Online Sermons
Proper 23-A: October 12, The Rev. Dr. Barbara Schlachter
I have officiated at and attended many weddings in my time, and I have never seen a father of the groom throw a guest out for being dressed improperly. Once when some of the bride’s friends showed up in curlers because they wanted their hair to look good for the reception, I thought it might not be a bad idea, however.
Seriously, right away we know this Gospel is not really about a wedding. It just doesn’t make sense. Okay, you invite guests ahead of time and then on the day of the wedding when you say it’s time for the celebration and everyone says they are not coming, you can bet there is going to be some distress. But enough for the groom’s father, even if he is a king, to send troops, murder those who murdered the messengers, and burn the city? And then go into the streets to find those who have just had their homes burned down and presumably the clothes that might have been suitable for a wedding and bring them all in? At least it was a meal or two because there was no food left at home. But then, to pick on a poor guy who did not meet the dress code and throw him into outer darkness, where he presumably would spend eternity weeping and gnashing his teeth? We have gotten lost here somewhere.
It may help to know that there are two parables here. It may also help to know that Matthew saw fit to add material that Jesus did not have in the parables.
Jesus saw the setting of wedding feast as a time of inclusion at the banquet that foreshadowed the heavenly feast. Everyone was to be brought in whether originally invited or not, the good and the bad. Jesus was about getting everyone to the table.
But Matthew has made this into a judgment story, like the last several weeks, a continuation of the king and his son, God and Jesus. Matthew wrote after the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem by Rome in 70 CE, and he saw that as judgment upon the Jews for not accepting Jesus. Let us be careful about drawing conclusions that foster anti-semitism, however. Matthew just thinks everyone should have realized who Jesus was.
But there’s more judgment going on here. Jesus may have invited everyone to eat around the table but Matthew says that it’s one thing to get into the banquet, and it’s another thing to be allowed to stay. You may get into the Christian community by grace and forgiveness, but once you are there, your behavior is supposed to show that you really have put on Christ and are living the life of Christ. Matthew is very fond of sending people into outer darkness, where people will have to listen forever to the music of Weep, Wail, Gnash…and Young. (Oh well, I thought it was amusing.)
There are two notes of judgment in this parable. The first is for those who should have understood who Jesus was and the second is for the rest of us, who have accepted the invitation and are in for the banquet. Do we measure up? Are we participants in the life of the church, with our giving of our time, talent and treasure—a good thing to think about esp. as this is pledging time—or do we let others carry the life of the church forward?
Do we take the Good News of Jesus out into the community, into our homes, schools, and workplaces or would those around us be surprised to learn that we consider ourselves Christians?
And I guess right now there is a more pressing question for all of us. Do we have faith to believe that God is with us no matter how the financial crisis works itself out? Perhaps there is some judgment for our whole society and way of life in the passage from Exodus we heard this morning. Have we been worshipping the Golden Calf instead of the one true and living God?
The Archbishop of Canterbury was recently quoted on the financial crisis. He said, “Behind all this, though, is the deeper moral issue. We find ourselves talking about capital or the market almost as if they were individuals, with purposes and strategies…. We lose sight of the fact that they are things that we make….And ascribing independent reality to what you have in fact, made yourself is a perfect definition of what the Jewish and Christian scriptures call idolatry.”
We may be in a time of judgment. The temptation is to allow ourselves to be angry, or to be afraid, or to blame, or do all three. This is, however, a Sunday that we have set aside for healing her at Christ Church. If we put judgment in the context of this, it becomes a diagnosis for what is wrong. We know in matters of illness, we cannot start a course of treatment until we know what the problem is. That would be foolish.
So, accepting that we have done less than we might have to avert this financial situation, accepting that we have done less than we might to make our economic system a more just one is the first step in healing. It is our confession, which leads to resolve to live a new life, and the possibility of transformation and true change for the better, for ourselves and others.
We know that the people who heal best are participants in their own healing. They do not refuse to believe that they are ill or waste energy feeling sorry for themselves. They figure out what they might have control over and begin to martial their resources, inner and outer, for healing. They also learn to be grateful for each day of life. What they took for granted now becomes gift. It is a paradox that some of the most joyful people are those who know they are in the process of dying and have decided that they will make each day the best day they can.
I would like to offer you a blue print, a starting point, for whatever healing might be needed in your life, physical, emotional, relational, or for whatever healing you are concerned about in the larger community, whether it is flood related or economically based.
It is the passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians we heard this morning. Rejoice. Rejoice. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Rejoice means to dance in Aramaic. There is a wonderful circle dance that you can sing and do to these words, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say Rejoice.” I wish we could do it here right now. It is transformative. My husband and I once were leaders at a conference for United Methodist clergy couples. They were so glum about their situation in the church and so full of complaint that we were astounded. But then the discussion time ended and we got them on their feet to do this dance. At the end we asked them if they would like to offer any prayers. We were again astounded that they were full of praise and thanksgiving. They had been transformed by the reminder to rejoice and by dancing itself.
Paul goes on to say be always gentle. The strength of the gentle is wonderful to behold. Then he says; don’t worry about anything, but in everything, I repeat, in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. God wants to hear from us about what we need and want. And God seems to appreciate being thanked for what God has done and will do. Always be thankful.
Paul says if you do this, you will have the peace of God that goes beyond all understanding. Your hearts and minds will be guarded, protected.
And then he goes on to tell us what we need to keep our minds focused upon—whatever is honorable, true, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, things worthy of praise. That’s cultivating a positive attitude in all times. Then make sure your actions are in accord with a life of love and service and you will indeed have the God of peace with you.
It all starts with rejoicing. Do you remember the book or movie “Zorba the Greek?”
Zorba was a dancer. He danced not because he felt full of joy all the time. He danced in order to feel joy, he danced in order to figure out how solve his problems, he danced as a tribute to life when things were falling apart.
Friday morning we learned that Mel’s remaining brother-in-law was diagnosed with a neurological disorder called MSA. Multiple Systems Atrophy. Ironically, his other brother-in-law died from that suddenly this summer. We had never heard of it before. There is no cure. There is continuing degeneration until death, which can happen suddenly. I felt hit by a truck. I prayed for Bob, I journaled about Bob, and after awhile I decided to dance for Bob. So I did line dancing for an hour yesterday. I rejoiced for Bob and for what God has done in Bob’s life in the past and will continue to do.
No matter what, God will be healing Bob, just as God intends healing for each of us and those we love, all of us, and our entire aching and broken world.
Amen.
Welcome to our website. You are here: The Word --> Online Sermons