Unlikely Guests
a sermon based on Matthew 22:1-14
by Rev. Randy Quinn

This is the kind of parable that could become the basis for a modern movie. There are all sorts of sordid characters. There is plenty of violence. And in the end, you're wondering what it was really about!

Imagine what the movie would look like:

It probably takes place in New Orleans. The opening scene would introduce some of the key characters smoking cigars and making plans to take advantage of failing businesses and government handouts after the recent hurricane, deferring of course, to the man at the end of the table. He is clearly the head of this organization, and you get the sense that this is probably a syndicated crime operation.

In the next scene you realize that the head of the organization is also a well-known and well-respected member of the community. Maybe he is the mayor or a member of the city council. Or perhaps he is the owner of a company that employs most of the people in the city. You see him leading camera crews and reporters on tours of the devastation.

You now know that the central figure in the movie is a mover and a shaker in more than one sense of the world, and you begin to recognize that the two worlds are not so separate. Everyone everywhere knows who he is and how important he is.

Now we get to the twist in the story. His daughter wants to get married. But because of the hurricane, there is no guarantee of a place for the event. And because of his prospective son-in-law's travelling schedule - regular trips to South America for business - they're not even sure when to plan it.

So the Key Operator (whatever his name is) puts out the word - both publicly and overtly as well as privately and covertly - that his daughter will be getting married and he expects his long time supporters to be present. "I'll give you the details later," he says, "but plan to attend."

Well, things begin to come together rather suddenly. One of the major hotels finally reopens - and no one has scheduled the ballroom for their first weekend. Both the bride and the groom will be in town, and so will he!

So he puts the word out on Tuesday, "The wedding will be this Friday."

Well, most of the people laugh it off. Who in their right minds can be expected to cancel all other engagements to be at a wedding in four days?

Some laughed at the messengers. Some laughed over the phone. Some even jokingly pushed the messengers out the door. "He can't be serious," was the most common response.

Now there were a few accidents along the way. One of the messengers fell down the stairs and broke his leg. Another messenger was interrupting an important meeting, but they thought he was an intruder and shot him.

Well, by Thursday, the Big Guy was furious. He hired hit men to take care of a few people - they were people he didn't like anyway. There were several suspicious sounding fires in a few business locations. And he found ways to have others fired from their positions. He made life miserable for most of the people who had known him; people he had thought were his friends.

But there was still a wedding being planned. He needed to have some guests, so he went and sought out people. He went to the schools and he had messengers go to the malls and to the evacuation centers inviting people. He bought some radio ad space and made public invitations.

"Come, celebrate!"

When the day of the wedding arrives, there is a large crowd and everything seems to be going along fine.

Everything goes fine, that is, until the father of the bride notices a man wearing a "7 Eleven" shirt. After a short discussion with the man, he has him thrown out of the party. He isn't just politely escorted to the door. He is physically carried to the fire escape stairwell where he is tossed down the stairs. He tumbles down from the 19th floor.

The movie ends with the picture of the dying man in his "7 Eleven" shirt while the wedding music plays above him.

I know there are people who would pay to see that movie! I also know the critics would wonder what it was about. Is there a point to the story or is it just a story of power and politics?

Well, the same questions could reasonably be asked of Jesus and his parable. It's the same story.

Let me read it to you again. (Read text again.)

I have to confess to you, I don't like the way this parable reads. It's all too clear that the King in the parable is God, and I don't like the way God is portrayed. This King is too harsh and unforgiving.

And I especially don't like the way the man is treated who came to the wedding without the proper attire. They found him in the streets, after all! How could he be expected to have a wedding garment?

Last month we rented the movie, Titanic. For those who haven't seen the movie recently, it really is a love story between a very rich woman and a very poor man that takes place aboard the S.S. Titanic. In one scene, Jack, the poor man, is being fitted with a fancy suit so he can attend a party with the well-to-do folks.

Even Jack knows that you don't go to a fancy celebration without the proper attire. But he isn't one of the "well-to-do" folks. And he is chased out when he is recognized as a ruffian.

Dressing up doesn't change who he is, any more than the dress changed Cinderella. Her dress simply allowed others to see who she really was.

We had a foster child once who loved new clothes. Sherel would always put on her new clothes and ask me if she looked pretty. For some reason, she didn't think she looked pretty in old clothes, but I would always tell her she looked pretty no matter what she was wearing.

Then one day I thought of another response. When she showed me a new dress, I said to her, "Sherel, you make that dress look beautiful!"

It isn't what we wear that's important.
It's what we are underneath our clothes that matters most.

But we're usually the last ones to believe that. We, in the church, are probably better known for standards of dress than any other place. Some employers and schools have strict dress codes, but they're open and up front about it. Some even put restrictions on hair styles.

We in the church wouldn't go that far - or would we? Aren't we known to have "Sunday go to meeting" clothes? If you think about it, you'll probably agree that there is an unwritten dress code in church. Sometimes parents enforce it, but more often than not, the rest of us give subtle but clear indications of what is acceptable and what isn't.

No sequined dresses here. No tuxedos allowed. No cut-off jean shorts, either.

Why? It isn't our clothes that matter - or is it?

A man gets thrown out of the wedding feast because he isn't wearing the proper attire. But the true attire for the Christian has nothing to do with what we wear. It has everything to do with what we are.

It's when we put on costumes and pretend to be something else that we forget what God has created us to be. When we wear clothes to impress others, we've forgotten that God is the only one whose approval we need.

And if we come to the wedding feast under false pretenses - whether we are looking for free food or a chance to meet people - there is nothing we can wear that will be right for the occasion.

God will throw us out. Whether we like it or not.

You see it's God's party. It's God's grace. It's God's invitation to us.

And the clothes we're wearing really don't matter. What does matter is how we choose to respond to the invitation. There is a wedding garment in your size waiting to be worn by you. And while no fashion show on earth can depict it, that wedding garment will change the way you see the world.

It's the garment of salvation.

As the guy in the 'movie' I described earlier said, "Come, Celebrate!"

God has a party planned and you've been invited.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.