October 15, 2017
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 22:1-14
Sermon Series, “Barriers to Generosity” – Entitlement
I have a keen interest in the British
royalty. I love to read both history in general and historical fiction of
England. I’m fascinated with the lives royals lead, and with the ritual and
tradition that surround them. Last year,
for instance, the two television programs I most enjoyed binge watching were
“Victoria” – based on the life of Queen Victoria I, and “The Crown,” based on Elizabeth
II, the reigning Queen of England.
As a result, I find royal weddings
kind of exciting. The first royal wedding I
very clearly remember was that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. I
recall the excitement of the crowds, straining to get a look at Lady Diana in
her royal carriage on the way to St. Paul’s Cathedral; the pageantry; her
charming stumble over the order of her husband-to-be’s multiple names. What fun
to be invited to such a spectacle and party!
So, I have to tell you that if I
received an invitation to a royal wedding, I would feel enormously honored and grateful
to be among those to be included. There is no
way I can expect to ever receive
such an invitation. Therefore, if I indeed
received one, not only would it come as a great surprise but I would do
everything in my power to come, prepared to show not only my gratitude and joy,
but my utter respect and desire to please and honor the queen or king issuing
the invitation.
So, what’s wrong with the people who were
the first to receive the invitation to the king’s son’s wedding in today’s
gospel text? The king must have been so pleased to issue the invitation. With great pride and with over-the-top
generosity, surely, he looked forward to having the grateful recipients of the
invitation come to honor both him and his son by their presence. What a party
he was prepared to throw!
What’s wrong with these people who surprisingly declined the invitation? Who simply
would not come? Who had better things
to do with their time – more important
things demanding their time and attention?
Not
only did they decline the initial invitation, but they made light of it – they behaved as if they were entitled to the invitation, and could simply choose to
attend only if it were convenient
enough for them to do so – only if they had nothing
better to do. They behaved as if this invitation and the honor it conveyed
was all about them and had nothing to do with the honor, fealty and praise that
was the king’s due.
Now, we all know that rulers can be incredibly
thin-skinned. When thwarted they can behave like children having a full-blown
and devastating temper tantrum, with devastating and deadly results. After all,
kings expect the ultimate respect, honor, and worship of their subjects.
So, when we read what seems to be the over-the-top
reaction of the king to the insult that has been dealt him when even a second
invitation he issued was rejected, we are shocked.
But the people hearing this parable for the first time
would have gotten it. They would have understood the disconnect - the deep
disloyalty of these invitees, who have repaid the king’s generous invitation
with disregard and insult; they would have understood the tragic ramifications of
their rejection.
But, as the parable goes on, it is not
just the outright rejection of those on the king’s first invitation list that
is brought under scrutiny. Another group of people is invited.
These are the ones who probably think the likelihood
of them ever receiving an invitation from the king is about the same as my ever
being invited to the next royal wedding. Null. So, when they do receive an
invitation, they are excited. They don’t even care that they weren’t in the
first group, they never expected to be. Instead, they are grateful to be thought
of at all.
Anyone accepting this invitation would want to put
their best foot forward, to be seen as grateful for the generosity of the king,
and worthy by the king’s grace to be in the mere presence of the king and his
son, let alone to be their honored guests.
So it is surprising – shocking, even,
when this one person behaves in a manner that shows his hosts less than the
honor and praise they deserve. He seems to think that all he needs to do is
just show up.
While those attending this wedding would be given the
appropriate wedding dress provided by the king himself, this person eschews
even that tradition. It just doesn’t suit him. He’s happy to come to the party,
but seems to take the rest for granted.
The problem with the first group who were invited and
with this single invitee seems to be the same. They lack the proper attitude
toward their gracious host and king. They lack the respect to accept the
generosity of the king as pure gift and not simply as their due. They forget to
respond with the proper sense of gratitude and awe for being included in the
party at all.
Their basic sense of entitlement gets in the way of
any gratitude at all.
Each week, we are invited to the
greatest feast imaginable. This is the feast, Martin Luther wrote, of the
marriage - the union between heaven and earth. We come together in worship as
undeserving guests, to praise God and offer our thanksgiving for this marriage,
the incarnation of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We are invited to the
banquet to celebrate God’s love and generosity and our inclusion in the marriage
feast.
On our own, we
are not worthy to be here, but by God’s good grace we are among both the
good and the bad, saint and sinner both, who have received the invitation. We don’t
deserve this honor, in fact there is nothing we could do to be so deserving. We
come not because we are great but
because God is great and steadfast in
love, mercy, and generosity.
The problem with entitlement is, that whenever we allow
ourselves to believe that we deserve what we have, or are somehow more worthy
than another, we will find ourselves incapable of gratitude. The proper
response to the king’s invitation is to run breathless to the banquet, dressed
for the marriage of heaven and earth, wondering how we ever got on such a guest
list.
When we come to church, we answer God’s gracious invitation
to unite around the table. While we find community here, we don’t come for
community. While we find lovely music and pleasing surroundings and friendships
here, we don’t come for those things.
We find forgiveness of our sins here, but we should
not forget that we come as beggars in need of God’s mercy, neither entitled to
it nor deserving of it. But, because God loves us so, we come to be surprised,
humbled and grateful to be among those Christ serve at the table of life. Such
gratitude requires us to sing out for joy, and cry out in thanksgiving and
praise of God.
In the traditional eucharistic liturgy still in use in
some places is this confession: “I am not worthy to receive you, but only say
the word, and I shall be healed.” We would do well to use these words in our
liturgy as well, and to embrace the truth within them.
Our birthright as followers of Jesus Christ is to
remember that none of us is worthy – none of us deserves to be here; therefore,
we should respond to this invitation with nothing short of humble gratitude and
thanksgiving.
Like the guests invited to the wedding feast in our
gospel story, we too are provided a garment appropriate for the celebration.
The garment we are provided is the righteousness that
comes from God.
This garment, in which we become clothed in baptism, sets
us apart as the glad recipients of God’s grace. It is the outward expression of
the inward change God performs in us in the sacrament through which God calls
us Child of God.
It is no ordinary garment, even by the finest of
standards. For this garment is comprised of threads of compassion, generosity,
kindness, and forgiveness. The fabric of this garment is knit with concern for
social justice, care for the poor and the marginalized. The golden thread that
holds together the seams of this garment was spun from the blood of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, and it compels us, to welcome other to the feast.
It compels us to be not only guests, but servants. It
reminds us that in the eyes of God, whether we came from the stock of the good
or the bad, we are forever transformed by God’s grace, united with Jesus Christ
and with one another at the table.
Worthy? No, except by the love and mercy of God, which
knows no bounds. Deserving to be here? No, but our inclusion compels us not only
to come to the party, but to come prepared to give honor and glory to the host with
thanksgiving, joy, respect and love. May it be so.
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