Dear friends,
I pray this message finds you well. You are loved. So loved. I pray that the peace of Christ would surround and fill you this day, providing comfort and assurance in the midst of life’s challenges.
Today’s worship service in its entirety may be viewed here:
If you’d prefer to listen to only the gospel reading and sermon, you may do so here:
The scripture readings today are as follows:
Isaiah 25:1-9
O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you, I will praise your name;
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of aliens is a city no more,
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.
When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
5 the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless was stilled.
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surelygoodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.
Philippians 4:1-9
1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion,help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, beloved,whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think aboutthese things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Matthew 22:1-14
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Beloved of God, grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus.
In her book on the parables of Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine writes this about our parable for today: The parable of the Wedding Banquet is disturbing in its violence. It ends with dead slaves, a burned city, dinner guests who are compelled to attend the party, and an expelled guest doomed to torture because he lacked the right outfit. That any of this speaks to what the “kingdom of heaven” is like should come as a surprise. If the parable is about salvation, then it is about a type of salvation in which free will is obviated. If the parable is about the grace of the divine, then it is a grace that burns an entire city because of the sins of a few of its citizens. If the parable is about the messianic banquet, then it is a banquet that nobody eats. If the lord or king in the parable is God, then we should wonder if this is the type of God we want to worship. The parable should disturb. If we hear it and are not disturbed, there is something seriously amiss with our moral compass. It would be better if we perhaps started by seeing the parable not as about heaven or hell or final judgment, but about kings, politics, violence, and the absence of justice. If we do, we might be getting closer to Jesus.1
Jesus knew something about kings, politics, violence, and the absence of justice. In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus, King Herod is front and center…and frightened.
Remember how he asks the wise men to search for the child and when they have found the baby, to bring him word so that he, too, can worship the newborn king?
Remember how threatened he is by the birth of the promised Messiah?
Remember how he kills all the children in and around Bethlehem who are two years old or younger, trying to murder the baby Jesus?
Remember how an angel appears to Joseph in a dream, warning him about Herod, and telling him to take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt?
Remember how Jesus, as a newborn child, becomes a refugee, along with his parents?
From the very beginning, Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, is in conflict with kings who act out of personal insecurity rather than seeking the welfare of their people. From the very beginning, Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, is in direct opposition to earthly kings who wield their power for personal gain and will do anything to hold onto that power.
Years later, Jesus is telling this parable in the face of leaders who are using their privilege—their complicated ties with Rome—to oppress their fellow citizens. He has just entered into Jerusalem in a royal procession—riding on a donkey as the crowds shout Hosanna, save us. This procession, scholars suggest, is a dangerous political act.2 And it sets off the events of a week that leads to Jesus being put on trial before first the high priest, Caiphas, and then the governor, Pontius Pilate. Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” But Jesus gave him no answer, not even to a single charge…And Pilate, seeing that he could do nothing, washed his hands of Jesus’ blood and handed him over to be crucified.
Now, listen again to the end of this disturbing parable: When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will we weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
While there is not widespread agreement about what the end of this parable is getting at, I’m compelled by the argument that the man not wearing a wedding robe is Jesus. Reading this scene alongside Jesus’ trial, the parallels are remarkable.
How did you get in here without a wedding robe?
Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?
He was speechless.
Jesus gave him no answer, not even to a single charge.
Throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.
Jesus is out of place at the royal wedding banquet of a king who demands loyalty, who counters objections with violence, who might at first appear gracious but offers nothing without strings attached.
Jesus is out of place in a culture where one has to dress the part in order to be welcomed and even then might never be fully included and affirmed.
Jesus is out of place in the world he came to save…and when we follow him, working for justice, stilling the song of the ruthless, providing refuge for the poor and the needy in their distress, we may find ourselves in direct opposition to the powers of this world that rebel against God.
This month, four of our young people will make public affirmation of their baptism. As I will soon ask them, I ask you today:
Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God?
Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God?
Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?
If so, answer: I renounce them.
We renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God.
We worship the love of God incarnate, that newborn baby who survived to save us.
We worship the one who promises to wipe away the tears from all faces. Not just a few. Not just the ones deemed worthy. All faces.
We walk through the valley of the shadow of death with our shepherd at our side. We shall be forever in God’s heart.
We rejoice in the Lord. We are gentle, because the Lord is near. The peace of God guards our hearts and minds even now.
The God of peace is with us.
Jesus, the prince of peace, is in our midst.
Hosanna. Save us.
Amen.
1 https://www.google.com/books
2 As noted in the Lutheran Study Bible.
again WONDERFUL
Thank you!