The Kingdom of Heaven is like a big ole wedding feast, and we’re all invited, and yet on being invited we have to remember to wear our best selves, our baptismal outfits, the washed-clean attitude that Christ affords us.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a God who forgives even when we sin against him so much we melt down all that is precious in our lives and set up an idol to another god.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man held in prison who is able to write a letter about joy to those to whom he ministers even while he is suffering and he knows they might be, too.
Because in this faith journey God constantly calls us into relationship with him and we are called into a feast. This Christianity stuff is joyful. In fact, the meaning of Eucharist is “Thanksgiving.” We are a people marked by joy, with dancing in our hearts. But we can never entirely avoid suffering. In fact, for the people who first heard Matthew’s gospel, and who had seen the Temple overthrown, who had seen destruction, life looked externally like anything but a sumptuous wedding feast.
We too live in a time that can sometimes look less than hopeful.
Yesterday a Facebook friend quipped “Ten years ago we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Today we have no jobs, no hope and no cash.”
But is that true? I think what Paul is trying to say here is that we Christians always have hope. You might even say that we thrive on adverse times, when the going gets tough, because that’s when we need each other. That’s when we need to remember that we are forgiven, and we remember that Jesus has clothed us in his forgiving love in baptism. That’s when we remember those things that are truly true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.
Paul writes this from prison, to his beloved community, not knowing when he will see them again, and not knowing what they will have each been through before they are reunited.
And those wandering Israelites, scared, bored and just needing something concrete to follow, not trusting God’s time, they were going through a pretty tough transition themselves when they stumbled upon the fabulous idea of melting down all their jewelry and putting it into a calf. You know there was some wife or daughter that said, what are you doing with my favorite earrings?
But Moses pleaded and God forgave, because forgiveness is that garment we are clothed with at baptism, and an enduring quality of the Most High. [1]So what does this mean for us, here and now? It means that we may think we are in that reality I mentioned, the one with no jobs, no hope and no cash, but we are actually in a big wedding feast. This is not to say those who are speaking out about the state of our country do not have a valid point, in fact, I think that whether you are Occupying Wall Street or shaking your head at those hippy kids, you can claim your Christian joy from just right where you stand. Because one thing about weddings, is despite all of the not so lovely family dynamics they sometimes bring out, they also remind us to be joyful.
[2] When we traveled to Canada the other week, I was struck by the Canadian combination of stoicism and cheerfulness. Perhaps this stubborn effervescence is what Paul is talking about here. And that means that in responding to God’s graceful invitation, we cannot help but dress the part. Sure, we sometimes get a little soot on our nice white baptismal robes, sometimes we still want to make God something more concrete (or metal) to follow and worship, but by and large we know that we are at God’s party and we had better act accordingly.
As one commentator said, God lets everyone in (including me!) but “the only credential is a transformed life.”
[3]Due to that transformed life, we cannot help but be clothed in Christ, or as it says in Galatians, “put on the Lord Jesus in Christ,”
[4] and that clothing will help us Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice!
[1] Rob Neville’s idea, from a Facebook post.
[2] Rob Neville’s idea, from a Facebook post.
[3] Richard Spalding, “Pastoral Perspective: Matthew 22:1-14,” FOTW Year A, Vol. 4.
[4] Andrew Purves, “Theological Perspective: Matthew 22:1-14,” FOTW Year A, Vol. 4, somewhat paraphrased.
