Sermon for the Twenth-Third Sunday after Pentecost, October 12, 2008, Proper 23

Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 23

Year A

October 12, 2008

Resurrection Lutheran Church

Isaiah 25:1-9 Psalm 23:1-6

Philippians 4:1-9 St. Matthew 22:1-14

You hear it said that clothes make the person. That is what clothing lines try to convince us to believe. And to some degree I think they have succeeded. How often have you or I sized up someone based on their outward appearance? Deep down we know that this is not true. We know that the measure of a person is what is on the inside and not what is on the outside. But it is a terribly hard habit to break. So how do we make any sense of the parable in today's Gospel?

And yet at some level clothing does matter. If you show up to a formal wedding in worn out jeans, a ratty t shirt and flip-flops nit would seem to most people to be rather inappropriate. And although as a priest I tend to dress rather formal for Alaska standards for most Episcopal priests, I know that if I wore some things, people would rightly by unhappy with me and my choices.

But all of us are comfortable with our own person style of dress. The invitation from the King required formal dress however. I mean lets face us, most of us have seen royal weddings on TV. We all know what the expectation is as far as dress is concerned. And so even those brought in from the street must have had an understanding of what would be expected at this great feast.

But the idea of comparing this to the kingdom of heaven can be a troubling lesson for people like me who want to see God in an always generous, kind, giving, loving and forgiving sort of way.

The first part of our Gospel story starts out well enough. Those on the "A" list get invited to a fabulous wedding.

Unfortunately the response to the slaves sent out to get the RSVP's was mixed to say the least. I'm mean, whatever happened to "don't shoot the messenger"? I guess that saying was not invented yet. But the bottom line is that for whatever reason, none of the "A" listers came to the wedding. Imagine having a huge wedding celebration and no guests show up. That sort of throws a wet blanket on the entire event for the bride and groom and families. But this king is a take charge sort of guy. So he rounds up a crowd of people, probably from all walks of life to fill up this wedding banquet. People who never in a million years imagined they would be invited suddenly find themselves in the in crowd!

That really describes who each and everyone of us are as Christians. We are part of the out crowd who suddenly finds themselves invited into the in crowd by God. In spite of our failures, our shortcomings and our sins, God invited us in to the wedding banquet. We relive that invitation every time we come together at the Lord’s Table. All who know God are asked to join in a feast which God has prepared fur us. There is not “A” list and other. All are freely on the invitation. This is not church potluck supper where everyone brings something along to contribute to the whole. No at this heavenly feast God has provided everything. And just as Jesus invited everyone be with him and experience the presence of God in their lives, so it is today. God invites everyone.

But as Christians each and every one of us also knows that the response to the invitation of God requires us to comply with God’s dress code, so to speak. Now I know I’m treading in dangerous waters here in Luther’s territory and I am by no means advocating a works based faith. But a reading of the Bible makes it clear that as Christians, there are certain expectations about us. We are supposed to be, with God’s help, working on things like loving your neighbor and striving for justice and peace.

Our course, for me the hardest part of this parable is the person who arrived improperly dressed and then gets kicked out. After all, what in the world did this person really do wrong?

I have read many different commentaries trying to explain the significance of this particular part of the story. I mean you can't really ignore it as much as you, or at least as much as I, might want to. Most commentaries I have read, rightly I think, interpret this person to represent one who does not have faith. It is sort of the same thing as the saying I have heard that “going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you a car.”

Some commentaries include a helpful explanation it in terms of traditions back in that time where the host would have provided the appropriate clothing and this particular person choose to refuse to accept it. Basically the same point explained in a cultural context to say that, one way or another, the clothing represents our place in Christ where in this case the clothing makes all the difference.

We are invited guests to this banquet as a result of our new life in Christ represented by the wedding garments.

The Christian Scriptures are filled with metaphors of the Christian relationship explained in terms of marriage and weddings.

If there is a place in the Gospel today where I think we should, each one of us, find ourselves, it is in the place of the slaves. The second set of slaves fortunately. Those were the ones sent to go call in those who never expected an invitation. They had the wonderful opportunity of sharing a once in a life time opportunity with people from all walks of life.

This is exactly what God is calling each and everyone of us to do as well. It is not our job to worry about if they will arrive wearing the right clothing so to speak. It is not our job to filter out those who we believe should be invited and those who we believe are not worth, in as sense creating our own personal “A” and “B” listers. God wants us to go out and share this Good News with everyone. It is an invitation we dare not keep to ourselves. In essence the slaves were doing the work of an evangelist and each one of us is called to be an evangelist as well. I know some are sort of intimidated by that job description, thinking it requires special training or particular skills or thinking perhaps that this is what we pay a pastor to do.

Being an evangelist is as simply as asking your friend to join you at church. That is how real and lasting church growth takes place. If you want Resurrection Lutheran Church to grow, it is every member’s responsibility to take this call to evangelism seriously. Study after study shows that people check out churches most often when invited by a friend. So I’m not telling you that you need to knock on doors and make cold calls. Nope, just invite a friend!

As our Celebrate insert so clearly reminds us today, no matter what may be going on in our life, “we rejoice in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. With great joy we feast at the table of the Lord, and we go forth to share the wonderful invitation with others hungering and thirsting for the abundant life of God.”

NOTE: I am indebted to the mediation for this day in Forward Day By Day. Unfortunately those mediations are anonymous so I cannot give appropriate credit.