21^st November 2014

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 12 October 2014

Lessons - Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 19:6-9; Matthew 22:1-14

'But they made light of the invitation.' (Matthew 22:5 (NRSV)

Matthew is unimpressed by people who are casual about Jesus' invitation to
participate in the festivities of 'Kingdom of Heaven' (vv 3-5,11,12). He is
also unimpressed by those who are hostile to the invitation (vv 6,7).
Writing after the siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple (AD70),
he includes details that detract from what is most likely the original form
of Jesus' parable in Luke 14:16-24. Certainly, many were hostile to
followers of Christ. But this parable is about those who 'make light' of the
Gospel.

Matthew also added a section that is consistent with the original. One part
is similar to Luke (vv 1-10); the other is unique to him (vv 11-14). They
refer to different situations but the same problem. In the first, those
invited to the marriage feast casually reject the invitation; in the second,
it is casually accepted.

In both cases, the king's generous invitation to 'the bad and the good'
(v10) is taken for granted. The privilege of being called to share in the
festivities of grace is treated lightly.

Even those who seem to be friends (v12) may be enemies of grace! In Matthew,
when Jesus calls someone 'friend' they are in big trouble. It is a sign that
they have seriously misunderstood him. When Judas brings soldiers to arrest
him, Jesus says, 'Friend, why are you here?' (26:50) In the Parable of the
Labourers in the Vineyard, the owner says to a disgruntled worker, 'Friend,
I am doing you no wrong.' (20:13)

There is no room for complacency in Jesus' company. It is the highest
privilege to be invited to the festivities of the Kingdom, not a matter to
be made light of. What has come into the world in Jesus is a completely new
reality which calls us to a completely new way of thinking, being and
living.
We cannot simply carry on as if nothing significant has happened. The
gracious hospitality of God - embodied in Jesus' life, death and
resurrection - is to be accepted with joy and gratitude.

It is a grave matter to 'make light of the invitation'. The complacent will
be judged harshly. Whether they have ignored the invitation (and simply got
on with their daily business) or accepted the invitation (and treated it as
a right), they are 'unworthy' (v8) of the invitation.

Why are these good citizens said to be unworthy?

It is because they 'thumb their noses' at God's free and undeserved grace
and refuse to join the festivities. They are unworthy, not because they are
'bad'
people, but because they make light of the magnificence of grace in their
own lives. This is underlined in the parable which says that the invitation
is issued to the 'bad and the good' (v10). Thus, the priority of grace is
emphasised and 'unworthiness' is ascribed to good people who are too busy to
attend the festival of grace. Thus our usual ways of thinking are turned
upside down!

It is easy for us to take things for granted. Christianity in the West has
been around for so long, and become so familiar, that we are likely to treat
it with off-handed contempt rather than with the festive spirit suitable for
a marriage feast that celebrates the love of God (King) in Christ (Son). It
is natural to be pre-occupied with our own affairs or 'make light' of the
high 'privilege' that we have been called to share in the Church.

No wonder the church-man in the parable is 'speechless' at being thrown out!

He is not a bad chap. Unlike guests who made excuses, he accepted the
invitation! But instead of thinking of himself as 'privileged' to share in
the festivities of the kingdom, he is there on his terms. He has not
realised that the banquet (of the Son) to which he has been invited (by the
king) is a completely new way of being that is to be lived out for the whole
of life. He is typical of those who are initially delighted to be called
into family of Christ but do not choose to stay the course (v14).

It is a sad fact that, for all sorts of reasons, people refuse the
invitation to the banquet of grace. Some are apathetic, some are complacent.
In an age like ours, where people are busy with their concerns and nearly
everything is 'made light of', we should not be surprised by these
reactions. We are apt to be dismissive of religious and moral truth-claims
and take a laid back attitude to life. This can be helpful in getting us to
'chill out' and enjoy life's pleasures. But in the absence of faith in God,
an easy-going approach is destructive. It means that nothing matters - not
even the festival of grace!

This flippant attitude affects how many people treat brothers and sisters in
Christ who are refugees, migrants, aborigines, unborn, frail, poor, homeless
and physically or mentally disabled. It shows up in how lightly the
God-given and Christ-endorsed splendour of marriage is treated.

It shows up also in the Church. The chap who was kicked out had become a
member! Like him, we are apt to treat lightly the magnificence of God's
grace and to be preoccupied with our own busyness and good works and ignore
the spirit of joy and thanksgiving like that which is on display at
weddings.

We may even treat lightly our participation in the Lord's Supper. This
Gospel reading was often used in reformed worship to prepare members to
celebrate the Sacrament of Grace:

'The Holy Sacrament being so divine and comfortable a thing to them that
receive it worthily, so dangerous to them that will presume to receive it
unworthily; consider the dignity of that holy Mystery and the great peril of
the unworthy receiving thereof. Search and examine your conscience, that you
may come holy and clean to such a heavenly Feast in the marriage garment
required by God in Holy Scripture, and be received as worthy partakers of
that Holy Table.'

To be accepted by God as 'worthy partakers' of the Lord's Supper and
participate in the Body of Christ is to be stripped of our apathy,
complacency and re-clothed by grace.

'The parable teaches that none, not even those who hear and respond to the
gospel, can assume that the privilege and joys of the great marriage feast
are a right or a natural possession.' (W Clarnette, Take & Read: The Year of
Matthew, p61.) It makes clear that all of us tend to shield ourselves from
grace.

Alas, the cost of 'making light of the invitation' is not a thing to be made
light of! We exclude ourselves from a privileged life in the company of the
One who embodied God's freely given and unmerited love and 'called' all
humanity to worship and serve God in a spirit worthy of a marriage feast.

If (as many of us think) the judgment on those who made light of the
invitation seems harsh (v13), consider that it follows an invitation to
attend the most royal of royal weddings.

The flip-side of this dire warning is the Good News! In spite of apathy and
complacency that is hostile to God's grace, 'the wedding hall was filled
with guests' (v10). Many among the 'bad and good' have accepted the
invitation to the festivities of God's free, unmerited, generous and
hospitable love as it has been revealed and embodied in the life, death and
resurrection of his 'Son'.

How, then, can we take God for granted? How can we resist the 'call' to join
the festivities of the Kingdom of God and enjoy them now in the community of
grace as a foretaste of the banquet that awaits humanity and the whole
creation!
_________________________________

Rev Dr Max Champion is Minister in St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley,
Victoria, Australia.

Dr Champion is a member of the Council of the Assembly of Confessing
Congregations within the UCA.