Well, baseball has started, and you know that’s a passion of mine. Spring Training -- Padres look good, Cubs look good -- Fantasy Drafts, and of course Little League. Micah our 3rd grader had his Opening Day yesterday. And I love the opening ceremonies, as the community gathers around, families from all 4 levels, teams on the field, the National Anthem and the flag/rifle bearers in uniform. All these people without a church home, I thought (I’m assuming that because they always schedule pictures on Sunday morning, and no one has any issue with that...except us): this is their religious family, in a big way.
And Micah’s moved up into the Minors division. He did a great job in his tryouts and got handpicked to probably the top team. And we can all tell that “it’s a different ballgame” now. Kids are pitching, and pitching fast. They’re hitting harder. They’re stealing bases and colliding at home plate. And the coaches -- at least Micah’s coaches -- are a different breed too. We’ve had some wonderful, sweet, gentle coaches the past two years, instilling in the kids a love for the game, and great fundamentals. But these guys this year: they want to win. They start their best players (started Micah), and they expect a lot from everyone.
Gone are the days of constant affirmation. There’s affirmation when you do a great job, but not when you’re just doing your job. Gone are the days of cupcakes and other treats after the game: we’re in the Minors now. And Coach expects his players to “show up” -- practice, hustle, pay attention, be out front. In fact, if you don’t “show up”, he’s going to play someone else.
The king calls the wedding guests to “show up” in our text. It’s time for a party. And the king’s pulling out the stops. Everyone’s paid for, food and drink will abound, the table is set, the candles are lit, the band is cued up, the meal is hot...
And nobody shows.
They all have excuses. Most of them have to work. Some have a “better” offer, pre-existing plans. Others just don’t really want to come -- I mean, they don’t really know the wedding couple anyway -- so they make something up, and bow out with a quick, friendly text. And then there are others, who might actually like to go, but some voice in their head is telling them they’re not worth it. They’ve hosted weddings themselves and know how expensive it can be, and so they don’t want to put the king out -- they’ve got a bit of a martyr complex, they mean well, but they fail to see value in themselves, and they just can’t let themselves be loved and lavished by the king... That’s a little like in the text when some actually seize and kill the king’s servants who are managing the RSVPs. It just kills the spirit of the feast. Have you ever had someone decline a lavish gift you’re excited to give. And they pass, citing some “oh-not-on-my-account” or “oh-don’t-want-to-put-you-out” excuse?! It just sucks the spirit of joy and generosity out of the room. So, those suffering-servants decline the invitation too.
Nobody who was originally invited “shows up”. And this infuriates the king: I should do a little textual analysis here. Matthew says the king goes out and kills these no shows, burns their city!
Fundamentalists read this clearly as a reference to hell and the fires of damnation if you don’t “show up” for Jesus.
Most mainstream scholars look at this in the context of the time Matthew was writing -- that this was an obvious reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the lackadaisical faith of the chosen ones. You have to decide what you think this means.
But anyway, the king’s going to play somebody else. The king’s going to put someone else into the game because the first round draft picks didn’t “show up”.
So the master’s servants (they’ve been through a lot, haven’t they?) again go out and invite everyone now. [Gentiles - the Gospel opens up to everyone!] This is what the kingdom of heaven is compared to, Jesus teaches -- A king who invites [pause] everyone. The riff-raff is welcome. Just verses before, Jesus was talking about tax collectors and prostitutes getting into God’s good graces before those puff-up and self-righteous Pharisees. This parable is an elaboration on that.
“Those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.” Here’s what occurred to me this week: [pause] We’re the riff-raff. You’re the riff-raff.
We’re the ones who are left. We’re the ones who got scooped up by God’s love, and here we are. You’re not a perfect group of churchy people. I’m not a perfect pastor. We’re broken and jealous and bitter and hungry and sad and lost and struggling and scared. But here we are, scooped up by God’s love, probably because of one of God’s servants who invited us -- maybe that was a parent or grandparent that brought you into the banquet hall long ago. Or maybe it was a friend or even a stranger.
But here we are at the master’s table -- candles lit, food and drink abounds! Here we are: still serving and being served, still feasting, still drinking wine and eating bread, still ingesting and digesting this word of life, this Word of God. We’re the riff-raff, sisters and brothers in Christ. The good and the bad, all wrapped up into us, all wrapped up into you!
And God’s gathered us in: “And the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
Now what about this guy who gets bounced from the party because he wasn’t wearing his wedding garment? That’s a whole ‘nother sermon, but let me say this: When God invites us into the banquet, onto the field, we ought to bring everything we have...including that free garment of grace that God’s given. Those wedding robes in those days were something no one could afford, they were provided by the host at the door of the wedding feast, like bulletins at the beginning of our worship service. God’s love and grace is provided freely at the door, before we even sit down, so for God’s sake, put it on! Don’t think that you can pass without wearing God’s free garment of love and grace. This one guy did, and he was thrown into the outer darkness. How we too can be tossed out, when we choose not to accept God’s offer, God’s robe of forgiveness and peace. (We pretty much toss ourselves out at that point.)
Here it is, given and shed for you. This welcome to all, this challenge to both receive it, to give it our all on the field, and to seek to extend that same welcome to all we meet along the way. That’s all part of the party, the new spring season.
This is where we find ourselves these Lenten days, sisters and brothers in Christ. God’s hospitality is multifaceted and lavish... and you’re in! You’re on the team. Let’s play ball.
Our Hymn of the Day is not the National Anthem or the 7th inning stretch...It’s a piece that was written last year by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. “A King Planned a Party” (p. 5 in your free-of-charge bulletin)
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