Are you properly dressed?

Gospel reading: Matthew 22.1-14
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.

The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’

So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

SERMON: Are You Properly Dressed?

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Over the past few weeks, we have been working through a number of challenging parables that are found within Matthew’s Gospel, and we here we are again faced with yet another this morning.

There are definitely two parts to this parable, the first mirrors the concepts of our faith which we have been thinking about through the vineyard parables, but then the second part throws something new into the mix, the king has invited everyone into the great banquet, but then throws one of the new guests out with only a cryptic explanation that he isn’t properly dressed for the occasion!

There is much more going on than meets the eye, although it’s not clear what that is.

I gave some thought as to how to best explain this, and have come up with two thoughts.

Think of a wedding banquet you have attended in the past for a moment. Was it a time of celebration? A time of rejoicing over the love between the bride and groom?

Or was it a time which later in the evening became something like a western type saloon? An occasion where a good number of the guests have had too much to drink and words, thoughts and family disputes running way back come to the fore and the wedding banquet is turned into either an alcohol laced brawl or a loud falling out. Pent up and emotive feelings which have been carried for months or years have purposely and dare I say intentionally been reignited.

The outcome ruins what should have been a wonderful occasion and one or two people evicted from the celebration.

But what hopefully shone through at the end of the day was the rejoicing of the bride and groom and celebrating their special day and not remembering those who ran the risk of spoiling the special day due to having consumed too much alcohol and reigniting family squabbles.

The second thought that I want to use is a plot from a film. In this particular film, there has been a disastrous incident where a whole race is in danger of extinction, and so envoys are sent to escort representatives to a meeting to discuss how they can be helped.

All seems to be going well and the escort and the delegates share a meal together, but in the meantime, assassins are dispatched to kill the head of the delegation.

What then follows is a whodunit type storyline, and as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that some of those who sat at the meal together purporting to be on their way to find solutions were actually there to sabotage the entire thing and ensure that it failed.

In the end the perpetrators, the imposters were all exposed, and their plans failed, allowing for trust to be built and the offer of help and assistance to follow.

So with these two thoughts in mind let’s return to our parable in today’s Gospel reading. Theologians tell us that in 1st century Israel, there would have been an expectation that the guests would have been clothed in an appropriate way, and it would have been up to the host to supply these, however, this man had chosen not to wear them, and was exposed as an imposter, and thus thrown out of the Kings presence.

The underlying aspect of this parable is about our intentions, what is within our heart. Those who were invited initially made excuse after excuse, and decided that what was being offered wasn’t important to them; again, we come back to the officials found within other Jesus teachings who rejected Christ in favour of remaining comfortable with all that they had.

The one who didn’t wear the wedding robe was the imposter, the one who used sneaky means to deceive the king, hoping he could enjoy all that was being offered without committing himself.

The rest of the guests were the ones who were open to receiving all that was being offered with joy and gratitude. Note that Matthew takes time to highlight that there were people both good and bad. When the king saw them he didn’t single any of them out, he accepted them into the wedding hall, because they were open to him, and offered respect by ensuring that they were clothed appropriately.

This parable therefore highlights the choice that each of us make, it reminds us that whilst the invitation is always there, it has to be our choice whether or not to accept it.

The parable also doesn’t come with caveats; there are no expectations on any of us at the beginning of our journey to have led a good and spotless life. The expectations come at the point when we accept the garments.

The garments are a metaphor for our willingness to offer repentance, and once we put them on they demonstrate that we are prepared to confess those things which debilitate and hinder us in having a relationship with God, and through that they give us that opportunity to receive forgiveness.

For many who are listening to or reading this sermon, then it is likely that this has already happened in our lives, but that is just the start of our journey, because afterwards they remain a constant reminder to us that we must strive to live the best life that we can, having faith is not just a once and for all time event.

But what does that mean to us as we live our lives? for that we turn Philippians Chapter 4 v 8 where the Apostle Paul says ‘Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.’

Paul remains an excellent counsel to the church, and whilst he can at times be hard on the churches in his care, here however in the final chapter of his letter to the church in Philippi, he is completing his instructions to them, by reminding them to continue on, to not give up and to seek the joys that are theirs through faith.

So how does this apply to us here over 2000 years on? In many ways it brings us to the question that “In which direction are we heading?” Have we embraced the grace that we have been given in our lives? Are we determined to continue to seek and serve Christ within our lives, or have we lost that drive and determination?

Since the outbreak of Covid and the changes it has brought about, many parishes up and down the country have not been able to worship within their regular patterns, and we know that this sacrifice will now last at least until the end of 2020.

It has required us all to dig deep, to embrace change which has not been of our own choosing, to engage with worship in different ways, online and more recently in person under Covid-secure conditions. But it has also fragmented the church for a time into a number of different groups, those who are returning to worship, those who are continuing to watch online, and those who for whatever reason are not engaging with worship.

The Apostle Paul throughout his letters reminds the church about its unity, it is through the gifts and talents of the whole that we continue to grow and mature, to be there as companions walking alongside each other in good and bad times.

There is a lot to be gained from Paul’s teaching and instruction, and I believe that what he said to the church in Corinth is as relevant to us as Christians today as it was then. He said therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

2020 has dealt an unprecedented blow to everyone, as we have adapted, learnt new skills, changed the way we live, and all the while borne every sacrifice personally. These things remind us how fragile a world we live in, and for all of us who have lost family or friends, how precious life is.

Yet in this constantly changing world that we are living in, where new words and phrases have come into our everyday vocabulary, we also need to remember that the words and vocabulary of the scriptures has not changed, they continue to guide, instruct challenge and give hope to a world where hope is needed so much at this time.

Through the scriptures we see so many who refused to walk away from God, the haemorrhaging woman, knew if she could touch Christ’s hem she would be healed, the centurion who pleaded for his slaves life, the blind man who had sat at the gate patiently praying for healing, are just some of the examples of how when we hold on to our faith, that we come to know the power of God in all its glory.

We all chose to put on the wedding garment when we came to faith, to follow our Lord through good and bad. It’s easy to do when all is well, but it takes much more faith to do so when times are bad.

Our father in heaven will never give up on us, whether you are listening to these words be it electronically or in church, the scriptures today remind us to keep hold of that hope, but they also remind us to reach out, to encourage those who may have become apathetic, hurting, wavering or feel that all hope has gone, to turn their focus back to the cross and to hold fast to the one who can do so much more than we can ever achieve on our own.
Amen.

PRAYERS

Fill us, Gracious God. Fill us with those things that are good: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honourable. Help us to put into practice what we have learned from Your Word…

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Loving God, you have invited us to feast in Your promised Kingdom. May we never be so busy taking care of things that we cannot turn to You, and thankfully celebrate the power of Your Son…