I want to talk about a parable of Jesus
at the end of the Gospel of Matthew for
a couple reasons one is it's a parable
that bugs people it's shocking and
strange disturbing and I found over the
years that people complain a lot about
it it's the second reason is it'll help
us to understand how to approach the
Bible because people just get hung up a
lot on the Bible and I think they they
don't know how to enter into these
stories and they get stuck so I want to
talk about this from chapter 22 of
Matthew it's the famous parable of the
king who gives a wedding banquet for his
son so you know the details the king is
having this great banquet so he sends
out messages to invite people and they
say no I can't come I got this I got
that so then a second time he sends
messengers out and this time not only
don't they come but they kill the
messengers the response of the king then
is overwhelming he sends his troops and
they kill those murderers and they burn
down their City at which point the King
says now invite anyone go to the you
know hedgerows and fight anybody so in
they come and the King joins the party
and sees a man there without a wedding
garment and he any throws them out into
the darkness where there's wailing and
gnashing of teeth
now this parable is odd and a lot of
people read it and say what are we
supposed to conclude here that God is a
sort of psychotic tyrant who is falling
in and out of emotional snits who over
reacts if I feel a little party they say
no when he burns down their city and
kills them doesn't this give support to
Richard Dawkins claim that God is an
ogre that God is a Unbearable of maniac
well here's my first observation about
this maybe with people like Dawkins in
mind go back to Flannery O'Connor the
greatest Catholic fiction writer of the
last century in my judgment she said in
a land of the Deaf we have to shout now
remember her stories were like this her
stories were violent and
full of weird over-the-top characters
her own word was McCobb my stories are
McCobb a lot of devout Catholics who
were told Oh Flannery O'Connor is a
great Catholic writer they read her
stories and they're their shot I've had
Catholics come to me and say that they
just they put the book down they
couldn't handle it it's a bit like the
reaction to this story but keep in mind
her line in a land of a deaf you have to
shout
she felt that in our hyper secularized
society a lot of people have grown deaf
to spiritual themes they need to be
awakened they need to be shaken by the
shoulders how do you do it well by
telling it over the top exaggerated tall
tale that's meant to get your attention
that's what this is like here's what we
shouldn't do and please everyone as you
approach the Bible remember this we
shouldn't read this in a straightforward
literal way as it was an allegory so
just as the king behaves in this story
that's how God behaves so God falls into
emotional snits God falls into terrible
rages God goes on these murderous
rampages no it's a story it's a story
that's meant to wake us up to certain
spiritual realities and it does it
through exaggeration read a lot of the
great storytellers over the centuries
where they look at the work of the great
artist how often they use exaggeration
to make a point okay with that in mind
let's look at the details of the story
so a king is giving a wedding banquet
for his son in Jesus time it would be
impossible to imagine a more high-level
invitation to receive then that from a
king giving a wedding banquet for his
own son to get some sense of this the
President of the United States has
personally invited you to the wedding of
his daughter or his son at the White
House and and the invitation has come
personally to you from the president or
better better a
special courier from the White House has
arrived at your home barring a personal
invitation from the president to come to
the White House for the wedding now what
would you say chances are you would not
say oh let me check my calendar or oh
let me think about it or oh you know
what mr. president I'd love to come but
I'm gonna go see a movie of my buddies
that night see the first comic
exaggeration in this story is the
reaction of the people that you get this
invitation and you'd say oh I got to go
to my farm oh I'm busy with something
you never say that here's the highest
figure in the society inviting you to
the highest level social event with the
best most interesting people at the best
and most interesting place see that's
the point what you don't say to that
person is I'm busy now
the next step so the king sends another
round of invitations this time sent by
these emissaries and this time the
people not only refuse the invitation
they kill the courier so now put in our
situation you've refused the first
invitation from the president so now a
second one comes delivered by personal
courier and you get it and you kill him
you kill the courier you see how how
weird that is that responsibly of the
people is just impossibly off which is
why the king then responds in this high
dudgeon in this high rage and he kills
those murderers and burns down their
City okay don't literal eyes this but
now see it as a reflection on the
history of Israel God not just the
president not just an earthly King God
the king of kings the king of the whole
universe has personally invited Israel
personally invited Israel into a
intimate communion with him now stay
with the wedding imagery in the New
Testament who's the son but Jesus
himself who
come as the bridegroom he wants to marry
the world he wants to marry us the
father has sent an invitation to come to
the wedding banquet of his own son you
are going to be included now in the
divine life that's the invitation you've
received what do you do
Oh busy oh yes nice to do up to board
with that at the limit I kill the person
who's bearing the message that's of
course Israel killing the prophets that
were sent to that's the first thing
we're meant to see here is any idea what
you're doing
when you refuse the divine invitation
what you're saying no to the story is
meant to grab you by the shoulders and
shake you into an awareness don't you
get it what you're being invited into so
how do you read the Kings anger well in
some ways is proportionate to this weird
non-responsive he gets but she don't
literal eyes it as though God falls in
and out of emotional states God doesn't
have emotions the way we do as though
God is sometimes favorable other times
not favorable God is love we hear from
Saint John and God is eternal unchanging
that's all God is is love so what's his
anger his anger is his desire it's a
passion but that has a kind of emotional
overtone his profound desire to set
things right
that's God's anger don't emotionalize it
or turn got into a dysfunctional father
that's literal izing this language it's
God's passion to set things right and
that's God's anger I would say up and
down the Bible that's the right way to
read it okay so go back to the parable
they've refused they killed the
messengers the King has burned down
their city and now he sends out the
general invitation to everybody to the
highways and byways to all the hedgerows
invite anyone who can come what's that
but God's universal offer of grace so
this is the New Testament speaking out
but God invites Israel those are
specially chosen people but now God
invites the whole world to the wedding
banquet of his son read Paul's letters
under that
Paul going out to the whole world to say
you're invited to the wedding banquet of
the Sun you're invited to become a bride
of Christ the bridegroom okay so in they
come and they come these are people now
that have responded to the invitation
maybe I mean you've heard the divine
call in a million ways through sermons
through the Bible through the church
through its sacraments through the
Saints whatever you've heard this call
and you responded good you've come to
the banquet then the last little weird
turn in the story is the King comes to
this banquet filled with the celebrant
and he sees this man who's there but
doesn't have a wedding garment and of
course that was part of the custom of
time when you invited you wore the
proper garment to the wedding if you
didn't it was insulting to the person
that invited you okay so the King sees
him there and he's he's so angry that he
binds him hand and foot and throws him
out into the darkness and again we're
tempted to say well it's in this a
little over the top isn't the king just
a little kooky here
no what's the wedding garment think now
of the general invitation which is the
offer of grace right gratia prima grace
first we respond to that grace we say
yes I accept that invitation I will
enter your house right to the greatness
of your love the psalmist says I have
access to your house it's beautiful
wine it means the temple there but
through the greatness of your love your
grace I have access to your house good
I've accepted the invitation but now but
now act like someone worthy of this
house clothe yourself now in love and
peace and non-violence and compassion
and charity close your self in such a
way that you can move worthily about
this house if the King comes and finds
you you responded but you've not changed
your life you've not been converted you
haven't done anything to conform
yourself to God then you're not worthy
to move around in that house of the
saints
that's the point not God falling into a
snit
but God calling us now to respond fully
to His grace that's the right way it
seems to me to read this parable which
is shocking it is over-the-top it's
exaggerated its purpose is to wake us up
to these very profound spiritual truths