Without A Wedding Robe by The Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger

Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

This Lent we are hosting small group studies and we use different readings serving as our discussion starter. This past week we read as passage from Sören Kierkegaard titled, “Followers, Not Admirers.” The premise is that Jesus has no use for admirers—those who think he is a great teacher or person, all while never following in His Way. Kierkegaard claims that was Jesus calls for are followers; people who recognize him as messiah and give their lives following in the Way. Admirers risk nothing. Followers go wherever Jesus leads, even giving up their very selves if called. Or, as Jim Slate in our small group put it, if you are having eggs and bacon for breakfast, the hen is involved but its the pig who is really committed.

Our parable from Matthew’s gospel is about how we respond to the invitation to follow in the way of Jesus and what it means to be really committed.

All throughout scripture, the kingdom of God is often described as a banquet. Especially, Jesus’ meals with tax collectors and sinners, and his last supper symbolize what life in God’s kingdom is like. And God’s kingdom begins with God choosing us and inviting us into the way of Jesus Christ.

God began his work of salvation with the people of Israel. God invited them to the kingdom, but in their human sinfulness they rebelled. They were not faithful to the ways of God. So God sent the law and the prophets to call them back to God. Still they were not faithful. They turned away from the banquet God had set before them.

When Matthew writes about the king’s slaves being killed and God laying waste to the city, most scholars think Matthew is writing about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. But whatever the case—-God opens the banquet to all. The invitation goes out to anyone—-good or bad, jew or not. And some say yes to the wedding feast of the king. But there is this one guest, who comes to the wedding and just doesn’t take it seriously.

And I have met wedding guests exactly like that. I have officiated a wedding or fifty in my career. There are the wedding guests who know exactly what the wedding is for—that it is service of worship of God wherein two souls respond to God’s grace by pledging their lives to one another. They know that the wedding is not the bride’s day or the groom’s day but it is the Lord’s day. The best brides and grooms come seeking to thank God for the gift of marriage and ask for God’s blessing upon it.

For those couples, the ones who really get what the wedding is for, one of my favorite wedding texts to preach from was our Colossians passage from today. Colossians 3 reminds us that for those of us who take seriously the grace Jesus has given us, we have to then clothe ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. We put on these virtues because we are so grateful for the salvation offered to us in Christ. We bear with one another, forgive on another and bind everything up in love. This is a wedding text that reminds two people entering into the covenant of marriage that they have to practice these things in order to sustain the covenant of marriage.

But there is always that one guest—-the one who came for the open bar and the buffet. That one guest who thinks a wedding is just a big party and the worship service is just a time killer until the real fun starts. That wedding guest is the reason I tell every wedding party that if I can tell you’ve been drinking you don’t get do be in the wedding. Because it shows that they aren’t taking the wedding seriously.

The surprise in this parable is that the king has opened up the banquet to anyone who wants to come in. And people came. But one guest was there and he wasn’t even in his wedding robe. He didn’t take the gift of the invitation seriously. He didn’t clothe himself the way someone who took the invitation seriously would.

You and I have been invited into the kingdom banquet—-we’ve been offered salvation. And we have accepted it. But have we then put on the clothes that show we are grateful for the invitation?

Our salvation should change us. We should try to put on the clothes of Christ and move in the world in such a way that the kingdom is made evident.