Jan. 24 Sermon: Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come
Holy Covenant UMC, January 24, 2010
Rev. Kate Hurst Floyd
Matthew 22:1-14

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Don’t you love just love to receive an invitation?

I’m always delighted, when I check the mail, and find amidst the bills and junk an envelope with a handwritten address on beautiful paper. I toss everything else aside and dive in—perhaps it’s an invite to a birthday party, a baby shower, a wedding invitation—a save the date from a friend you haven’t seen since college. You know that feeling, when there’s a fun event to anticipate.

When you log into facebook and a notification pops up…you hope it’s something really good, not just another invite to join Farmville…and you have an invitation. Not an invitation to Holy Covenant’s congregational summit (which I’m sure fills you all with immense joy), but an invitation to a fabulous night out of dinner and theater. Or your e-mail reveals an e-vite with margaritas lining the top…you click to go to the whole invitation, knowing this is going to be one good party.

Today, we have an invitation before us, an invitation to participate in the kingdom of God. What is this kingdom like? Jesus tells us that it is like a host, who sends out beautiful, hand-crafted invitations to a banquet. A lavish wedding banquet. … The King has prepared a banquet on the occasion of his son’s wedding, and he spares no expense. Succulent food: hummus, lamb, wine, and coffee; decadent decorations: gold goblets, colorful pillows, bright candles like stars; and top-notch entertainment: melodious musicians and graceful dancers.

And yet, despite the splendor of the feast before us, this is not an appealing invitation.

It’s less like a great friend’s fabulous birthday party, and more like that company cocktail hour where you have to make small talk with your obnoxious boss and spend a free evening actually doing work. Were you listening carefully as Sallie and Chris read? If so, you were probably squirming around in your seat, uncomfortable with all the disturbing details:
A king invites guests to dinner, and when nobody shows up, he sends his servants out to remind the invitees that a banquet is happening, right now: But the people are too busy, distracted, working, to go. They reject the invite, and just for kicks, they kill the king’s servants. The king then returns violence for violence, sending his troops out to kill those who betrayed him.

Then, there seems to be some relief, some grace…for the host decides that everybody on the street is welcome, not just the select few…the good, the bad, and the ugly all flow in to feast at this feast. We feel some relief, for this is beginning to sound like a call for inclusion….but before the story ends, the host notices that one of the guests isn’t wearing a wedding garment, the proper attire, so he kicks him out, not just onto the street, but into the wretched horror of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I don’t care how good the hummus is, this is not a party worth getting mixed up in. It doesn’t seem to end well for anyone.

Is this what the kingdom of God is like? Full of judgment and rejection? This is our second Sunday of moving through the Lord’s prayer, and today we are exploring the phrase: your kingdom come. Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.

We claim inclusivity here, week after week….and this text doesn’t leave us feeling very included.

Many people interpret this parable as a direct allegory…God is the king, enacting violence and kicking people out, not just out of a banquet but out of heaven. I’ve heard this parable interpreted this way many times. But is this really the God we believe in?

As Christians, we believe that Jesus is God incarnate, God come to earth as a human being. So, everything we know about the character of Jesus is necessarily true about God. And we know that Jesus was anti-violence and pro-peace in all that he did. He condemns retribution in favor of love and forgiveness, encourages us to turn the other cheek, and prizes mutuality over hierarchy. This, this is the God we believe in, a God of love. So, it’s clear that this parable isn’t a direct allegory—God is not a king who enacts violence.

But Jesus, is, here, telling us something about truth, about God’s power, about the way the world should be, in this parable. And per usual, he tells us by telling a story. A story about God’s heaven, God’s reign.

From Jesus, we know what heaven is like: A beloved community where all are welcome, especially those who are poor, humble, and meek, and rejected here on earth; hungry are filled up and the thirsty are quenched; where justice flows down; tears are no more; and pain is gone; A place where all are welcome.

In the Lord’s prayer, we are called to bring this heaven to earth. For the Kingdom of God doesn’t just exist in heaven, beyond our reach, eternal life that we won’t know until eternity. No, the kingdom of God is present right now, in Jesus: in Luke, the Pharisees ask him when the kingdom of God is coming, and he answers: “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you” In Jesus, we receive the kingdom here on earth.

This kingdom isn’t fully realized yet, but we get glimpses of it in the here and the now.
So what Jesus is telling us about in this parable is not only a distant heaven that is far away, but also about the way we live our lives right here, right now, on earth. The way he teaches us to live.

With this in mind, let’s go back to our parable.

We have a story here, not of a violent king, but of an invitation to live a radically new way of life: one where peace triumphs over violence, the prisoner and the CEO sit down at the same table, racial and gender justice are realized, diverse sexualities are welcome, and creation is celebrated instead of abused.

And we’re invited, all of us: the good, the bad, and the ugly, to be part of bringing this vision to earth. To partner with God and make sure every person has a place at the table. It’s a beautiful table, this banquet, not just because everyone has enough to eat, but because everyone is welcome to come and to feast.

Still, though, we’re left wondering about the person at the end who is kicked out. For shouldn’t this be a safe place for all? We’re told that there was one guest who refused to wear a wedding garment…the guest showed up, but didn’t show respect, didn’t follow the rules, by putting on the garment that was offered to him. The host says: friend, why aren’t you wearing it; and the guest still refuses. Once invited to the banquet, he refuses to live by the expectations and rules set forth.
**

At my last church, we had a daily ministry in which we handed out sack lunches, hygiene kits, and bus passes to people who came in with a need. We were also able to make referrals to different aid agencies in the city. I staffed this ministry once a week, every Wednesday. During one particularly hectic morning, I was in my office, working simultaneously on a sermon, a meeting agenda, and a lesson plan for a Bible study. I was hoping and praying the phone wouldn’t ring, signaling I needed to go downstairs to outreach. But, of course, right in the middle of my lesson plan, I got the call.
So I went downstairs, and it was wild. There were five people who needed help, plus 2 kids, and one of me. I was going frantically between them, tallying up their needs, running back and forth to where we kept the lunches, writing referrals, all the while hoping nobody would linger so I could get back to my real work.

Finally everyone had left, except one man hovering at the clothes bin. I had already gotten him a lunch and averted eye contact as I headed back to my office, hoping he wouldn’t ask me for anything else.

But he came out, sat down, and said to me: “Excuse me, ma’am, I’ve just been waiting for you to hear my story and to pray with me. But you seem so busy—is there someone who can pray with me?”

In that moment, I was at the banquet, but I sure as heck wasn’t wearing my wedding garment.

I had answered God’s invitation, sure: I was a minister, working at a church, after all, talking with folks who are homeless…But I wasn’t living up to the standards I knew, that I know, God is calling me to. I wasn’t doing anything to advance the kingdom. To listen, to understand, to pay as much attention to others as myself; to try and bring about justice in addition to handing out a bus pass.

Did God kick me out of the kingdom or banish me from heaven forever because of my actions? No, of course not. Each one of us here is God’s beloved, and nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

But, through my negligence, because I was just going through the motions, too busy, I was working against the kingdom on earth instead of helping to advance it. And this is what’s happening in the parable. It’s not talking about the afterlife, it’s teaching us about how to live our lives here and now, about the kingdom we are invited to participate in on earth :
The guest lives by his rules instead of God’s rules, and thus lives as though he is separated from God. And this, this is punishment. It’s self-punishment. Does God ever exclude us? No. Do we exclude ourselves from God? Yes, all the time. We exclude ourselves from participating in bringing God’s reality to earth. When we work against the kingdom instead of for it, we punish ourselves, and the world around us. This brings weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God’s grace is always available, but it is a grace that comes with expectations. Expectations that we will live our lives as followers of Jesus, in our hearts and in our actions, to help bring the beloved community to fruition. To help God’s kingdom come on earth, the way we know it is in heaven.

When we separate ourselves from living life this way, it’s painful. But the good news is, we always have the invitation before us, to live working with God instead of against God.

So this parable forces us to ask ourselves: Are we wearing our wedding garments?

When we show up to the banquet, are we actively seeking to live a more just and compassionate life, in all we do? To bring God’s kingdom to earth? Or do we show up, but simply go through the motions.

The invitation is before us, the invitation to mean what we say when we pray: your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. What a privilege to answer the call to usher it in. I leave you with this Franciscan blessing, that puts the invitation before us. May we all say yes:

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator,
Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour,
and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide,
be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.
AMEN

Tags: Kate

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