Matthew 22:1-14 - March 12, 2023

This is one of the more harsh and, perhaps, more illogical parables in the Gospel of Matthew. 

A king sends out invitations for the son’s wedding party. This initial invitation to the feast is met with rejection by those invited. That’s odd. No one rejects a king’s royal summons. This is the kind of event for which you make room in your calendar. Circle the date. Don’t forget. Be there at all costs. Weird. 

But there is a second invitation that sweetens the deal: Look! The dinner is set! The prime rib is ready for carving! It’s going to be delicious! Who wouldn’t want to come to this party? Hobnobbing with the king AND free food? But those who are invited are apparently unimpressed, coming up with mundane excuses. Again, this is a bit unusual, but it’s the kind of unusual we expect in a parable from Jesus. 

But then things go completely off the rails. We watch in horror as the king’s servants are seized, mistreated, and killed. How did the stakes suddenly get so high? And the weirdness and violence are just getting started. When the king hears about this, he retaliates! He goes to war against his own people, unleashing an army. Before we know it, the murderers are all murdered. The city, presumably the king’s own city, is a pile of burning ash. 

But, maybe the weirdest thing yet, in the midst of a whirlwind of war and violence, we learn that the party is still on! Invitations go out again, this time to commoners on the street corners of a (destroyed?) city. Apparently, while the soldiers were out doing their killing and burning, little sous chefs were keeping the food warm. 

What a bizarre parable. 

On the surface level, it’s pretty easy to interpret. Those who reject the king’s invitation and all the subsequent destruction is God’s judgment on those who rejected the new thing God was doing in Jesus. And the invitation to commoners on the streets points toward the surprising ways the invitation to God’s banquet is continually extended to those who were once considered outsiders. 

So, a new thing in Jesus; we like Jesus. We’re in! We’re good. 

The broad, open invitation to come to the banquet is easy and affirming. But before we decide that this parable is simply a ‘thumbs up’ to we who are on the right side, there’s a bit more to the parable. There is a final scene in Jesus’ story, and it is a doozy. 

There’s a guest who doesn’t have a wedding robe. And the king isn’t happy about it. But the king doesn’t just kick him out, no. He binds him up and throws him into “the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 

Again, this is bizarre. Of course the guy wasn’t dressed appropriately; he didn’t know he’d be going to a party! He was pulled off the street at the last minute. (Plus, maybe his wedding robe got burned up by the army, who did, after all, destroy his city.) 

What do we make of this? It’s hard to extract a “practical” lesson from this text. There are no nuggets of wisdom to be “applied” to a congregation. This is simply an unsettling parable of disobedience and divine retribution.

And it is also a warning against self-satisfaction. Sure, the doors are open to all, the invitation is for all. But once you’re in, there’s more. There are expectations. You can’t go along acting like you’re not part of the party. There’s more involved. 

All this is very un-Lutheran. More is required? Even for those of us who are saved by grace through faith apart from works of the law?!?! There’s more? What “more” is there beyond God’s invitation? What “more” is expected? What “more” is demanded?  

There are many ways to look at what this “more,” this robe, is. 

Appropriate clothing could be a metaphor for the need for appropriate behavior in the new, inclusive community. That what we as people of faith do matters. Our faith ought to make a difference in how we live our lives.  

It could be a warning against complacency and taking God’s invitation for granted. We aren’t to be Lay-z-boy Christians. 

The robe could show us that we don’t get to do, act, wear what we want at God’s banquet, but instead, we are to wear, act, do as God wants. 

All of those have their place and are lessons we need, but to go back and put the Lutheran spin on it - this is further invitation to party. The kingdom of heaven is a banquet, and it’s time to put on your party dress, slip on your dancing shoes, and get with the program. The music is playing, the drinks are flowing, the food is delicious, and everyone is there. Act like it’s a party. 

This wedding banquet - the church - is one big celebration of Jesus with God as the host. And all are invited, all are welcome. And as the church in the here and now, what we “wear” - meaning how we act - well, that says a lot about who is welcome at God’s party. 

We at St. Philip, I think we’re pretty good at welcoming. It’s part of who we are. And if you read the stories in the Generosity Storybook from the Forward Together Inspiration bags, you heard that theme over and over and over. We’ve got a good party going on, and people feel welcome and want to party with us. Our dance floor, though, is getting pretty full. 

The goals of our capital campaign are to be able to welcome more and to make it easier for all people to fully join the party - an accessible communion rail for everybody. Space and seats. Areas to gather for fellowship. Parking. Music. We want this party to keep going and growing. 

Because despite everything, despite our world, despite anxiety and stressors and uncertainty, the one thing that is certain? God’s banquet party is still going on. The king does not let a minor rebellion interfere with his love for the Son and his hospitality toward his subjects. 

God, right now, is inviting us to get ready to party. So, it’s time to do more than just show up to the banquet.

We have a chance to put on our party clothes now, showing the world who and whose we are. We put on love for others. We put on grace. We put on welcome, hospitality, celebration, generosity, invitation. Oh yes, we are dressed for the party. As others see it, we get to let them know they are invited to the party, too. 

And if you still aren’t sure what to wear, if you wonder where your wedding robe is, if you feel like your best clothes are lost in a closet somewhere, just look to your baptism. Look to what Jesus has given you. Look at the gift of being clothed with Christ’s righteousness. God has given us what we need to live as invitees to the banquet. God feeds us with a foretaste of the feast to come in bread and wine. The Spirit plays party music in the background wherever we go. God wants you there. 

We are invited. And so is everyone else. So let’s dress like it, let’s act like it, and let’s get ready to party.