22 Pentecost, Proper 23A RCL, October 12, 2008
St. James, Zanesville
Kathryn P. Clausen

Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 9-24
Matthew 22:1-14

“The Wedding Banquet”

Weddings are often a priest’s nightmare. There is a great deal of cultural, political, and emotional input in a wedding. For that reason, it can turn into a major social event, or a family celebration, or a public love feast of a man and woman or whoever. What it often is NOT is a religious celebration. A wedding is also the only time when the priest acts as the agent of the state. It is a legal activity, a public declaration of a contract. There is very little about most weddings that is remotely religious. We are required by the canons of the Church to give premarital counseling to couples before we marry them. I enjoy meeting these young people and getting to know them. I talk to them about their obligations and commitments and the desire for a Christian household. And then we have a lovely ceremony and I never see them again. The priest is supposed to be in charge of all services held in the church. But at a wedding, there is competition from the mother of the bride, the musician, and, most especially, the photographer. Where is God in all of this? Sometimes I wonder.

I am not surprised that Jesus chose a wedding banquet as the setting for yet another of his parables of the Kingdom. A wedding banquet has always been an occasion to join families and clans, even kingdoms. It has always been an occasion to ensure the continuation of the family line. And, even then, it was a way to give public recognition of the importance of a family or of a dynasty. So Jesus used this metaphor to talk about God, and God’s son. Many were invited to the banquet, the Kingdom of Heaven, but they chose not to come. You know the rest of the story. They went into the streets and invited anybody they could find. They filled the hall with street people, vagrants, beggars and prostitutes. Even then, the King excluded the person who wasn’t properly dressed. Many were called, but only a few were chosen to remain.

Jesus offered the Kingdom to the people of Israel. They had prayed for a messiah, and he had arrived. But he wasn’t exactly what they expected. They prayed for a king, and instead they got a carpenter. They wanted someone to bring justice and retribution. But he came with a message of forgiveness, reconciliation, and grace. So many rejected him, and kept on looking. So Jesus went to the least of them, the rejects of society; the prostitutes, tax collectors, beggars, and even thieves. He told them the story, and offered them salvation. And they believed. Even so, he had expectations. They should stop their evil ways, and offer love to others the way they were loved. It was a gift that was expected to be passed on.

The message of the gospels is not entirely a message about “cheap grace”. Yes, we are all accepted and forgiven, unconditionally. But that is not a free pass to the Kingdom. To a person of good character, the gift of grace creates an expectation to respond. And this response is to do as Jesus did. To go forth, proclaim the good news, and love thy neighbor the way we ourselves have been loved. To do anything else would be low class, ungrateful, and mean-spirited. It happens, for sure. But it need not. We are better than that.

Today marks the beginning of our stewardship season at St. James. After the second service, we will gather in the undercroft to talk about our finances and resources, and to ask you, once again, to be generous in giving to maintain this institution which for so many of you has been close to your heart. To some extent, this is like the wedding banquet. You come every Sunday to receive the body and blood of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. You don’t need a ticket. There is no charge. Just come, and you will be fed. But in your hearts, you know that someone has underwritten the cost of maintaining this beautiful place, and staffing the clergy and lay leaders, and maintaining it to the Glory of God. And one of the great gifts you have all enjoyed has been the income from the endowment, the gift of persons of previous generations which has kept this parish alive and well when others around us are struggling even to make payroll. You are very lucky and blessed by this example of generosity.

But you have your own responsibilities in this matter. You cannot enjoy the hospitality and generosity of others forever. And if you can, it would be proper for you to invest of your own resources into this wonderful church and the ministries that it supports. It is a simple fact of life that many people care most about that which they own. And this season we are going to ask you to step up and accept a part ownership in this enterprise. We will be asking you to reflect on why you come to church, what you expect the church to provide for you and, in turn, what you are willing to provide to the church.

Without you, a church is just a building. But a building has no spirit or heart. But when we celebrate the Holy Eucharist here, we call on the Holy Spirit to come down into this place and into these elements of bread and wine. It comes alive. And you are part of that. Without you, the Eucharist isn’t valid. It is an empty act. As a priest, I am not even allowed to celebrate Eucharist by myself.

So please come to this banquet. Enjoy the riches of the Kingdom in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Enjoy the worship in community, and the ministries of everyone here. Don’t come empty-handed if you can help it. Nobody is turned away, but your gift can help those less able. It is the least we can do. Amen.