19th Sunday after Pentecost
October 13, 2020

Outrageous Grace
St. Matthew 22:1-14

The Jewish Talmud, a rabbinic commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures, states:  “In the world to come each of us will be called to account for all the good things God put on earth which we refused to enjoy.”

Paul in his letter to the Philippines states:  “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say rejoice.” 

Yet ‘rejoicing’ does not seem to be the theme of today’s Gospel reading.

Jesus tells an outrageous story full of violence and grace.  It is a difficult text and oft misconstrued without looking at the context.  Deep irony and a bit of sarcasm are sprinkled throughout the parable.  Irony is stating one thing but meaning the opposite and by contrast making a point.  Its cousin, sarcasm, is the use of irony to mock.

This parable is spoken during Holy Week – Jesus has cleansed the Temple just the day before and he comes back teaching to the people in parables. 

So there is a lot of tension and negative karma in the air.  The religious leaders are angry at Jesus – out to get him.  So Jesus turns up the heat.

Matthew and the community to which his Gospel is addressed are Jewish people – the people of God steeped in the stories and traditions of First Century Judaism.

Matthew is dealing with that early Church conflict of just how to be Jewish and a follower Jesus.  So to argue with and convince the religious leaders Matthew puts Jesus right in the line of the prophets.  Christ uses the familiar metaphor of the wedding banquet to foreshadow his own passion and crucifixion. 

Matthew writes at a time of great upheaval for God’s people and the fledgling church.  In 70 CE Jerusalem is destroyed along with the Temple.

The destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem is an outrage to both Jews and those who followed Jesus.  Why? 

Because now that Jerusalem and the Temple are gone – where does that leave the identity of God’s people – especially the identity of the Jewish followers of Rabbi Jesus? 

Matthew hears this parable and applies it to his time and place.  God’s people are spurning God’s grace – determining who is in and who is out – who can share in the banquet and who cannot.  What does one do with God’s ever expanding grace in Jesus Christ?

Despite the embellished violence in this story it ultimately leads to inviting everyone to the banquet to include - the good and the bad!

What the Gospel this morning preaches is the ultimate desire of God to have everyone at the banquet.  There is a place at the table for everyone. 

Yet, there will be those who spurn the invitation – those who stay outside the wedding feast because they cannot stand God’s grace to ‘those kinds of people’. 

And there are those who feel that they themselves our beyond God’s gracious reach.  Yet, the unworthy are the very ones that the Lord seeks!

All are invited to rejoice in the Lord and enjoy God’s grace at the banquet.  But the religious leaders have spurned the invitation and judged others unfit for the king’s feast.  Some even mock and take the invitation lightly.

Outrages mercy is meant to lead to outrageous hospitality…the kind of hospitality that Jesus practiced. 

Jesus comes among God’s people and fills the banquet hall with both the good and bad – and this riles the religious elite – the charter members of the Temple – who resisted and said:  “We do not welcome those kinds of people!”

There is a somewhat heated discussion of Holy Communion going on in the ELCA – what does it take to be eligible to come to the table.  For years baptism has been a pre-requisite.  Not baptized – not allowed at the table!

Lutheran pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber, was in town a few years ago meeting with clergy.  She is pastor of a rather unique Lutheran congregation – All Sinners and All Saints in Colorado. 

Her congregation attracts people who have all too often been marginalized by the church- tattooed, gays, lesbians, businessmen who have had a bad experience in other churches, women who have had no voice in other churches.

When asked about the heated discussion going on regarding sharing at the Communion table she said: 

“You know you are truly sharing the Sacrament when the wrong kinds of people come to the table.” 

What she means is that there are no perquisites to God’s grace.  We are to continue to practice the hospitality that Jesus practiced where all were invited to the table.  Jesus did not print in the Sabbath bulletin – only those who believe what we believe are allowed at the table.  The kind of table fellowship Jesus practiced broke down every barrier to grace. 

Then what do we do with the robe thing – what is Matthew saying and how does that preach today?

Thomas Long, professor of preaching at Emory University, states in his commentary on Matthew:

The person without the wedding garment is rather like the person who attends church simply for show.  “What is needed is not presence at the punch bowl, but a wedding garment; what is required is doing God’s will.”

Early on Matthew records these words of Jesus:  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 7:21)

Long points out that the saying, ‘Many are called, but few are chosen,” is not to be taken literally.  Rather is it a traditional Jewish saying and in the context of this parable probably means:  ‘God wants everybody at the party, but not everybody wants to come or knows how to behave when they get there.’

Outrageous grace leads to outrageous service.  This story shouts about our behavior as God’s people.  It is one thing to say, ‘Yes, God, I am here’ but quite another to show up, to put our money and our daily living and our lives in the same place as our mouths.” [page 247]

In other words matching our lives with the words we speak on Sunday mornings.

God’s grace is outrageous and it comes to transform lives. 

Those who resist transformation are those who have refused to put on the robe and enter into the joy of God’s mercy. 

When we enter the banquet hall we abandon our old life and embrace the new life in Christ.

God’s grace shall incite us; God’s love shall unite us

to work for God’s kingdom and answer God’s call.  Amen