Jesus The Jester #7 | “Attire”

0:00 This fall, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church has been spending time with the parables of Jesus. Can you believe that we are already on week seven in our study of these seminal New Testament texts? Along the way, we've been working with a basic premise. In the parables, Jesus acts the part of a jester. He questions the broken wisdom of the world, and he invites folk to look beyond vindictive patterns to adopt a different way of seeing. Jesus does this by telling stories, make you think stories, life-changing stories. In these stories, Jesus invites us to behave as though we were already citizens of the realm of God.

1:04 Now, sometimes when this invitation to citizenship arrives, it feels good. It feels like filling your lungs with a breath of fresh, crisp autumn air. And sometimes Christ's invitation to new life rattles our windows. It feels like a nor'easter pelting our souls with a hard rain. Today's parable may be the fiercest nor'easter of a story ever told by Jesus. It begins innocently. A king dispatches a stack of freshly addressed invitations, neatly folded ivory cards, bidding people to come to a wedding banquet. Yet before you can say RSVP, the story turns grim.

2:10 Like a Quentin Tarantino movie, violence and mayhem appear without warning. Murders and then retaliation follows. Finally, when everything seems to have calmed back down again, Jesus uncorks an unsettling twist. Back in the 16th century, an anonymous painter known as the Brunswick Monogramist captured these wild happenings in a painting. And this morning, I encourage you to play I Spy as you listen to the reading. See if you can spot the different elements in this turbulent story as they play out on the cover of your bulletin or on your screen. Listen now for God's word to you as it comes to us from Matthew chapter 22 beginning with the first verse.

3:18 Once more, Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. The king sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, tell those who have been invited, look, I've prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. while the rest seized the king's servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

4:24 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet. Those servants went out into the streets and gathered all who they found, both good and bad. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe. And he said to him, friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?

5:24 And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. This is the word of God for you, the people of God. Thanks be to God. See, there are some Sundays when you say that robustly, and there are some Sundays you're like, ah. This past Wednesday, needing some divine inspiration, I picked up the phone in my office, hit speed dial button number one. A tired sounding voice answered, yes. Um, God? Yes.

6:30 Scott Black Johnston here, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City. I know. We've got caller ID here. Listen, I hate to bother you, God, but I've been working on this parable, the wedding banquet, Matthew 22. And to tell you the truth, I'm having a bit of trouble with it. I was wondering if you could help me out. Sure. Let's do lunch. You do lunch? Of course. Tell you what, meet me tomorrow on the Upper West Side, Jacob's Pickles, 12 noon. I've been wanting to try their cheese grits. Grits? Absolutely. Grace on a plate, my friend. Grace on a plate. I heard a low chuckle, and the line went dead.

7:24 So on Thursday, I took the Crosstown bus to the west side. I arrived at Jacob's about 1150. I didn't want to be late for the Almighty. The host offered to show me to a table. I paused. What was the protocol here? Should I wait? These were uncharted waters. Then I decided, okay, I'll take a seat. There will be two of us. How about that booth in the corner? Who knows? and maybe God would materialize across from me mid-eye blink. While waiting, I watched other hungry folk arrive. I even spotted two members from FIA. What would they think of my lunch date? It could look pretty impressive, a power lunch with God.

8:17 But then, again, they might think I was in trouble. Maybe a lower profile was more prudent. I hid behind my menu. Other people arrived. Some were clearly tourists. One person murmured, Yelp says that this place has authentic southern cooking. Her companion smiled eagerly. Do you think they have okra? As they meandered toward their table, a petite Asian woman slid into the booth across from me. God? I asked. In the flesh, she responded and immediately ordered some sweet tea. Now, what was it that you wanted to talk with me about? The parable of the wedding feast.

9:12 I've been studying it and this parable has been frustrating me at every turn. I like the beginning. A king sends out invitations to a wedding banquet. It sounds fun. It sounds like you throwing a big party, asking all kinds of different people to come, preparing an epic feast. It's sort of like the Jones dinner that the church has planned for this Friday. But then, if you'll pardon the expression, all hell breaks loose. The first people invited snub the king's gracious request. They're either too busy to come or they give a surly response to the servants who are passing out the invitations. And then things go from bad to worse when these recipients decide to rough up and actually end up killing a few of the royal messengers. This sends the king into a fury.

10:15 He calls in an airstrike and destroys the ungrateful ruffians. Yes, said God, peering over her menu at me. That's how I remember it. So what's your question? Well, actually, I have a whole list of questions. Why so much violence? It seems over the top. Too many pyrotechnics for such a simple setup. Why would someone kill a servant bearing an invitation? Sure, you may not want to go, but would anyone really get that bent out of shape just because they've been invited to a barbecue? you? And then there's the king. And now I have to admit, the king's response seems appropriate, or at least real. You mess with my hired help, and I'll show you who's boss. That's the way things work in this world. Unless you are supposed to be the king. Are you? And if you're the king, what happened to grace? The whole thing seems pretty darn harsh.

11:33 Looking at the waitress who was placing two glasses of tea on the table, God placed an order. I'll have the vegetable plate with a side of cheese grits and hold the okra. As our server walks away, God leans toward me and whispers, you know, okra was meant to be a joke. I can't believe it's caught on. Go figure. I drink my tea and wait. God seems to be studying me and, well, sort of melting. I don't know quite how to describe this, but before another word is uttered, I'm no longer talking with an Asian woman. I'm staring into the bloodshot eyes of my former preaching professor Leon Watts, an African-American with a raspy voice. So what do you think this parable means? I don't really know. That's why we're doing lunch. I mean, ancient interpreters were pretty sure that the whole thing was an allegory. The messengers with the invitations were the prophets, many of whom were ill-treated by the very people that they came to save.

12:52 The violent response of the king was the army of Rome sweeping down on Israel. The newly invited people were the Gentiles, and the king's son was Jesus. At this, God raised an eyebrow. Doesn't that seem a bit too tidy? and then reaching for the salt, he sprinkled it over a plate of gorgeous sliced tomatoes. Yes, I admitted, turning the parable into a tiny allegory seems like a cop-out. And many scholars argue that parables are not algebra puzzles with neat this equals that code. although I'm leaning that way right now because I'm afraid of the alternative. What's that? Well as I read it the the alternative is that this parable is about people being invited to believe in Jesus and if you don't believe in Jesus well then you're destroyed.

13:56 really says God raising an eyebrow I don't recall it saying anything about belief right okay to be fair it speaks about an invitation to a feast an invitation that's rejected with serious consequences if the invitation isn't Jesus well then what is it At that, God looked up quickly. I never said that Jesus isn't the invitation. I should probably mention that by now I'm sitting across from a youthful guy with colorful tattoos running up his arms. He could be the brother of Lemuel, the fellow who cooks a mean bacon, egg, and cheese at the bodega on 98th Street, wiping his mouth, having finished the tomatoes, Lem's brother, motions to the waitress. Would it be possible to get some more grits, please? These are just amazing. How do you get them so creamy? As she hustled off, the almighty fixed me with a probing look. Scott, you don't like the judgment part of this story, do you?

15:15 honestly no i don't want to think of you as a vengeful king i cringe to think that there might be people who are called and not chosen i want everyone to come to the feast me too said god here try these grits now did you notice Scott who gets invited to the party yes I said the text says that the servants went into the streets and gathered all whom they found both good and bad so the wedding hall was filled with guests. Okay, I guess I see your point. Everyone is invited. The judgment in this parable is surrounded by grace, by invitation, although I've still got to tell you that people are going to question your discretion. First, the king flies off the handle and levels a city, and then he turns around and invites both good and bad people to a party?

16:32 Why invite bad people to your party? Shouldn't you require some sort of transformation before the bad ones get ushered in? It's not a terrible idea, responds God, spooning grits onto my plate. Say, the last time I checked, you folk at Fifth Avenue still pray a prayer of confession during worship, don't you? Yes. And you follow that up with an assurance of pardon, right? Yes. So do you have any doubt, any doubt at all, that when people are called to worship, summoned to pray and sing every week at Fifth Ave, that both good and bad come? In fact, there's good and bad in every one of you.

17:29 Aren't you all made up of wheat and weeds? Let me put it another way. It's my party. I can invite imperfect folk if I want to. In fact, it would be a pretty small party if only the perfect people showed up. Well, I said, that brings me to the most troubling aspect of this parable. The guy who gets thrown out. Yes, I'm convinced that you added that part just to drive preachers crazy. What if I were to toss Mary Rose Maine out of the Jones dinner on Friday for not wearing proper attire? Here God chuckled. Hold on. The waitress was hovering and God was ready for dessert. Can I get a slice of your apple crumble pie for here and an order of the maple chicken boxed up to go. As the waitress turned away, the Holy One lowered her voice.

18:33 I'm a vegetarian, but Moses would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't bring back a quarter white and some greens. Incidentally, God now looked like the 78-year-old bookstore manager for whom I used to work, and that figures Mrs. Martin totally had the voice of God. Do you know, I said, that you keep changing. It's a bit unnerving. You look like all sorts of different people. Yes, said God, smiling. Technically, I suppose it would be more accurate to say that all sorts of different people look like me, but have it your way. Point taken. Listen, I'm in danger of losing my train of thought. Can we get back to the parable?

19:28 Tell me about the guy who gets thrown out of the feast for not having a wedding gown on. What's with that? If you're also super gracious, why toss someone out who's ignored the dress code? Why even have a dress code? And if you've got to have one, for whatever reason, you seem like the last host who would ever enforce it.

19:55 Perhaps you're trying to make this parable do a little too much. What's that supposed to mean? Well, first off, if you're worried about grace, let me remind you that there are all sorts of other parables about grace out there. There's the prodigal son, the lost sheep. He did that a couple of weeks ago. There are so many stories in the good book about welcome extended to those who have been shut out and hope for those who have been abandoned. So are you saying that I'm trying to make this parable proclaim the whole gospel when really it wants to focus on something smaller? Maybe, maybe not. Why don't you just try reading it in a more wooden way?

20:53 Nothing fancy. Okay, the king is throwing a party. Everyone is invited. So I guess I should ask, why does the king want to throw a party? What does the king want of these people? Good question, said God, taking a forkful of pie. Easy question. But I don't know. What does the king want? Come on now. What does anyone who's throwing a party want? For people to have a good time? Bingo. Ah, so the guy without the garment didn't want to play along? Well, said God, let me put it this way. This isn't a parable about etiquette.

21:51 Come to think of it, there are no parables about etiquette. It's a parable about what you might call attitude. I began to get excited. so so all the king wants from the people at the party is for them to take it at face value it's it's a party have fun the work of the kingdom is supposed to be accomplished in a festive way those those invited to the feast shouldn't be suspicious of each other or surly or moody or whiny they should spit out their sour grapes. They should avoid pouting. And what really ticks you off is when somebody sits in the corner waiting for the host to ask, why don't you have your party hat on? Stirring another pack of sugar into her cup of coffee, God smiled. Now who's being harsh?

22:54 Everyone has moments when they do not feel up to the party. Trust me, those people are on my radar screen too. Remember, I'm the one who's forever sending out more invitations. So then what's the point of the guy without the gown? I'm still not getting it.

23:16 Scott, God, asked, Do you know how they used to describe me? I mean, way back. Do you know what they used to say? What? They used to say that I am a jealous God. It doesn't sound very flattering, does it? No. But you know what? What? What? it's true. I want all of you. All as in everybody. All as in every part of you. I want you to throw yourself into my party with abandon. I want you to grab poor people, tired people, sad people, sick people. I want you to leave your embarrassment, your half measures, you're maybe I'll try religion or maybe I won't lily-livered excuses at the door. I want you to throw a robe on over your clothes, those clothes that signal to the world who you are and what you think. And I want you to plunge into the love that I've prepared for you. I want all of you.

24:39 whoa I said that's a little scary yeah so why don't you try this for starters the next time you're in church ask yourself ask everyone why are we here Are you saying that we've forgotten that we've been invited to a feast? You tell me, replied God, picking up a takeaway box of chicken and greens. And then she was gone, mid-blink of the eye.