Rectory Farm 12th October 2014
Have you ever turned up somewhere wearing the wrong clothes? I think clergy are in danger of doing it all the time.
Some of you’ll know that I am a proud Northampton Town supporter. Somebody has to be, right? Ever since I was six I’ve followed them through thin and thinner (mostly) all over the country. One of the things about being a wheelchair-using football supporter of a poor lower-division football team like Northampton Town is that the accommodation for wheelchair using supporters of both teams is usually in the same place. Most often it is in the main section of home supporters. Many’s the time I was a lone voice loudly celebrating a goal whilst around me there was a deathly hush. Further, there was a skill, an art even, to the timing with which you revealed the paraphernalia of the supporter. The scarf, the hat, the replica shirt. To arrive brazenly decked out in all these colours can cause icy stares at least. I remember once, at Brighton, loudly celebrating a goal with another wheelchair user, Mustafa, by pushing across the athletics track and reaching the side of the pitch, only to be threatened with expulsion for incitement to riot.
All of which is to set the scene somehow for the most difficult part of this morning’s readings, in my view. We’ll come to the happiest parts in just a moment, but if you’re anything like me, the thing that jarred the most when we were hearing the gospel reading just now was the fate of the man invited to the party by the King who was cast in to the outer darkness because he was wearing the wrong clothes. What’s that about? As with everything to do with the Bible, there’s a debate about it, but the most likely explanation is as follows:
The King in the story is God. As Matthew is writing his gospel to Jewish believers and those who are Jewish who might convert, he is at pains to show that the good news of the party (salvation) was offered first to those who the KING loved (the Jews), and that when this was rejected, he offered it to all (the Gentiles). This is meant as a direct challenge to those hearers and readers of Matthew who think that the good news is only for a small group, or that they can control who receives it. More than this though, once the offer of invitation has been given, the guest who is wrongly clothed has failed to clothe himself in righteousness. God offers us righteousness, but we have a choice to make about whether we receive and accept his offer. We all have an open invitation to the party because it is God who extends the invitation to us. That party can begin now, and lead to eternity spent in the presence of God. Our task is to take the step of faith and accept the life in all its fullness that God offers to us in Jesus, to put on the clothes of righteousness that He offers to us, and to prepare for the party. We are not robot automatons, forced to live a particular way. We have choices to make. We have one to make anew this morning, will we follow the way of Jesus?
Once we have this piece of the puzzle in context, I hope that the rest of the readings we have had this morning slot together for us. Verses 6-8 of Isaiah 25 tell us that the Lord will prepare a feast for all peoples. None are excluded from the offer of His love. He will destroy the shroud (that is the shroud of death) which covers all the nations and presses down on the people. Death will be swallowed up in victory, we’re told. Not necessarily victory for us, now, but victory for our God, which leads to life and hope for all of us and for the whole world. Tears will be wiped away from all faces. Disgrace will be removed from all people. What a vision that is. We can sometimes feel like the shroud of death is over us, or that the shame that we feel because of actions, words and thoughts in the past or the present will be our disgrace forever. God has made a promise to us throughout the history of His pursuit of relationship with the people He made for Himself to do everything that these things might be lifted from us. We cannot free or save ourselves. We cannot work our way out of difficulty. We can’t even pray or study scripture out of it. What takes us from death to life, from darkness to life, from being uninvited to being an honoured guest at the party of the Kingdom of Heaven, is the persistent pursuit of God towards us. It is God’s yes that we most need. It is God’s love that gives us breath. It is God’s grace which frees us, God’s voice and hands that lead us, God’s arms that carry us, God’s strength which is our strength as we are weak.
It’s apt for us to be looking at a party in Scripture today, as we’re only a few short weeks away from our own party to celebrate 40 years of the Emmanuel Group. The party on the Sunday morning (2nd) at Emmanuel is open to all, anyone at all, no exclusions, no undesirables, everybody welcome. Please do be inviting people over the coming weeks. We want the Sunday morning to be a real celebration, an expression of thanks to God and to one another for His faithfulness. We want it to include as many of the people who make up our community and those who have had something to do with the Church as we possibly can. If you bump in to anyone in the next few weeks who would benefit from a party, and who wouldn’t, please do invite them.
The first few verses of Matthew 22 are the writer setting out Jesus’ explanation that the prophets God sent to proclaim His kingdom were rejected and killed by the Israelites (verses 1-5). God’s anger in 6-7 is justified. The party is opened up to “anyone they could find” following this, so Matthew seems to suggest, because of the disobedience of those God first invited. The verse when we have described to us a hall filled with guests, outsiders, would have been shocking to those Jewish believers who first heard this gospel. So too, seeing Emmanuel full of “strangers” might be shocking to us at the beginning of November, but who is our neighbor? I have been blown away since I’ve been here by the welcome and encouragement that Jo and I have received, and a huge amount of kindness along the way. It’s honestly quite uncommon in my previous experience of Churches to be received so kindly. Having come here, I am excited to see many other people introduced to God, and His Church, through our life together and love for one another. Our vision is to be a Church, a home for the community, whatever stage they are at. Once we are together, then the exciting progression towards deciding to accept the offer of God to clothe and prepare us for His banquet begins.
These verses were the driving force behind our decision to have a party as part of the 40th anniversary. It is good for us to celebrate, to invite the community in. Of course, not all of us feel like rejoicing all the time. Some of us are going through very serious and difficult circumstances. We are told though, to rejoice always (1 Thess 5:16)but there is a huge difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is an emotion. Joy is a gift of the Spirit which God chooses to give to us. So, wherever you are at this morning, there’s some room for joy in your life.
Lastly, what can we do to make sure we turn up to the party properly dressed? You don’t want to be like me, an away fan in the home end. It only ends up in trouble. Trust God. Direct your life towards Him. Lean not on your own understanding, as the proverb says, but rest in the promise of God to be with you always. Where it seems like God is far away, or absent altogether, be brave enough to ask questions. Dialogue with God, and one another. When you don’t know the answers, be brave enough to admit it. Be honest, be open, be brave. Find ways to show kindness, find ways to show mercy and grace, be forgiving, accept that if you’ve asked to be, you already are forgiven. Most of all, in all your ways, acknowledge God, who is the one who has offered us the keys to salvation and the invitation to His eternal party.
Amen.