Proper 23 :: Isaiah 25: 1–9 / Psalm 106: 1–6, 19–23 / Philippians 4: 1–9 / Matthew 22: 1–14
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker
on Sunday, October 11, 2020.
“GOD’S INVITATION AND OUR
RESPONSE”
(Homily text: Matthew 22: 1–14)
Imagine that you’ve received an invitation to a
ball or a wonderful dinner. The invitation reads, “Men: Black Tie”. (I think
such invitations rarely, if ever, mention dress expectations for women….women
seem to have more choices in terms of dress for such occasions than men do.)
From the comment about the expectation that a black
tie will be worn, one could surmise that the event to which you’ve been invited
is a special event, one not to be missed. The evening promises to be an
extraordinary one.
Upon receiving this invitation, you have two
responses/choices to make: One has to do with responding to the invitation: You
must decide to either accept, ignore, or reject the invitation. The other
response – assuming you’ve decided to attend - has to do with getting your
formal, black tie, outfit together. (At this juncture, I can’t resist relating
an experience I had when I attended just such a function some time ago….I wore
clericals to the event, and one person who knows me pretty well, pointed out my
clerical collar and made a remark about my “black tie”, adding that, “There’s
one in every crowd who doesn’t get the message.” Of course, he was joking.)
The scenario I’ve just offered is, essentially, an
updated version of our Lord’s Parable of the Wedding Feast. (Weddings in the time of our Lord’s earthly
ministry were wonderful, unique and special affairs….wedding celebrations might
last the better part of an entire week, and they were – in what was an
otherwise difficult and trying time to be alive – probably one of the few
occasions for joy and celebration that life offered.)
What to do with the invitation to the wedding
feast? Our Lord tells us that those who were invited basically ignored the
invitation. They were, it seems, too preoccupied with their own lives and their
own pursuits to bother to respond.
In response, the host says that the wedding feast,
in order for it to be a proper feast, must have attendees, and lots of them. So
the host says that the servants should go out into the roads and the byways and
invite any and all they encounter.
What a radical move to make! Invite anyone the servants just happen to
meet, and not just the favored few who’d been invited in the first place?
Reminds one of God’s unlimited love, doesn’t it? (I suspect that is Jesus’
point, exactly.)
In the context of Matthew’s church’s life, perhaps
late in the first century, which may have been composed of both Jews and
Gentiles, this parable must have spoken clearly and loudly to them, for they
are the ones who’ve responded to the invitation to the feast. And, they – in
the case of the Gentiles – weren’t the ones who were originally invited. They
are latecomers to the feast, but they’ve been invited despite their racial,
ethnic or national background. (In the first century, such an idea – especially
to Jews – was a radical idea. I submit to you that – in some ways – it’s still
a radical idea.)
God issues you and me an invitation to come to the
feast. God issues such an invitation to every single person. But, just as the
parable makes clear, a response is necessary. One cannot enjoy the benefits of
coming to the feast without an RSVP.
Beyond our initial acceptance of the invitation to
come to the feast, we realize that God will invite us, again and again, to take
part in other aspects of being a part of the feast. Such invitations might take
the form of responding to God’s call to take up some sort of a ministry. The
invitations might entail changing one’s life trajectory or career in order to
respond to the invitation to go and serve. Or, the invitations might cause us
to see ways in which we can serve the Lord of the feast right where we are,
when we are. It is incumbent on us, then, to prepare to be properly attired and
fitted out for the ministry that God invites us to undertake.
Responding to the invitation begins the process of
being allowed into the hall where the celebration will take place. That’s our
choice to make, or to ignore. Ignoring the invitation doesn’t permit us to
enter in.
So, come Holy Spirit, open our eyes to see God’s
invitation, enable our wills to accept it, and empower us to come into the
feast, that we may enjoy its blessings and share those blessings with others.
AMEN.
