Matthew 22: 1-14 " .... when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless." (v. 11,12; NRSV).
Did you get your invitation to the eternal wedding feast? I know I have, and hope to see and rejoice with you there! As our pastor & teacher Rev. Schmidt began speaking after Tim D.'s reading of Jesus' telling of the Wedding Banquet parable, I thought I'd jot down words or phrases she used which were contrary to our usual association with wedding receptions. She was coming out with a bunch of them indeed (like: tyrant, excessive violence, disturbing, misuse, self-proclaimed, colonization, horrible, persecuted, minority and violent detail, to list a few) in association with rejecting misuse of the meaning of the parable. Me, I was trying to predict where her sermon might be leading and make connections to wedding occasions I've known. I think my faith took a brief hiatus there; so much for being or staying in the moment, eh? The Covid19 induced fact that we record and make our worship service available to be heard later is truly a blessing, as I was able to listen again and appreciate, glean meaning and have gratitude for both the parable and our pastor's commentary.
So, despite the parable above being used erroneously eons ago as a tool to inflict judgement and/or dominance of some kind, what images do weddings and their reception conjure up for you? Obviously the excitement and exhilaration are contagious whether an attendee, parent of one of the couple, or the groom himself! I fortunately have been the groom twice, 5x the father of a participant and once a coerced dance partner of one of those choreographing-brides taking me out of my comfort-zone; so I've reached a high level of wedding-feast happiness.... True joy, however comes from the choice, that someone you helped expose to Godly ideals, is making and the potential JOY that this new community of two is moving toward.
And, undoubtedly I'm often stymied by the end of the Biblical passage above, where the king has the friend removed who didn't come to the feast in proper dress. Maybe this isn't exactly likening apple to apples, but I've often argued that: it doesn't matter what clothing a child shows up to Church in, as long as he/she gets there. And, perhaps the concept needs its own forum, but could it be that my latent effort to attend God's eternal wedding feast, will be for naught, without my having "put on every piece of God's armor so I'll be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil" (Ephesians 6:13ff)? ......keep thinking!
Your invitation is in both hardcopy and virtual formats, Blessings, Kevin (4 th' Deacons)