Trouble at the Banquet

If they are in the US, they might be gathering in relative safety, but if they are in many other places around the world, the meal might be held with great caution, not calling attention to itself or any of the participants.

Who knows? Persecution might break out at any moment.

In Spain, a synagogue will not likely have any distinctive marking on the building, and may have concrete barriers strategically placed at the street level outside.

Whenever they gather, there are security people posted outside, watching for trouble.

In Argentina, the synagogue we visited was in the middle of a completely walled compound.

And still, when the Seder is being held, a key word is joy!

The leader says: With love, you have given us, O Lord, festivals for joy, this Passover feast, a feast of freedom, a holy gathering....

The joy is key, because the people are participating in the saving action of God in the Exodus.

But it is not an unfettered joy, not a complete joy, nor an easy joy.

In the text of the Seder meal the leader says:

A full cup is a symbol of complete joy.

Though we celebrate the triumph of God's purpose, our happiness is not complete so long as others are killed for its sake.

Therefore, we diminish the wine in our cups as we recall the plagues visited upon the Egyptians, to give expression of our sorrow over the losses which each plague exacted.

And each person removes a bit of wine from his/her glass as each of the 10 plagues is named.

Jesus tells a story in today's Gospel about a banquet where not everything is joyful.

It was a wedding banquet where everything should have been in the most festive mood.

The invited guests refused to come, and mistreated the messengers.

In a rage the king has them killed and their city destroyed.

Others are brought to the banquet in their place.

And then there is another episode tacked on to this already distressing narrative:

One of those who was drafted to come to the feast is not properly attired; he is summarily kicked out.

It just does not seem to be fair, and it ought to make all the rest even more nervous.

Each person may be thinking, “When will I be doing something that will cause me to be thrown out also?”

Is there Good News in this story somewhere?

Perhaps the way to get at it is to ask where we see the Lord Jesus in these stories.

His place is that of the servant of the King, the one who presents the invitations, who accepts the abuse, and who again gives the invitation to whomever will receive it.

That is a difficult role to fill; we could never pull it off, but Jesus does.

He not only gives an invitation once to us, but even after we treat him badly, he offers it again.

That is good news for us, hard-headed and hard-hearted persons!

One only needs to look around at empty pews and know that some who once received an invitation are refusing to act on it.

So, it is time for us as fellow servants with Jesus to invite still more to the banquet.

Scoffers need not deter us; the invitation is not ours but belongs to the King.

Rejection is a worry but not our biggest worry, because we're sent with the job of inviting.

As has been often noted, we're in sales, not management!

This is the time before any final condemnation, an end of the story that we do not want to see for ourselves or others.

So it is pressed upon us the necessity of hearing and offering the invitation, as the old verse was phrased “ere the day of grace be ended,” for ourselves or for others.

We notice that the second bunch invited is a motley crew.

Everyone, the likely and the unlikely, are invited in this second group.

Whoever was missed in the first round of invitations gets one this time.

Time and again over the years when I talk with someone who has never been in this assembly before, I hear something along the line of “...but I wouldn't know what to do or what to say.”

I assure them that when they show up at this party, we'll put them beside someone who can help them navigate the bulletin, and they can learn our customs after a bit, and that God can be praised even while we are working out the details.

After all, the word “liturgy” means “the work of God's people.”

Not knowing what to do or say is not a reason to stay away.

So here we all are, the ones invited in this second round; young and old, with all sorts of economic situations, with the complete range of joys and sorrows.

We are called to this party whether or not we can define “realized eschatology” or recognize a good “alternatim-praxis” when we experience it or if we are just beginning to learn “Jesus loves me; this I know....”

The king makes all outsiders insiders; he wants us at his party.

The only thing that can put us out is our own refusal to party.

The only one who ends up outside is the insider who refused to put on a wedding garment for the banquet.

Paul [2 Corinthians 5] talks about us becoming further clothed by means of the Spirit.

Others have spoken of the wedding garment being “soul”, that is, ourselves in connection with God.

[Additional note: “body” is ourselves in connection with each other, how we are able to communicate with one another.]

Perhaps Jesus is working with similar ideas when he gives us the final portion of our parable today, about throwing out from the king's party the one without a wedding garment.

When that one is questioned, he is speechless. Why?

Because there is no good reason for him to reject full participation in the invitation, but there are lots of bad reason for doing so.

If he had argued with the king, presented his objections, asked his questions, expressed his disappointments or misunderstandings...these things the king can work with and overcome.

But he is silent, and that silence becomes his hell.

“Bind him and throw him out,” commands the king.

“Judgment falls like a thundering gavel upon our rejection of the invitation,” says William Willimon.

Hell is where we are when we will not accept the fact that Jesus accepts us, when we would rather stand there silently, clutching the rags of our own righteousness, depending on our own goodness, refusing the garment of the promise of Jesus.

The gospel rejected is still a powerful word, Edgar Krenz notes.

It unmasks idolatries, illuminates the dark corners of our hearts, and lays bare our thoughts.

It calls us to action and judges us when we do not respond.

Remember how Paul had to call even Peter to account [Galatians 2:14] when he did not walk in the truth of the Gospel.

And even that can point to good news for us.

If even the chief apostle Peter is at several points thrown out because of his silence or rejection of what is truly good news, but hears the invitation again and responds, the Lord of the banquet is overjoyed.

The kingdom of heaven is a great, glorious, gracious banquet-party; hell is for the silent and seriously self-righteous.

All is ready, Jesus says, so come to the party that begins now and continues through eternity.

He says that it just wouldn't be right without us taking part and extending the invitation to the rest, also. Join we now in celebration.... [LBW#204] Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.