The parable is clear: the invitation is urgent.The banquet is ready. There’s not a moment to waste. The food is hot. The time is now. We’ve been invited to the feast – are we coming or not?
But lest we feel too complacent – lest we mistakenly believe that all we need to do as faithful Christians is to accept God’s invitation and just show up in church – Matthew adds the unsettling parable of the man without a wedding robe. The king comes in to see the guests, and spots a man without the clean, white garment that is the proper dress for a wedding feast. The king apparently looks kindly at him and gives him a chance to speak. “Friend,” he says, “how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” [Matthew 22:12]. But the man is speechless; he can make no excuse. And so off he goes in chains – not just out to the streets but into hell.
The point? God’s door is open to us but we cannot presume on God’s grace. God’s overflowing, endless, patient, self-giving generosity comes to us as gift, but it comes with responsibility, too. The parable doesn’t care a bit about the clothes we wear to church or anywhere else; what does concern it is the spirit with which we come before God. Like the man in the parable, every day we too have a chance inwardly to wear the white robe of our baptism, so that our baptismal vows truly become the framework that guides our lives. Every day we have the chance to let our lives be shaped and formed by the disciplines of Christian community.
So it’s worth asking ourselves: are we practicing what it means to give generously, to listen respectfully, and to speak honestly and with love? And with what garment do we clothe ourselves when we come to worship? In what spirit do we arrive to share in the feast of the Lord’s Supper, that foretaste of the ultimate wedding banquet between Christ and all creation? Do we come to church wearing the garment of expectation? Do we come with the garment of penitence and humility? Do we come with the garment of sincerity, with the garment of reverence? Getting the family organized on a Sunday morning – especially if you have young kids – is no small feat, and sometimes we probably slide into the pews feeling more harried than anything else. But still, if we can, it’s good to take some time before the worship service begins – maybe the night before – to examine our lives, to reflect on how we have and have not responded this week to God’s invitations, and to prepare ourselves for the feast.
Everyone is welcome. God’s banquet is ready. The joy is ours.
(REV MARGARET BULLITT-JONAS)