20 Pentecost Year A
October 15, 2023
Isaiah 25:1-9; Psalm 23, Matthew 22:1-14
Opening Prayer: Holy Spirit of God, shine your light upon this Word and into our hearts that we may be enlightened with fresh understanding. Amen. (from Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion)
These gospel readings are not getting any easier the past few weeks. Today’s parable is another difficult one to wrap our minds around.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is speaking once again to the priests and Pharisees. This time it’s the parable of the Wedding Banquet. “The kingdom of God may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.” According to the customs of that time, two invitations were expected when banquets were given. The first asked the guests to attend; the second one announced that all was ready. In today’s story, the king invited his guests three times! And as you heard, the king became quite enraged, and things became quite ugly. Failure to turn up at a dinner party that one was invited to was of course extremely bad manners. But outright refusing to attend was even more serious.
What a disgrace this was to the king who had prepared this glorious feast in honor of his son, and for the enjoyment of all who were invited to attend this special celebration.
How many of us here have had a similar experience with planning a wedding, a special occasion, a holiday party or other community event, that left you feeling frustrated by those who didn’t give you the courtesy of a reply or being disappointed by your friends who you really wanted to accept your dinner invitation, but then didn’t show up…
You planned a glorious party…a joyous occasion, you were holding it for good cause, your daughter, your son, your charity…all good…all for the purpose of coming together to celebrate joy!
You sent out the invitations in plenty of time…you even sent out a “save the date” notice way before the official invitation went out.
You included an RSVP date – which is a way of politely asking the recipients of the invitation to give the hosts the courtesy of a reply so they can plan the celebration accordingly.
But, as many hosts soon find out, some people flat out ignore the request to reply, which leads many hosts and event organizers to now get on the phone to extend the invitation again! A lot of work and a lot of frustration…
So, going back to the parable... you can sense the king’s concern and frustration…He had pulled out all the stops to plan this joyous occasion. He extended the invitation, several times, he wanted others to come, and celebrate with him and all who gathered for the special occasion, and he expected a reply, an affirmative yes to this invitation.
I can sense God’s concern for us, too… An invitation is extended to us, many times, daily, to come to the banquet, to come to this feast, to come to the table, where the life-giving love of God, made known to us in Jesus, will gather us all together, to celebrate with one another, to break bread together, to help us see that God’s people can learn to live together in love and peace, and can strive to live as a people of hope, with hearts full of joy, even in the midst of such unfathomable suffering, heartache, and violence, all around us…
What keeps us from saying yes to entering into this covenant of love with God, one another, and all of creation…why do we keep finding ourselves turning down the invitation, or maybe ignoring it all together?
Are we too busy, too tethered to what we already know, and too comfortable in the way things are…maybe it’s fear, being overwhelmed at how much suffering and violence we are witness to every day, near and far.
Maybe we are just at the point in life, when we are trying to wrap our minds around all of the difficult news, and the unrest and turmoil in the world around us, and that it is just hard, super difficult to imagine that this invitation to this “banquet” set for all of us, could possibly help us see that there is love and joy and peace and hope that is to be found in this life, together, even in the midst of so much turmoil, unrest, sorrow and grief…
We will never know though, until we simple begin (again and again) by saying yes to God’s invitation to come to the banquet of love that has been set before us.
We will never know though, until we say yes to following Jesus in the way of love, that there is another way to be in this life with one another…that doesn’t accept that violence, hatred, and oppression over one another will lead to anything good.
We will never know though, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, even in the midst of so much turmoil, unrest, sorrow and grief… until we say yes...Yes, Lord…I will follow you and you will follow me, all the days of my life.
LEVS 104 - The Lord is my Shepherd
1 The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall I know;
I feed in green pastures, safe-folded I rest;
He leadeth my soul where the still waters flow,
Restores me when wand’ring, redeems when oppressed.
2 Through the valley and shadow my death though I stray,
Since thou art my guardian, no evil I fear;
Thy rod shall defend me, thy staff be my stay;
No harm can befall, with my comforter near.
3 In the midst of affliction my table is spread;
With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o’er;
With perfume and oil thou anointest my head;
O what shall I ask of thy providence more?
4 Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God,
Still follow my steps till I meet Thee above;
I seek by the path which my ancestors trod,
Through the land of their sojourn, thy kingdom of love.
Rev. Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK