Jesus' parables are remembered because they're so rich in imagery and can be interpreted in many ways. They're always full of interesting and sometimes confusing details. And they're rich in nuance.
But occasionally, Jesus told parables that had short epilogues. That is, the parable seems to be over and the story plot resolved, but then something else unexpectedly happens. And those epilogues are always worth paying particular attention to.
Today's parable is one of them. In this parable, Jesus tells the story of a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. All the guests stood him up, and the king got angry. He burned the city and then had his slaves go out into the streets and gather in other wedding guests. So at last, the wedding hall was completely filled and the king was able to give his wedding banquet.
In theory, that should be the end of the story. But then it keeps going with the epilogue. The king comes into the banquet hall to see the guests. And he notices that somebody is there who doesn't have on a wedding robe. And he goes over to this guy and calls him out for not wearing a wedding robe.
That seems really strange. After all:
- The king's slaves went out to grab people off the street. Maybe this guy didn't have time to go home and change. Or maybe he didn't own a nice robe to wear to the wedding? But apparently, everybody else in the hall did, so that doesn't seem to be the issue...
- The king's slaves gathered up both "good and bad". You'd expect that the King might notice one of the "bad" people and want to get rid of him. But this guy isn't described as "bad", merely as someone not wearing a wedding robe, so "good or bad" person doesn't seem to be the issue...
- The king's slaves were specifically instructed to invite "everyone you find", so, by definition, this guy can't be a party crasher. He's invited, and he knew he was invited, so that doesn't seem to be the issue...
Instead, the king asks how he could accept the invitation and come to the party without a wedding robe. And, in response, "he was speechless."
"He was speechless." Now it's important to understand that the Greek verb that Matthew uses does NOT mean, "he was too embarrassed to say anything." Instead, Matthew uses a rarely used verb that really means "to be silenced when you're called out for being a hypocrite." It's the same verb that's used in other places to say that Jesus' opponents "were silenced" when he showed them to be lying or hypocritical.
So in this parable, when the king addresses the person without a wedding robe, the silence that results is NOT because the guy is too embarrassed to say that he forgot to change or is too poor to own a nice robe. The silence is the result of the fact that this guy just didn't want to invest himself in the party enough to put on a wedding robe.
Everybody else at the party had taken the invitation seriously. They had put on their best robe. And even if that robe was a bit dirty or not up to the standards of the nobility, the king was fine with them because they took the party seriously and had invested themselves in being wedding guests.
But the guy without the wedding robe just showed up. He didn't think it was important enough to dress for the occasion. He probably wasn't joining in the fun. And he was probably standing around bored, because he didn't really want to be there. Probably, it was a combination of those things (not just his attire) that made him stand out from the crowd.
So why does Jesus spend time on this epilogue? After all, if the wedding banquet is the kingdom of heaven, and all are invited, isn't that the point?
And on one level, that is the point. But it's also true that whenever Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven, he isn't just referring to life after death. He's referring to living as part of God's kingdom right here and right now. God's kingdom is the great celebration of God's love and God's transformation of the world. And when people are invited into the kingdom, we're invited to invest ourselves and participate, not just show up.
And that's the point of the epilogue. When God invites us to be part of what he's doing in our lives, he doesn't just want us to put our names on a list of attendees, or show up and make an appearance. What God wants from each of us it to invest ourselves in God's party and to participate in what God is doing in the world.
So how is it that Jesus calls us to invest ourselves in God's party? How do we live as active participants in what God is doing in the world, and not merely as people who just show up?
It seems like that's the real question Jesus is asking in this parable. And it seems to me that investing ourselves in the kingdom of God in our lives right now means:
- Actively paying attention to what God is doing in my life and in the world around me. And that's got to be more than simply looking at far away places and saying, "yes, God acted through those helpers in one of the many recent tragedies..."; What is God calling you to do today, even if it doesn't seem like a big deal? How do you listen? Who are the people and what are the techniques you use to pay attention...?
- Involving myself in parts of the party that are emotionally meaningful to me. And that means both looking for events that I love as well as NOT trying to pretend that things that are "supposed" to be important are deeply meaningful to me ... (sometimes, we've got to say "no" to things we're conditioned to say "oh yes, that's a really important part of spirituality" in order to have the bandwidth to invest ourselves in things that make a difference in our lives...)
- Putting on my robe - that is, actually doing things that make me part of the party, instead of being content to let faith merely be an idea in my head or a feeling in my heart. What do you do to invest yourself in the party? What do you do that makes you an instrument of God's presence in the world around you? What gives you satisfaction in knowing that God did something meaningful through you because you made yourself willing and available? Like any sport or game you play, it's not fun and it's not rewarding unless you actually do it and get good at it ...
Jesus wants us to know that we're all invited and included in God's party. But the party is too big and too important to just show up. And so Jesus calls us each day to pay attention to what God is doing in our lives and how God is calling us to be a part of it. Jesus calls us each day to invest ourselves in being part of the party. And Jesus calls us each day to do the things that make being part of the party meaningful both to us, and to the life of the world around us.
Amen.
