INTRODUCTION: Today’s Scripture Reading comes from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 1 through 14. It is the third of three parables addressed to religious leaders who have, so far, completely missed the main point of Jesus’ teaching--that the Kingdom of God is open to all who respond to God’s Love and live it out joyfully in their lives. Parts of this story, as told by Matthew, are rather disturbing to our ears. Even so, let us listen for the Spirit speaking through these words.
Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14 (The Message)
The Story of the Wedding Banquet
22 1-3 Jesus responded by telling still more stories. “God’s kingdom,” he said, “is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn’t come!
4 “He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, ‘Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!’
5-7 “They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city.
8-10 “Then he told his servants, ‘We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren’t up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.’ The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled.
11-13 “When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’
14 “That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it.’”
Sermon: “Who Doesn’t Love a Good Banquet?!”
In many ways, the “Parable of the Wedding Banquet” is a very disturbing story. The main character is a hot-tempered, ego-centric king, a tyrant, who resorts to excessive violence--destroying people and leveling whole cities-- when people don’t do what he demands. Plus, some of the king’s subjects are no better than the king himself--quick to engage in violence themselves rather than obeying the king’s summons to attend his son’s wedding feast. And if that’s not disturbing enough, we have the traditional, allegorical interpretation of this parable-- that the tyrant represents God, the first set of murderous subjects represent Israel, and the good and bad people pulled in off the streets represent people of other nations who become the church of Jesus Christ. And then, down through the centuries, we have the actual misuse of this allegorical interpretation! Self-proclaimed Christian nations and kings have actually used this text and others like it to condone violence against countries they conquer and colonize. For instance, “During the colonial era,” New Testament Professor Raj Nadella from Columbia Theological Seminary points out that “British interpreters [of Scripture]… routinely employed texts such as this to justify the empire’s oppressive economic and military policies in India.” (Prof. Raj Nadella, from http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4613)
Which is absolutely horrible!!! But such interpretations, painful as they are, need to be named so we can acknowledge the pain they’ve caused and not repeat it. Interestingly enough, most modern scholars believe that the violent aspects of this parable were later additions--composed by the writer of Matthew’s gospel, and not something Jesus ever said. Scholars believe this mainly for 2 reasons: 1) The other version of this story, from Luke (chapter 14) is missing all the violent details. 2) The violence in the story mirrors the context in which Matthew was writing--he was writing around AD 70 right after the Romans had ransacked and leveled Jerusalem, when followers of Jesus were beginning to be violently persecuted--by both Rome and some of their fellow Jews. (In Quest of a Kingdom, Leslie Weatherhead, p. 111-112)
So, all that to say, just because Matthew’s historical context led him to add these violent details, it doesn’t mean that we have to accept his view of God. In fact, with the benefit of 2000 years of history and Biblical scholarship, we can choose to reject the violent details of this story so that we do not normalize violence in our own lives or give our leaders permission to do so. In the words of Professor Nadella whom I quoted earlier,
“In a cultural and political context where physical violence towards the other—immigrants, racial minorities, and women—has increasingly become commonplace, it is especially important that our interpretations of scriptures do not inadvertently suggest violence as a manifestation of the divine.”
Okay, so if we reject the violent details of this scripture passage as not originating with Jesus, where does that leave us? Let me propose that it leaves us with the primary metaphor of this parable--God’s kingdom is like a wedding banquet. And what an appealing image-- because who doesn’t love a good banquet?! Let’s spend a moment diving into that image. I invite you to think back to the favorite weddings you have attended. Maybe it was your own--or your children’s or your friend’s. What made it your favorite?
· Maybe it was the food and beverages: Prime Rib. Pumkin Raviolis. Peaches and Cream wedding cake. Champagne or a certain signature cocktail.
· Maybe what made the wedding banquet your favorite was the band-- the best Beatles cover band ever--and you still remember dancing to “Twist and Shout”. Or maybe it was string quartet playing “Suite for Cello #1.”
· Or maybe it was seeing your whole extended family and all of your best friends gathered in one place under one tent and everyone putting their differences aside in order to celebrate a joyous milestone in a couple’s life.
· Or maybe it was the acknowledgement that despite all of the bumps and potholes in what a popular song calls the “broken road of life,” God has actually blessed us all beyond measure.
And this, my friends, is what Jesus says the Kingdom of God is like--the best wedding banquet you have ever attended. In a word, it is joy beyond measure.
And speaking of joy, I am reminded of a quote that Tim Danielson, our Scripture Reader for today brought up at the last youth group meeting. He was quoting a young person, a member of the youth group, who spoke with wisdom beyond their years when describing the difference between Happiness and joy:
You can experience Happiness alone,
Joyfulness is a shared experience. [REPEAT]
That’s profound, isn’t it?! And so true!!
And isn’t this joyfulness what we experience when we participate in church, in our community of faith? I think, sometimes, it is. I say “sometimes” because--of course--the Kingdom of God and our human concept of church are not exactly the same thing. The Kingdom of God is infinite and eternal and divine and encompasses the entire universe-- and the church is a human construct that seeks to mirror the kingdom of God. So the church, being a human institution contains human flaws. But the church is also a vessel for the Spirit of Christ, so it embodies Christ’s joy. Or it can. And it should. Because this joy is what our world is starving for.
And we have felt this hunger for joy during this pandemic, haven’t we? When we haven’t been able to meet in person as a faith community and share our joy the way we are used to doing, it has been a HUGE loss. In other words, we have been missing the wedding banquet that Jesus describes. In the words of 20th century English Pastor Leslie Weatherhead, “Jesus is saying to us, ‘What you are looking for I am offering.’ Satisfaction, joy, good fellowship, good will, good humor--all of the things that a feast really means are here and ready.” (Weatherhead, In Quest of a Kingdom, p. 114)
Pre-covid we knew how to find all of these things by walking into our church building and gathering together in person for worship and other activities. But how do we find them now, when we can’t gather the way we are used to doing. Does the wedding feast Jesus describes have to go on hold until the pandemic is over?
No it does not. The joy of the Lord is not thwarted by a virus. The joy of the Lord is not thwarted by anything.
But the feast--the expression of the joy-- will take different forms. And it already has. We have been experiencing some of those forms lately. Last week’s outdoor worship, for instance. How wonderful it was to see 2 young people--Jake and Hannah give their statements of faith and join the church. How moving it was to see their families gather around them in prayer. How inspiring it was to hear from their mentors and to welcome them with joy on this step of their faith journey. How good it was to share in communion together! (And thank God for creative entrepreneurs who figured out how to make single serving communion cups, mass produce them, and find an affordable way to sell them to churches! J) How beautiful it has been to praise God by hearing Julie and Kathy and Alan sing together.
And on days like today when we don’t meet in person but gather, instead, through a virtual platform--how incredible that we have the technology to livestream sermons and music and scripture and share prayer requests in real time--from our homes.
And what a joy we can gather in small groups--socially distanced in person, and on line-- to write and talk and study together. And collect food for the pantry. And refurbish the church kitchen.
It’s not the same as it was. We are not currently able to hug or shake hands or even stand close to each other. And we need to express our sadness and grieve that loss, which we hope will not be for too much longer. BUT in the midst of that grief, we need to remember that the wedding feast is still happening, the joy of the Lord is still present, it is just taking different forms. May God help us be creatively open to the new forms it is taking.
The English pastor I quoted earlier--Leslie Weatherhead, writes beautifully about the joy of the wedding feast. What I didn’t tell you is that he was writing and preaching in London during World War II. His congregation was made up of people from all walks of life--he describes them as “cabinet ministers and slum dwellers, middle-class Londoners and visitors from all parts of the world.” Their church building dated back to the 1600’s and had a beautiful pulpit made of marble. And then one night, in a literal flash, much of the church building was demolished by the Nazis in a bombing raid. It was a huge loss--the beauty, craftsmanship and history of a 300 year old building could not be replaced. But the congregation was resilient and joined with a local Anglican church following the bombing. And Dr. Weatherhead’s ministry of writing books gained momentum; his books were sold worldwide, introducing the joy of the Lord to a much wider audience. It wasn’t the same as before. But Jesus’ joy was not thwarted, even in the midst of great loss.
May we allow the joy of Jesus to grow in us as a congregation--despite the very real losses we experience. May God continue to help us discover and appreciate new ways of connecting in the midst of this pandemic, that we may continue to share Christ’s joy with our neighbors and the world. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt
Franklin Federated Church
Franklin, MA