Does Jesus truly teach us that the kingdom of God is like the king here who prepares a wedding banquet for his son, invites "worthy" people to his party and ends up killing everyone who refuses the invitation and burns their city?
Yes, those invited seized, mistreated and killed the king's slaves. Yet it is odd to hear about the king's reaction retaliatory violence comes from Jesus the Jesus in my heart. Jesus taught that "All who live by the sword will die by the sword."?
Also, the king here acts directly from human authority, which is not God's default way of wielding power as I see affirmed in scripture. The king commands a guest be bound hand and foot and thrown into outer darkness "where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." because the guest is not wearing the right clothes to the banquet. Do I deny an outer darkness exists because I am uncomfortable with the outer darkness? No.
Given this should I worry about cosmic or kingdom of heaven consequences if I am not properly dressed for this afternoon's reception after Pastor Ray's installation?
Possibly.
Today I see this as a cautionary parable regarding Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of heaven. After all, he tells this parable at the time to those who reject his overall teaching and misunderstand God's grace in favor of life as it is normally lived and judged. In other words Jesus was telling this to people like me, to people like us.
Reading the parable again there are hard-to-focus-on details due to my understanding of how this world and daily life works. However, let me try to focus on them.
I recognize we read parables with expectations. When Jesus teaches us about the kingdom of heaven we look for explanations or clues to make his teaching of the kingdom fit with our comprehension. As I laid out at the beginning, this parable challenges my understanding of the kingdom of heaven and God. So I am faced with the parable as an invitation to the kingdom of God and I'm faced with the same decision as those first invitees. Can I wholeheartedly accept a good news invitation to the kingdom of heaven that comes from God's grace?
To do so might receive a foretaste of the kingdom of heaven here and now. I have, at times, known that foretaste. If not, which is by far easier thing to do and often my normal state, I ignore and reject the invitation and must rely on God's help to not resort to seizing, mistreating or killing the invitation's messengers. Why would I not accept the good news? A sense of identity, fear, shame and inadequacy are all contributing factors
Ignoring or rejecting this invitation, however innocently or forcefully, in daily life may be par for the course in the world. This is a parable that explores the pursuit of different choices which lead to different consequences regarding the kingdom of heaven. Refusing the invitation leads to death. Whether I understand what that death means in this parable, it is clear that accepting God's invitation is a better spiritual choice.
After the initial guests are dealt with, spreading inviting both "the good and the bad" is familiar Jesus territory and reinforces their message. In many other parables like the Wheat and Weeds. we are admonished from judging those who might, by some, be called "bad" or "losers". Attempts at identifying and / or snubbing "bad" or "evil" is not something that God requires.
My understanding of this parable this morning is that Jesus places importance on not ignoring God's invitation, whether we are "good" or "bad". Attending the banquet and being transformed by that attendance is the right choice. Yet we may not choose to for any number of reasons. Perhaps we are lost, or distracted by our fields of interest, or our business, or our sense of wanting to be worthy of the kingdom and coming up short.
Which leads us back to the man without the proper wedding garment. Jesus says the king commands his servants "So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find." Pastor Ray noted that historically wedding garments were supplied to the guests which makes sense here. It is unlikely that the guests were already wearing wedding clothes on the street nor would they all have access to the clothes to match what the event would demand.
So, for whatever reason, this man sticks out. Something that happened with everyone else did not happen with him. The king does not immediately order him to be bound and thrown out. His response seems to trigger the king's reaction when asked "How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?" Suppose he had answered with, "I was invited along with everyone else." or "Haven't a clue, where do I get them?" rather than simply being speechless. I wonder if the king would then have understood this guest recognized the invitation for what it was and was now ready to be part of the wedding.
Finally the concluding "Many are called but few are chosen" continues to turn over in my heart. Enigmatic words on closer examination. The statement is almost like a koan, designed to move us from our reason to a deeper faith. Does the king or God choose or judge who gets to heaven? If so, is it an arbitrary decision or is there a criteria? How does this fit in with God's grace? Is being a guest at the wedding mean being part of the kingdom of heaven? If this is so, the parable suggests that many were called and many were chosen. This may indicate the kingdom of heaven does not fit in neatly with our understanding that is rooted in the world.
Ultimately, are these questions and meditations possible ways of accepting God's invitation to the kingdom of heaven or are they examples of rejecting the good news?
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Only By Grace... "But you have to do..."
Only by Grace... "But you must believe..."
Only by Grace... "But you must stop..."
Only by Grace... "But you cannot be..."
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Only by Grace.
Grace is scandalous to paradigms and rubrics of worthiness, isn't it?
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