Sermon Delivered October 9, 2011: Come to the Party

The writer Bill Henderson recalls meeting a man aboard a cruise ship who claimed to be an expert in guessing professions. "See that man over there," he said. "He is a physician." Bill checked and sure enough that was right. "How could you tell?" he asked the man. "Well," he said, "I saw the caring lines on his forehead and could tell he was a person of great compassion." Bill Henderson pointed to someone else and said, "What about him? What does he do?" "That's a lawyer," the expert said. Bill checked and sure enough, he was. The expert explained that the man had a scholarly look and was somewhat formal, indicating an attorney. Then Bill pointed to another man. The expert studied him and said, "That's a preacher." Bill approached the man and asked, "Are you a preacher?" "No," said the man. "I'm just seasick; that's the reason I look so sad."

Ouch! Bill Henderson’s account doesn’t feel too good to this pastor. I mean, is that how most preachers are perceived? Is this how most people who are considered spiritual are perceived? That’s not good.
Dallas Willard, in his book The Spirit of the Disciplines actually puts it this way, I apologize for reading this in its entirety, but I think it adds quite a bit to the sermon this morning:
"Spiritual people do not play." That is the usual view. For one thing, they are too serious ever to play. It is a test of their spirituality that they never let up from their spiritual activities. For another, play might be pleasurable. And while spiritual people can have joy, they probably should stay away from just plain pleasure. While it is not in itself bad, it might ensnare them. Or so we seem to think.

Spirituality has thus come to be regarded by the world as those futile, self-torturing exercises of strange men and women who lived in far-off, benighted places and times. Accordingly, the One [Jesus] who came to give abundance of life is commonly thought of as a cosmic stuffed shirt, whose excessive "spirituality" probably did not allow him normal bodily functions and certainly would not permit him to throw a frisbee or tackle someone in a football game. –p. 79Unfortunately, there is too much truth in what the opening joke says and what Willard says, at least for more mainline denominations. I mean, think about how many of us who were raised in the church were taught about appropriate church behavior. When we come into the church, many of us were taught to come in reverently, silently. We were to sit in our pews quietly and meditate. Throughout the service, we were to keep this air of reverence to the point that even if a child said something humorous in the children’s sermon, we were to stifle any laugh or chuckle. Such things were verboten! As was clapping during the service. An inspiring solo? A motivational choir anthem? Don’t even tap your foot. Spirituality was a serious business, and serious we must be. Such attitudes led to some rather intriguing nicknames, which I have discovered go across denominations. We Lutherans, and even some Presbyterians that I know of were called the "Frozen Chosen."

Now, before I go any further, please let me say, I am not trying to disavow what many of us were taught. There is an appropriate time and place for such seriousness. I mean, could you imagine going through an Ash Wednesday or Good Friday service laughing and cutting up? Could you imagine making light about falling short of the glory of God and failing to live up to His standards? No. Such things deserve our serious attention. But if we believe that spirituality and the Christian faith is all about seriousness, then we miss out on the fact that when it comes to our walk with Jesus, He has actually invited us to a party. Yes, you heard me right. The reality of the Christian faith is that Jesus has invited us to a big, giant, humongous party!

Take another quick look at our Gospel lesson today from the 22^nd Chapter of the book of Matthew. Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a wedding banquet. Now, folks, you need to be aware of something here. Wedding banquets in Jesus’ day weren’t like wedding banquets today. Today, you have a wedding, then you have the reception. After several hours, the whole shebang is done and over with. Not so in Jesus’ day. Wedding banquets took days to celebrate. Yes, you heard me right, they took days. Folks would spend up to a week or so drinking wine and eating and dancing. They partied hard at a wedding as they celebrated the joining of a man and wife. So, immediately, when Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God being like a wedding banquet, He talks about an extended party.

Ah, but here is the serious twist. Those whom the king invited refused to come. Can you imagine turning down an invitation from the king? Well, maybe you could. Maybe it would be like Casey Hampton of the 1985 Chicago Bears who turned down the President’s invitation to come to the White House. He listed several reasons among them, "I’m just not too fond of the guy." I understand such thoughts, but Holy Cow! You get a chance to meet the President. That’s not an opportunity that comes along everyday, you know? And in the parable, the folks get a chance to meet the king and dine at one of his banquets! Please tell me you’d go just for the sake of saying, "I get to be with the king!"

Unfortunately, those whom the king invited did no such thing. They snubbed him, and in this parable, the king is not so gracious. If you snub this king, bad things are going to happen. As evidenced when the king sends his armies to destroy those who refused his invitation.

But there is now a problem. There is a banquet prepared. There is a wedding to be held, but there’s no one to celebrate with the king. Not good. So, what does the king do? He opens up the party to everyone, and I mean everyone. The king sends his servants into the streets and tells them, "Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet." And the servants do. The hall is filled with the good and the bad. Stop and think about that for a moment when you understand that this is a parable about the Kingdom of God. The good and the bad are celebrating and partying together!

Ah, but there’s another serious matter to be taken care of. The king is mingling around in the midst of his party. He’s joyously greeting folks in the midst of the celebration until he comes across a man who is not properly attired. "Where is your wedding robe?!" the king demands. The poor chap is speechless, and the king tells his guards to cast him out into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Ooooh. Not good. Not good at all.

Now, why would the king be so cruel? Didn’t he just invited everyone from the streets? Rich? Poor? Good? Bad? What if the guy didn’t have a wedding robe to begin with? What if he was poor and couldn’t afford anything more than what he had? Well, this is where it helps once again to know a little bit about wedding feasts back in Jesus’ day. When a host threw a banquet, he was also required to provide proper attire for those who may not have enough money to afford one. Hear that again, if someone was invited to a wedding banquet and did not have a wedding robe, the host would provide one. The king would have had enough robes to make sure everyone had one. This guy has no excuse for not having the proper garment on. The king invited him to the banquet, invited him to eat and drink to his heart’s content, and provided him with the proper attire. No wonder the guy was speechless. He realizes he should have the garment on, and by not wearing it, it was a slap in the face to the king. That’s why he was thrown out.

Serious stuff, right? Yep. If you aren’t wearing the proper attire. But what about us? What does this say to us? Well, listen to these words from the book of Galatians chapter 3 verses 27 and 28, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male or female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."

My friends, you have been clothed with Christ. You have been given your banquet robe. You have been invited to the greatest party in the universe. How do you think you should live your life? Do you think you should be serious all the time? Or do you think you should take delight and live with true happiness, true joy, and true playfulness? How do you want to be seen at God’s party? Amen.