for his son. The king invites all those persons who one would expect to see at a wedding like that; all the important members of his court, all of his best friends and acquaintances. But, none of them reply with the courtesy of an RSVP. Of course, this causes the king some concern, so he sends out servants with another set of invitations to the same people. Yet, again, no reply. Instead, the people who have been invited treat the servants with insults and even kill a few of them. So, the king sends in his troops to these people and wipes them all out. Then, he sends his servants out to invite to the wedding feast, any person who might come, no matter who they may be.

As we consider at this parable, we should do so with the realization that the book of Matthew was written just shortly after the city of Jerusalem and the Temple in that city had been completely destroyed by the Romans, an event which took place in the year 70 A.D. And you can imagine how the early Christian Community must have interpreted these events. Believing that God is the author of all affairs -- past, present, and future -- these early Christians believed that Jesus' parable about the king's initial invitation to the marriage feast was like God's invitation to the people of Jerusalem to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For the early Christian believers, the rejection of the king's invitation was like Jerusalem's rejection of God's son. The king's destruction of those who refused to come to the wedding feast was likened to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. And those who came to the wedding feast from the highways and byways were like the Church, who, by the later part of the first century A.D. was comprised of persons, not only from Israel, but from many other parts of the world, as well. Thus, as far as the ancient Church was concerned, believing in Christ, centering one's life upon Jesus, accepting him as Lord and Savior, was the same thing as accepting the King's invitation to the marriage feast. And, in the book of Revelation, we see how the Church called such fellowship in Christ, "The Marriage Feast of the Lamb of God."

Understanding this parable this way means that when we sit here today united in worship, joined in the fellowship of believers in Christ, partaking of spiritual food, sharing with one another in spiritual drink and nourishment, we are, indeed, gathered around the table of our Lord. That's what it means to be worshiping as the gathered community of faith.

Of course, understanding this parable has been difficult for the Christian church for the past 2,000 years, especially as it has struggled with how it should relate to those who stand outside the faith and do not believe in Christ. For unfortunately, this parable has been used by some as justification for the mistreatment of the Jews and for persecution of other non-believers. The Nazis, for instance, used this parable as a justification for the holocaust. And, so, in recent years, the Church has had to take a serious look at these scriptures and, indeed, reject the notion that Christ was advocating the destruction of non-Christians by those who believe in Christ. So, instead of talking about the destruction on non-believers, the Church has, rather, affirmed the positive aspects of the parable, stressing, instead, the inclusive and accepting nature of the kingdom of God.

And isn't that something that should be affirmed, again and again, in our life together? I think so. And, so we do! Every time we baptize an infant we are celebrating and acknowledging the inclusive and open nature of God's kingdom! For even unto such as these belong the Kingdom of God! Or, when we welcome all persons to the Lord's table, whether or not they are members of the church, whether they are young or old, then it is that we celebrate the inclusive and open nature of God's kingdom! Or, when, as a church, we send money to feed the hungry of the world, do we put restrictions on it, saying that the money should go to feed Christians? Of course not! Instead, the money we give to feed the hungry goes to all who have a need, in spite of their religious affiliation. So, when we give our gifts to feed the hungry, we, again, celebrate the inclusive and open nature of the kingdom of God.

Nevertheless, and sadly, it has often been difficult for even God's people to avoid the temptation of being exclusive and rejecting of persons. Even the first churches I served, while in seminary, had to fight this temptation. Being that the churches were on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, South of the Mason-Dixon Line, there was a long history of separation and segregation on the part of whites towards the black residents in the area. I remember the day that one of our churches had the opportunity to invite the High School Choir to come sing in their church, but refused to do so when it was learned that one of the choir's members was black. Certainly, in many ways we have come a long way since then. But, is there not, even today, the temptation to exclude on the basis of race or religion, clan or creed? And doesn't the Church (and don't we) have a lot of work left to do before all people can fully celebrate the inclusive and open nature of the Kingdom of God? I think we do.

But, getting back to that parable of the marriage feast. We're told that after all the wedding guests had finally arrived the king came in and noticed that someone had come without a wedding garment. So, the king had the man tied up and thrown into the dungeon.

Now, again, this part of the parable does present a problem for modern Christians, especially if we are to assume that the kingdom of heaven works is like this parable (as stated in verse 2). After all, it hardly seems fair that someone should be invited to a marriage feast only to be punished because he or she didn't have the right kind of clothes! But what we have to understand is that in those days it was the custom of the host of such great wedding feasts to supply white wedding robes for all the guests to put on as they came through the door. This way, if a person couldn't afford nice clothes and only had torn, worn or stained clothing he wouldn't be embarrassed. On the other hand, putting on such a robe also prevented rich people from using their expensive clothing as a means of looking better than everyone else. So, when the king came into the hall and saw a man without a robe, the king was probably insulted by the man's stubbornness at not accepting his free gift.

Now, we can better understand how the kingdom of Heaven might be like this. For throughout the New Testament Christians are told that when they have faith in Christ they are robed in the Righteousness of Christ, a free gift given to all. Once robed, we are not judged by our deeds or misdeeds. Rather, we are saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. To reject the robe, to reject grace, is to reject Christ. But, to accept the robe, to accept Christ, means celebration and life.

One of the ancient traditions of the church surrounding baptism was that following a person's baptism, the church gave the person new clothes to wear, often just a white robe, symbolizing the righteousness of Christ.

As Christians we wear our robes wherever we go. The grace of God goes with us. The righteousness of Christ is borne out into the world through us. The inclusive nature of God is made real to all in our faithful acts of love.

Amen.