Reverend Nancy Gill’s Sermon 10/15/23
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 23 – Year A – Track 2
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Claremore
Is. 25:1-9 & Ps. 23 / Phil. 4:1-9 / Mt. 22:1-14
The Rev. Nancy Gill
“The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king.” (Mt. 22:2) This king is generous; he prepared a huge banquet for all the guests at his son’s wedding. This banquet involved a lavish feast for which only the best foods were prepared. The guests would be full and pampered. The only problem was that the people for whom this banquet had been planned, those on the prestigious guest list, chose not to come. Furthermore, they mistreated those who were sent to bring them to the table. So, rightfully indignant, but still generous, the king enacts judgement on those who had harmed his messengers while, at the same time, issuing invitations to anyone and everyone else to come and partake in this celebration. So, the banquet hall is filled with guests eager to accept this king’s hospitality.
I don’t know about you; but so far, I like this king. He is lavishly giving, he defends those who have been wrongfully abused, and he welcomes one and all into his home. As the story of this king is one of the many analogies used to describe the Kingdom of Heaven, and given that this kingdom is said to be within me (us), I’m feeling pretty good about possessing it and about sharing it with others!
And then…I read verses 11-13. In this part of the story, the king sees that one of the guests present isn’t dressed the way he believes a wedding guest should be attired; so he has this guest bound and thrown out. Now, perhaps by this time, it was so far past the time when the banquet was scheduled to begin that the king was so hungry (or hangry) that he couldn’t control his anger; but this is the part of the story that I want to ignore – that this king and his actions are analogous to the kingdom of heaven is a little difficult to accept. I don’t want to think about the fact that I am this king in the sense that I also
possess the capacity for such cruelty. But, of course, I do have to face this reality: I carry within myself the power to act with vast and merciful generosity and grace; but I also have the potential for extremely harsh and devastating viciousness. It also occurs to me that, just as the king had this man cast into utter darkness where there was “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (v13) my actions can have equally ruinous and traumatic results.
I know that Jesus is the one telling this parable; but given what we know about the character of Jesus, I like to think that, had he been present at this wedding banquet, he would have done something to prevent this poor guest from being thrown out. Perhaps he would have found an extra robe for the man, or even given him his own. It is likely, given his fondness for posing questions, that he would have asked the king whether it was not within his power to change the “rules for dress” in his own home. Undoubtedly, he would have invited the man to join him at his table; and would have, thereafter, been seen on
more than one occasion conversing with this man in the town square or walking about the village.
In our own day and age, the invitation to the banquet is still open. Every Sunday – and on various other special occasions – we celebrate the feast of our Savior. The host of this celebration still extends the invitation to any and all who will accept it. We, as followers of Christ, are like the messengers who issue the invitation, and we are also like the king who decides which guests will be welcomed. We are given these opportunities to respond as Jesus would have responded. Indeed, it has been my observation that the people of St. Paul’s Claremore almost always choose to be generously hospitable. I pray that God’s hand will always be with us and keep us from ever causing harm. As our collect for the day says, may God’s grace “always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”