Service and sermon October 11, 2020, Leighmoor Uniting Church
-Rev Barbara Allen
Suggested Hymns
TIS 703: As the deer pants for the water
TIS 134: Praise my soul, the King of Heaven
TIS 675: Lord, the light of your love is shining (Shine, Jesus, shine)
TIS 474: Here in this place new light is streaming
TIS 416: Great God, your Spirit, like the wind
TIS 544: Since the world was young
TIS 545: Shout for joy!
TIS 242: I danced in the morning
TIS 585: I heard the voice of Jesus say
TIS 755: You shall go out with joy
Prayers of Adoration, Thanksgiving and Confession
O God, our Loving Parent in Christ,
we thank you for the gift of life.
Although we cannot share our lives face to face with many others, we are grateful for the people in our lives-be it face-to-face, or via zoom, the internet, the phone, or written letter.
We thank you for your wonderful creation, which we delight in.
For the bright spring flowers,
the refreshing spring rains,
watching the winds sway and bend during the strong winds,
to be able to inhale the fragrance of the season,
and to delight in the warmer days and nights.
We give you thanks.
We thank you that during these difficult times, there are still many signs of hope.
We thank you for newborns, and for the newly pregnant.
We thank you that charities are still undertaking their important work, that people are still trying to save endangered species, and that patients are recovering from illnesses, including covid-19.
As we remember and give thanks for your many gifts and blessings to us, we realize that at times we have left the way you commanded us to follow, following instead our own wills.
Forgive us.
Forgive us when pride in our human successes has kept us absorbed in ourselves, so that we have neglected to fully respond to your invitation to live differently, to live for others.
Forgive us when we put human obligation ahead of heavenly opportunity.
We make excuses as to why we cannot commit or follow right now, yet we presume to judge who should be invited to your table, and who doesn’t warrant an invitation.
Forgive us.
Forgive us our tendency to procrastinate, rather than to participate.
And in a time of silence, we remember other things for which we seek forgiveness.
(silence)
God is love.
Through Christ our sins are forgiven.
(Thanks be to God)
Take hold of this forgiveness and live your life in the power of the Spirit.
Amen
Bible Readings:
Exodus 32: 1-14
Psalm 106: 1-6, 19-23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22: 1-14
Sermon
‘Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.” (Matthew 22: 1-2)
Parties.
Wedding banquets
Celebrations.
We are missing them, aren’t we?
Most of us love parties, especially if they’re celebrating a wonderful event, such as a wedding, an engagement, a baptism, an anniversary, a graduation.
We do like to celebrate!
Sometimes we forget how often Jesus not only talks about parties- but GOES to parties.
Read any gospel (preferably Luke or Matthew) and note how often Jesus is at somebody’s party
-at someone’s celebration.
John’s Gospel, chapter 2, opens with the account of Jesus’ earthly ministry-and where is he?
-at a wedding reception-turning water into wine.
-preventing embarrassment –allowing the wedding reception to continue.
-he goes to parties
(‘this man eats and drinks with sinners”-he parties with sinners).
He speaks of celebrations: the large party the father organised for the return of the prodigal son.
There was the Last Supper
-a foretaste (as were the other celebrations)
of the great, final, most splendid party of all-the Heavenly Banquet.
In Revelation 19: 9: ‘And the angel said to me…Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’
In Jesus-the whole world is invited to a party.
The kingdom of heaven is like a party.
God, the King, isn’t upset at anybody
-doesn’t bear a grudge
-isn’t in the business of striking anyone off the guest list because his son is here.
God wants everyone to come to the party.
Because God’s happy-God wants everyone to be happy.
‘And he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast.’
Now, some knowledge of wedding customs is helpful to aid our understanding of this story.
In biblical times, when the invitation to a feast was sent out, the time was not stated
-but when the feast was ready, servants were sent out with a final summons to the banquet.
So-you would know the day and date-just not the time.
When the cooking was finished, THEN all was ready.
-servants would call on you.
So, in this parable, with all the comings and goings, we needn’t be concerned about the food being over cooked or being left out for too long.
But things aren’t always that easy.
Jesus said that those who were invited to the wedding party wouldn’t come.
The world, says Jesus, is full of people who can’t seem to recognise a good thing when they hear about it, who will not accept
-free grace
-dying love
Total acceptance.
Are we more likely to accept an angry God, than a loving, accepting one?
Are we?
Jesus hasn’t finished telling the parable.
The king, undeterred from his desire to throw a party for his son, sends out more servants.
“Tell the uninvited, behold the feast is ready; come to the marriage party.”
The guests ‘made light of it’- made light of the renewed invitation-the Greek translates into something quite harsh, more along the lines of
‘don’t give a…’
Moreover, they not only make light of the invitation, they kill the kings’ servants.
Such behaviour seems excessive.
They don’t just ‘forget’ to RSVP.
They also murder the postmen.
Now follows a blood bath.
‘The king was angry’ says Jesus.
‘He sent his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.’
This is crossing them off your guest list forever.
But before we become too tough on the king’s response to the guests’ rejection, let’s ask the question
Who were they?
The ‘right kind’ of people.
But they lacked one thing- trust.
They preferred their own agenda, to spending an evening at the king’s mansion.
And so, trusting their way of doing things, rather than the king’s way, they join Jesus’ long list, growing longer with each parable
-of right people who end up wrong
-winners who lose
-they are the good religious, who went through the roof when a sinful woman came in and let down her hair and made a fuss over Jesus.
They are you, and they are me.
-you, and me.
They are all of us who believe that our good deeds and clean looks are enough to get us unto the king’s house, should we ever have an evening free to go (and if we are allowed out of lockdown!)-and that the king is so good-natured and senile that he will not take offence if we don’t show up.
Jesus makes the king’s response so awful and violent-to show us that we are wrong to trust either ourselves and our goodness, or the king’s forbearance to get us out of the consequences of rejection of the king’s invitation.
The parable seems to say that a great deal is at stake.
-life-or death.
Salvation is not by works.
The king’s feast is not optional.
Since God works only through grace (gift) and asks of us only trust (faith)-outside this free party there is nothing.
Which is why Jesus says that king moved on to Plan B.
‘Then the king said to his servants, “The wedding party is ready, but those invited were not worthy ( ie they relied on their own worth)- go, therefore into the streets of the city and invite to the feast anybody you find.” And they went into the streets and invited both bad and good.’
Jesus goes out of his way to make winners of life’s losers.
The problem isn’t the ‘bad’ people.
The problem is non acceptance of the invitation given to both the undeniably bad and the allegedly good.
He doesn’t invite only the good.
He invited all.
‘While we were yet sinners…Christ died for us.”
At last the wedding hall was filled with guests
BUT the story is not over.
There is the matter of the wedding guest who shows up without a wedding garment-and is shown in.
This is a parable of judgement.
The person thrown from the banquet because they are not wearing the right garment, represents all those people who say ‘yes’ to God’s invitation-and yet do not change their behaviour.
The wedding garment is an image for righteousness.
We are clothed with salvation (Isaiah 61:10), and the fine linen garments are the righteous deeds of the saints (Revelation 19:8). In fact, we wear Christ (Galatians 3:27) and thereby we put on our new selves (Colossians 3:10).
The wedding robe indicates everything which makes us fit for the kingdom.
The guest does not wear the garment of righteousness.
The king must have provided each of the guests with appropriate clothing, for there is not enough time between the invitation, and their appearance at the palace to allow them to go home and change-even if they owned the proper garments. This means that the guest without the wedding robe has deliberately dressed inappropriately.
He or she has refused to wear the offered clothing.
This is not a poor man who has stumbled in off the streets…rather, it is a man whose life was in no way changed by the invitation or by entering the wedding hall; he flaunts his old way of living in the face of the king and the other guests.
This story can also be seen in another way.
The king represents God.
The wedding banquet of the son represents the Heavenly Banquet of the age to-come.
The king’s servants are the prophets and Christians who invite people to respond to the ‘Good News’ by living God’s way.
Yet, when the time comes, the invitation is often turned down, sometimes even with violent behaviour.
Yet-the feast is still ready and waiting-and all can respond.
For Matthew, the difficulty is with the people who respond to God’s invitation-without changing their lives.
‘Yes’ without changing their way of living.
Do we wear these robes –of righteousness, of peace, of justice, of compassion, of integrity?
Although this is a hard parable, one that is also about judgement-we must REMEMBER
-all is ready
-we have all been invited to the party-even during lockdown.
-the invitation has been sent
-the servants of the king are calling, “Come, come, come to the party!
It wouldn’t be the same without you!’
Amen
Let us pray:
Inviting God, in your desire to have us share your joy, you have invited us to your party.
Lead us to the wisdom which discerns your invitation amid the many invitations we are offered by the world.
Help us to put aside things which may appear more important or attractive to us.
Help us to prepare ourselves for the unexpected summons –to your light.
Amen
Prayers of the People
O Lord of the lost and lonely, you who seek out the most unlikely people to be with you, teach us to value all people.
We pray for all those who may not feel they belong to you, that they are not worthy of a place at your table, because life has beaten them down, or they are unemployed, or have low self-worth. Grant them a sense of their own worth, their infinite value in your sight, because they are part of your family, created by you.
Infuse them with your love and encourage them, supported by others, to embrace life and faith in all its fullness and richness.
We pray for the sick, those in the wider world, those within our church family, and those amongst our own family and friends.
There are many places and situations in the world that need our prayers. Alongside covid 19 concerns, we remember those in detention centres, those who had to flee their homelands and are now refugees (and we remember that the Holy Family were refugees), those who are unsafe in their homes and have to flee to refuges.
Be with all those who are hurting, all who are scared or frightened, hungry, or lonely.
And in a time of silence we remember other issues and situations that weigh heavily on our own hearts…
(silence).
Lord, as you have heard our prayers, we conclude with the one you taught your disciples and which has been prayed down the centuries:
‘Our Father in heaven…’
Amen
Blessing
May the Lord Jesus Christ
who walks on wounded feet,
walk with you to the end of the road.
May the Lord Jesus,
who serves with wounded hands,
help you to serve each other.
May the Lord Jesus
who loves with wounded heart,
be your love forever.
Bless God wherever you go,
and may you see the face of Christ
in everyone you meet.
Amen
(Bishop Matthew’s blessing).
-Rev Barbara Allen
