22nd Sunday after Pentecost [Pr. 23] October 12, 2008 “Series A”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus the Christ, you have poured out your redeeming grace to all who come to faith in him, and have opened to us your heavenly kingdom. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your word and grant us the gift of faith, that we might prove to be worthy disciples. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
One of the first lessons that I learned in seminary as I began to study the New Testament, was that some passages of Scripture are not as accurate in recording the teachings of Jesus, as are others. Our Gospel lesson for this morning is one such passage that appears to embellish the teaching of Jesus with the author’s own thoughts. In fact, as was pointed out in nearly all of the commentaries that I read, the Parable of the Great Dinner, as recorded in Luke, is much closer to the overall teachings of Jesus, than is our text from Matthew.
So, as I was preparing to write my message for this morning, I compared Luke’s version of this parable with that of our text from Matthew, and I found some interesting contrasts. So let me begin by sharing with you the parable as it appears in Luke.
Jesus said, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those invited, ‘Come; for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’
So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you order has been done, and there is still room.’ Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’” End quote.
Did you notice what is missing in this parable, as Luke records it, from that of our text from Matthew? First, in Luke’s version, there is no mention of those invited to the feast seizing or mistreating the master’s servants, or killing them. Nor is their any mention of the master sending out his army to destroy those who murdered his slaves or burning down the city.
Clearly this is an embellishment of the parable on the part of Matthew, which clearly changes the message of the text. In Luke’s version of this story, those invited did not simply make light of the invitation to attend the banquet, they gave what they considered to be legitimate excuses for not responding to the invitation, extending their regrets.
As a result, the point of the parable centers on the invited guests focusing on their own concerns, which they believed were more important, than attending the banquet. Since Jesus’ parables are teachings about the kingdom of God, the message may be that God, out of his benevolent grace, is inviting us into his kingdom, and throwing this great party. But because of our earthly concerns, we fail to behold the significance of God’s invitation, and fail to respond.
And oh, how we all have done this! As Christians, we have allowed so many things to take priority over worship. We have allowed so many things to distract us from giving thanks to God for his gift of grace, not only on Sunday mornings, but also on a daily basis.
I will admit that I have done this. The first thing I used to do upon waking was my daily devotions, and praying for those on our prayer list. Now, the first thing that I do is to get the paper, read the headlines, and work the puzzles. I make the excuse that it is to wake my mind up, so that I can later pray without cobwebs.
But those cobwebs still seem to follow me around the rest of the day. So, since writing this sermon, I’ve returned to putting God first. Even pastors can learn from their own sermons. Of course, if you come into the office some morning and see me working a puzzle, know that I’ve already spent time in devotion with our Lord.
I don’t think there was a need for Matthew to embellish this parable. After all, it doesn’t make sense. If the host of the party says the meat has been slaughtered, and the meal has been prepared, why would he take time to send out his army to destroy the city before inviting people to enjoy the feast? I’ve known several occasions in which Josie has spent hours preparing a large meal, to be enjoyed at a specific time, only to have to wait on certain guests to arrive. It is hard to keep the feast as tasty, as it would be, if it were served on time.
Most commentators suggest that this addition of Matthew to this story is in reference to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in about 70 AD. As such, Matthew turns this parable into a message against Jewish people who refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. Although this may have been an interpretation of the early Church, I do not find it helpful, especially in light of continued anti-Semitism, especially sin Jesus was, not only a Jew, but God’s Messiah.
But the other embellishment of Matthew is the most troubling to me. In Luke’s version of this parable, there is absolutely no mention of the one man being ejected into outer darkness because he wasn’t wearing a tux or that his clothes were dirty. In both accounts of this parable, the ones who finally came to the feast were summoned to come in off of the street. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually go shopping in a tux, or dress in my best clothes when I am traveling to visit my Mom.
The reason that I find this addition to the parable so troubling to me is the fact that it totally changes the dynamic of the parable, as Luke records it. In Luke’s version of this story, the message of the parable clearly centers on the unmerited Grace of God’s invitation for all, even those who have suffered – the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame – all who have been rejected by society in one form or another, to be invited to dine at God’s banquet table.
But in Matthew’s version of this story, he adds that one man was expelled from the banquet because he didn’t don the proper apparel for the feast. Quite frankly, I am again puzzled by this addition to the story. After all, it seems to limit the inclusion of those who are welcome at God’s great banquet in his heavenly kingdom, to only those who come dressed for the occasion.
Well, guess what. From the beginning of my ministry, I truly wanted to be a rural pastor. It is a style of ministry that I truly enjoy. As a result, I don’t even own a full suit. Oh, I have a couple of sport jackets, and I have rented a tux for a few occasions. But I can’t believe, that because of my flannel shirts and jeans, that God is going to expel me from his kingdom feast.
Quite frankly, if we were to focus on this point of Matthew’s version of this story, we would be putting conditions on God’s gift of unmerited grace in inviting all to come to his table. In Luke’s version, it was only those who had first been invited, that refused to come. But the invitation was later extended to all, and no one was expelled. It is truly a message of God’s unmerited grace.
So what is Matthew trying to tell us by adding this rejection of the person who was not dressed for the occasion? In all honesty, I prayed over this issue for a couple of days. And I believe that God came to my rescue, as I read one more commentary. Robert Kysar, in his conclusion states, and I quote, “Matthew has modified the theme of grace in the earlier portions of the parable with an insistence that the life of faith entails obedience…
But notice that obedience follows the acceptance of grace and does not precede it. When god fills our lives with grace, love and acceptance, then we want to obey our Benefactor. Our gratitude for what God has done for us leads us to faithful living… The relationship of faith and good works is not an easy one and has a history of dividing the church. I have tried to follow the simple idea articulated… by Martin Luther. ‘For faith is followed by works as the body is followed by its shadow.’ Maybe once in a while, we should glance down to see if our shadow follows our faith.” End quote.
In this, I think Matthew’s point in his embellishment of this parable might be a point worth noting It is not that God, through his grace in Jesus the Christ invites us to feast in his kingdom, he also gives us the power of his Spirit to amend our lives and to work as his servants to invite others to join us at the banquet. May we adorn ourselves as Christ’s disciples, and go out into the streets and invite others to join us at his table.
Amen.
