Sermon for March 12, 2023

Rev. George Miller

March 12, 2023

Mathew 22:1-14

 

Imagine you are living in Jerusalem in 55, a time in which people believed there were many different gods, and these gods were tempestuous, jealous, and had to be bribed to get what you wanted.

 

Baal demands you sacrifice a pig.  Aphrodite requires sex with a temple prostitute.

 

But you happen to attend a small, intimate church in which folk gather at the home of a widow.

 

You share a meal, sing songs, say a prayer, and read a letter from Paul the apostle.

 

The letter says “For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.  As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek…slave or free…for you are all one in Christ Jesus…heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29)

 

Afterwards you go out onto the highways and byways to feed, clothe, heal, and share joy.

 

Imagine it is now the year 60.  The church has grown.  You’re meeting in a larger house. 

 

You share a meal, sing songs, say a prayer, and read a letter from Paul.

 

The letter says, “You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded…and to clothe yourself in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self-created to the likeness of God…” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

 

Afterwards you go out onto the highways and byways to feed, clothe, heal, and share joy.

 

Imagine it is now year 61.  The country is becoming uneasy with turmoil.  Rome is threatening to attack and destroy your city.

 

While others go and sacrifice a pig to Baal, or pay to have sex with one of Aphrodite’s prostitutes, you go to that growing home church.

 

You share a meal, sing songs, say a prayer, and read a letter from Paul.

 

The letter says “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.  Bear with one another…forgive one another.  Above all else clothe yourselves with love…and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…” (Colossians 3:12-17)

 

Afterwards you go out onto the highways and byways to feed, clothe, heal, and share joy.

 

Now imagine it is the year 71.  Rome has come in and totally decimated the city, leveling all the homes and places of worship.

 

But as long as you and your church have a place to gather, you share a meal, sing songs, say a prayer, and read a letter from Paul.

 

You encourage each other to clothe yourself with Christ, to clothe yourself with the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and love.

 

Afterwards you go into the rubble that used to be the highways and byways to feed, clothe, heal, and share joy with your war-torn town.

 

Now imagine it is the yar 80.  You have been attending the church for 25 years, but now it meets in a big beautiful sanctuary that was built after the war.

 

One day, a member of the church says they have a gospel they would like to share about Jesus- his birth, ministry, healings, and parables.

 

When the person stands up to read, you are fascinated to hear what they have to say.  They get to Matthew 22 and the parable about the wedding banquet. 

 

You live in a culture that likes to tell stories.  You know that stories are full of metaphors and symbols to teach great truths.

 

You know the King is God; the son is Jesus, the slaves were the prophets who were rejected, you know the banquet represents the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

And you know that the wedding robe is not an actual wedding robe.

 

And because you’ve been coming to this church for 25 years and hearing Paul’s letters again and again, you understand what is actually happening.

 

This is not a story about a man who did not have the right wardrobe. 

 

It is about a person who was in the presence of God, in the presence of Christ, and chose not to clothe himself with Christ, in which everyone is equal and all heirs according to the promise.

 

You understand that the man was not caught unprepared, but that he had yet to put away his corrupt self and be transformed into the likeness of God.

 

You understand that the King is upset at the man because here he is, at the generous banquet the King has provided, and the man refuses to clothe himself in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, love, patience, and to practice forgiveness.

 

And you understand that him being cast out is just an over-the-top way of Jesus saying, “When you don’t do what it just, what is kind, it is you who actually spiritually suffers and feels no joy.”

 

Now imagine that instead of living in Jerusalem in the year 80, you are in Sering, March 12, 2023. in a sanctuary surrounded by 60 sisters and brother who are one in Christ.

 

Imagine you have sung songs, said a prayer, read letters from Paul, and will soon share a meal.

 

Now imagine what spiritual clothes you are wearing.  Imagine you are clothed in Christ, and you are heir to God’s promise.

 

Imagine you are clothed with the spirit of wisdom, transformed into the likeness of God.

 

Now imagine you are clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, love, patience, willing to practice forgiveness.

 

Imagine that you are now clothed to go into the highways n byways to feed, clothe, heal, and share joy.  Amen and amen.