Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 12 Oct. 2014, Proper 23
Year A RCL: Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23; Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14
Rejoice
in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”
Before
we explore today's violent parable to see what there is in its dress
code to rejoice about, I'd like to get today's headcount:1
Charlie,
since
you are the usher, will you write today's headcount on paper for me &
bring it up here? I
can't because I don't like this pencil. Barbara,
will
you lend Charlie your pen? I
can't let him write with it because the pen is red. Matthew,
will you do the headcount? I
can't. I'm studying for a math test. Eric,
will you write the headcount on your bulletin & bring it to me?
I
can't. My back hurts & the paper is too heavy.
Excuses!
Excuses! We hear excuses in
Exodus when the people fear what the future holds since Moses is gone
a long time & they can't see their fear-less leader. They don't
feel God's presence, so they worry & fear takes over. They make a
mess of their festival to the Lord. “The
ink is not yet dry” on the 10 Commandments2
[the
10 statements we talked about last week]
& the people break the 1st
one: “You shall have no other gods besides me”3.
[For a really unbelievable excuse, read what Aaron tells Moses in
Exodus 32:21-24.]
The
excuses we hear in Jesus' parable may sound believable: I can't come
to the wedding, I have to work on my farm/I have business to handle.
Understand
this: in Jesus' time people didn't post printed invitations4
on their refrigerators. They were invited to a wedding without
knowing the date.
Knowing
this makes it easier to understand how work may seem more important
to invitees in Jesus' parable. Work is important, yet Jesus says more
important in life is our relationship with God, our King. The
invitees make light of it: they do not take seriously God's
invitation to a joyful relationship.
Maybe
they don't like the pencil that was used to write the invitation!
Maybe they dismiss it because the invitation is red or too heavy.
Whatever the excuse, they miss living the fuller life that we know in
Jesus, the Son, whose bride is the Church – us!
Jesus
tells his disciples – us – to invite others to share the fuller
life he offers. I wonder what the people with Jesus think when they
hear him tell the last part of this parable about the man who wears
his everyday clothes to the banquet instead of his wedding robe.
God
sends an open invitation to everyone – including you & me.
God's open door5
policy lets EVERYONE come in to celebrate with God & God's Son.
As
Bible commentator William Barclay says,
God invites us to join in the celebration of joy6
& abundant life. This IS the reason for rejoicing.
Like
some of the invitees, we can get distracted & forget to rejoice.
We can get distracted by the stuff of our lives, honest
work that is different from what turns into that out-of-control party
in Exodus while Moses is on the mountain with God.
The
people with Moses are afraid to go it alone. They fail to realize God
IS with them even though they cannot see God or Moses.
In
their fear from not knowing what to expect, I see our fear over the
Ebola outbreak. We worry & care about it now because it's in our
country. Like when AIDS was still far across the globe in Africa, we
didn't fear it until it came here.
Why
have we waited until now to pray about a cure for Ebola? Like the
people with Moses, we fail to notice what is far away. We forget to
remember, we have work to do for God's kingdom here AND far away.
Remember
this: through prayer, we can be a healing presence in harsh
situations anywhere. Our prayers – your silent prayers when you are
alone – send love & hope across the globe. We have to take time
to do the work of prayer.
In
the wedding parable Jesus wants us to notice: We can be so busy with
our here & now to-dos & worries that we forget the things
that have lasting value. “(We) can be so busy making a living that
(we fail) to make a life; (we) can be so busy (organizing) life that
(we forget to live) life...”7
What's
important in this parable is not how we will be punished. What's
important is “what we will miss.”8
“This
parable has nothing to do with the clothes...
(&) everything to do with the spirit
in which we (live & worship God).”9
The man not wearing a wedding robe has refused to participate
completely.10
That's
why he gets thrown out of the party.
God
loves us just like God loves the people with Moses & wants to
guide them & us deeper into God's love so that we live fully in
love. How quickly we can yield to fear when
God's love seems to have gone away. God's love never goes away. It is
always with us.
We
get a taste of God's love at this Holy Table. By Jesus' dying for us,
we receive a wedding robe so that we can come to this banquet: We are
robed in the Light of Christ.
The
Light of Christ helps us see God’s love & know God IS with us
even when we don't feel God's presence.
May
we have the grace to accept God's open invitation to come & feast
on the amazing gift of abundant, undeserved, & unending of love.11
May we rejoice
in the Lord always...
The Lord is
near.
Bibliography
Barclay,
William. The
Gospel of Matthew: Vol. 2 .
Revised Ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1975.
Bates, The
Rev. Dr. J. Barrington. “Dress codes or radical welcome?”
Accessed: 8 Oct. 2014.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2014/09/18/18-pentecost-proper-23-a-2014/.
Harper’s Bible Commentary.
General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers, 1988.
Holy Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
http://www.sermons4kids.com/excuses_excuses.htm.
Accessed 9 Oct. 2014.
Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh
Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
The New American Bible for
Catholics. South
Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.
Williams, Carol. Charles Kirkpatrick.
Interactive Group Activities for Sermon
"You Are Invited". Accessed: 9 Oct. 2014.
Sermons4Kids.com.
http://www.sermons4kids.com/.
1
Idea from: Williams, Carol.
Charles Kirkpatrick. Interactive Group
Activities for Sermon "You Are Invited". Accessed: 9 Oct.
2014.
Sermons4Kids.com.
http://www.sermons4kids.com/
4
Note: Idea from Bates,
The Rev. Dr. J. Barrington. “Dress codes or radical welcome?”
Accessed: 8 Oct. 2014.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2014/09/18/18-pentecost-proper-23-a-2014/.
7
Ibid. Barclay. P. 268.
8
Ibid.
9
Ibid. P. 270.
11
Ibid. Bates.
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