28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - But the few

 

"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 22:2-14

You’ve had the invitation. You’ve arrived but are you among the few who have turned up in the right clothes?

This parable, at first hearing, is harsh and uncompromising, but parables are meant to challenge and change us as we consider the truths that are revealed in the story.

Jesus is referring to God who makes the invitation and it is himself who is the reason that the feast takes place. God invites us to a heavenly feast that is every bit as joyous as a wedding. The invitation is to joy. Christianity is never a gloomy giving up of everything that brings happiness. Don’t misunderstand the nature of the invitation. It is to joy that we are invited; it is joy that we miss if we refuse the invitation.

The invitation that we receive is given through God’s grace. In the parable, those who were gathered from the streets didn’t deserve and never expected the invitation. It came from the king’s generosity who wanted them to share his joy. It was grace that gathered them in. Jesus points out that these are like the outcast and Gentiles who never expected to receive an invitation to God’s kingdom.

Are we prepared to drop everything that is wrong in our lives and join him at his invitation?

The people that king invites first to his feast are like the religious authorities. They were God’s chosen people, through whom he wanted to bring about the reconciliation of humankind, but they let him down. Yet not all the people who refuse the invitation, in the parable, did so on unreasonable grounds. They were ordering their business life. It is so easy for any of us to be so busy with the time pressures of this life that we forget that we have an eternal perspective to consider; to be so preoccupied that we cannot hear the soft invitation of the voice of Christ.

Are we prepared to give up the pleasures and duties of this life to find life eternal?

These days we are a little more relaxed about what we wear to church. What is more important is that we approach worship in the right spirit. God offers an open door for us to come into his presence but, when we come in, we must bring a life which matches the love that has been shown us because we cannot continue to live our old sinful life. If we enter a sinner, we must prepare ourselves to become a saint. Our new clothes must be integrity, right living, decency and kindness.

Too often we arrive in church unprepared to worship; too occupied with the troubles of the week, the latest gossip, our own grumbles and groans. If we prepare with a little prayer, a little thought and a little self-examination, then worship would be worship indeed. 

Are we prepared to put on these new clothes that honour and respect our heavenly Father?

All are invited, but few choose to come. All may come in, but few are prepared to change. All are called, but few are chosen. God does not withhold his grace; the choice – whether to change or not – rests with the us. Make sure you find yourselves among the few who came and were prepared to change.

1.   Come, sinners, to the gospel feast, let every soul be Jesu’s guest; you need not one be left behind, for God has called all humankind.    2.   Sent by my Lord, on you I call,          he invitation is to all;          come, all the world and witness how          all things in Christ are ready now.

3.  Come, all you souls by sin oppressed,        you restless wanderers after rest,        you poor, and maimed, and sick and blind,        in Christ a hearty welcome find.   4. This is the time; no more delay!        This is the Lord's accepted day;        come in, this moment, at his call,        and live for him who died for all. Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

The Methodist Church provides worship and devotional resources at www.methodist.org.uk