Today's Scripture Readings
Exodus 39:1-14 (NRSV)
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 (BCP., p.741)
Philippians 4:1-9 (NRSV)
Matthew 22:1-14 (NRSV)
Blog Reflection
What a week! I am beginning this reflection after the sweeping victories for the freedom to marry all over the country. The chosen inaction by the U.S. Supreme Court has expanded the 19 States where marriage for same-gender couples is now legal to 29 States. The stories just kept coming, and the joys and tears for the couples who can legally marry the person they love were overwhelming. As is true in such instances, however, those who oppose such moves have also become louder and more ferocious than ever.
How amazing that this Sunday's Gospel Reading is about a wedding.
The reading from Exodus is crucial too. The Israelites had grumbled to Moses and God about no water, food, safety and more. It seems that no matter how much God did for God's People, it was never enough. Now that Moses was on Mount Sinai to receive the Commandments, they grew impatient with the process and enlisted Aaron to take part with them in worshiping the very kind of image that God had just forbade them to in the Commandments given.
If we look at this from the view point of our modern age in which everything is pretty much automatic with the dawn of the cell phone, the internet, the microwave oven and more; what is taking place in this narrative seems strange. In their defense, they may have been in slavery back in Egypt and it was oppressive. Yet, they also had food, water, a place to live and a stability that they no longer had now wandering through the desert. They took as much as they could and left everything else behind. All of their security was gone, and their future was many years away. It is comparable to a couple who just applied for a mortgage to buy a house. They have filled out the forms and now they are waiting in line for a meeting and/or an answer that seems to take forever. The phone just doesn't ring. The hours just slip away. Everything is on hold. In situations such as this, such as what Israel was experiencing, it is much more fun and exciting to just chuck it all away, invent your own version and do what you want. God's anger was because they could not bring themselves to just wait on the Lord after everything that had just happened, and anticipate the greater things that were to come. There were things by which they would have to make great sacrificies, even more than what they gave up already. Moses intercedes for the People, and God shows mercy and leads them onward.
The parable of the wedding feast is very complicated. The beginning of the parable seems rather simple and user friendly. When we get to the ending and the servant who did not have a proper wedding garment on was thrown out to a torturous existence, it is quite hard to take. If you interpret this parable from the point of view that a Biblical literalist would, you might conclude that the one thrown out where those who failed to commit themselves to the Lord with a sincere heart. If you were to read it from the point of a devout Roman Catholic, the one's who didn't come were the Jewish people, and the Church is new guests who were welcomed and put on the right garment, while the Protestants were the ones that failed to dress more appropriately. Again, antisemitism is not a response that can be justified. The injustices upon the Jewish people and Muslims by Christians is horrific and contrary to who Christians are.
A much more accurate study of the words of this parable will help if recall the importance of clothing. Adam and Eve did not wear leaves and twigs as they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. "The Lord God made garments of skin for the man and for his wife, and clothed them." In Ruth 3:9 it reads, "And she answered, "I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin." When Jesus was crucified in John 19:24 the reference to Psalm 22: "They divided my garments among them, for my clothing they cast lots." The place of clothing in the Scriptures is very significant.
The issue for the servant who was thrown out, because he wasn't wearing the proper garment is suggestive of the attitude behind not wearing what was required. Did the servant accept the invitation to come to this wedding feast gladly or grudgingly? Was he offered a robe to participate and did he refuse it, because of who else was there? Did he come to participate with everyone else, or was he there to stand out and become his own life of the party? How might all this relate to all that has happened this week?
Here is what I would suggest we reflect on.
The Stonewall riots about 45 years ago began the movement towards a greater equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people has affected so many parts of society in terms of jobs, politics, religion, technological advancements, the visual and performing arts, medical care, government and more. In terms of the Church specifically, we have gone from a time in which it did not matter what Christian Church you worshiped in, the condemnation of LGBTQ people was every where. Now there are a fantastic number of Christians who have come out as LGBTQ and have helped many others to learn acceptance and inclusion.
In the history of more Liturgical churches the wedding banquet is equivalent of the Eucharist. The celebration of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is memorialized in the Mass by which we receive the Body and the Blood of Christ because of God's gracious goodness. God has extended a warm invitation to everyone to come, participate, receive and be part of the transformation. The Church now has a new garment to offer. It is God's party and there is no limit to who can come. As the Church becomes more inclusive, it is changing for the better. Might the figure of the servant who is not properly dressed be symbolic of the one who is not interested in participating in the new and exciting, inclusive Eucharist? Might it be those who are there are holding on to grudges because the new guests are arriving and they would rather stay in their favorite old clothing, than join the excitement of what is happening? On the other hand, could it be that the inclusive Eucharist symbolizes God holding out God's hand to LGBTQ people who have been wounded by the Church in the past, and just won't try to trust God so that they can find healing and peace in God so that they can move on?
I think the call of God in this parable is for everyone to come and celebrate all the wonderful things going on in our lives. To come with a sincere heart of gratitude and share with everyone else who is there, with true Christian Charity and a desire for life-giving holiness. God knows that we come with our wounded hearts and angry emotions and yet, God welcomes us there. God welcomes us to come, but asks for us to put on the new robe of joy and celebration that allows God to truly transform us and the rest of the world around us. God will transform us and the world around us, as we give over our prejudices and grudges to experience the healing and reconciliation that brings peace to war, justice to the oppressed, and enlightenment where darkness seems to show no mercy.
Are all Christians who confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, ready to come and join in the banquet with everyone else, with a new robe? The time for weeping and holding on to those things that we need to let go of, is coming to an end. There is a new Church and society emerging. We are the disciples through whom Jesus wants to transform the world. If we will only celebrate with the robe of thanksgiving, joy and hearts full of love; the work of the Reign of God will become a living and beautiful reality.
I think closing with the words of St. Paul from today's Epistle is very appropriate.
Amen.
Prayers
Exodus 39:1-14 (NRSV)
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD." They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
The LORD said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, `These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation."
But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, `It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, `I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 (BCP., p.741)
Philippians 4:1-9 (NRSV)
My brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Matthew 22:1-14 (NRSV)
Once more Jesus spoke to the people in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, `Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have 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 his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, `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 slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom 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?' 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."
Blog Reflection
What a week! I am beginning this reflection after the sweeping victories for the freedom to marry all over the country. The chosen inaction by the U.S. Supreme Court has expanded the 19 States where marriage for same-gender couples is now legal to 29 States. The stories just kept coming, and the joys and tears for the couples who can legally marry the person they love were overwhelming. As is true in such instances, however, those who oppose such moves have also become louder and more ferocious than ever.
How amazing that this Sunday's Gospel Reading is about a wedding.
The reading from Exodus is crucial too. The Israelites had grumbled to Moses and God about no water, food, safety and more. It seems that no matter how much God did for God's People, it was never enough. Now that Moses was on Mount Sinai to receive the Commandments, they grew impatient with the process and enlisted Aaron to take part with them in worshiping the very kind of image that God had just forbade them to in the Commandments given.
If we look at this from the view point of our modern age in which everything is pretty much automatic with the dawn of the cell phone, the internet, the microwave oven and more; what is taking place in this narrative seems strange. In their defense, they may have been in slavery back in Egypt and it was oppressive. Yet, they also had food, water, a place to live and a stability that they no longer had now wandering through the desert. They took as much as they could and left everything else behind. All of their security was gone, and their future was many years away. It is comparable to a couple who just applied for a mortgage to buy a house. They have filled out the forms and now they are waiting in line for a meeting and/or an answer that seems to take forever. The phone just doesn't ring. The hours just slip away. Everything is on hold. In situations such as this, such as what Israel was experiencing, it is much more fun and exciting to just chuck it all away, invent your own version and do what you want. God's anger was because they could not bring themselves to just wait on the Lord after everything that had just happened, and anticipate the greater things that were to come. There were things by which they would have to make great sacrificies, even more than what they gave up already. Moses intercedes for the People, and God shows mercy and leads them onward.
The parable of the wedding feast is very complicated. The beginning of the parable seems rather simple and user friendly. When we get to the ending and the servant who did not have a proper wedding garment on was thrown out to a torturous existence, it is quite hard to take. If you interpret this parable from the point of view that a Biblical literalist would, you might conclude that the one thrown out where those who failed to commit themselves to the Lord with a sincere heart. If you were to read it from the point of a devout Roman Catholic, the one's who didn't come were the Jewish people, and the Church is new guests who were welcomed and put on the right garment, while the Protestants were the ones that failed to dress more appropriately. Again, antisemitism is not a response that can be justified. The injustices upon the Jewish people and Muslims by Christians is horrific and contrary to who Christians are.
A much more accurate study of the words of this parable will help if recall the importance of clothing. Adam and Eve did not wear leaves and twigs as they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. "The Lord God made garments of skin for the man and for his wife, and clothed them." In Ruth 3:9 it reads, "And she answered, "I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin." When Jesus was crucified in John 19:24 the reference to Psalm 22: "They divided my garments among them, for my clothing they cast lots." The place of clothing in the Scriptures is very significant.
The issue for the servant who was thrown out, because he wasn't wearing the proper garment is suggestive of the attitude behind not wearing what was required. Did the servant accept the invitation to come to this wedding feast gladly or grudgingly? Was he offered a robe to participate and did he refuse it, because of who else was there? Did he come to participate with everyone else, or was he there to stand out and become his own life of the party? How might all this relate to all that has happened this week?
Here is what I would suggest we reflect on.
The Stonewall riots about 45 years ago began the movement towards a greater equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people has affected so many parts of society in terms of jobs, politics, religion, technological advancements, the visual and performing arts, medical care, government and more. In terms of the Church specifically, we have gone from a time in which it did not matter what Christian Church you worshiped in, the condemnation of LGBTQ people was every where. Now there are a fantastic number of Christians who have come out as LGBTQ and have helped many others to learn acceptance and inclusion.
In the history of more Liturgical churches the wedding banquet is equivalent of the Eucharist. The celebration of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is memorialized in the Mass by which we receive the Body and the Blood of Christ because of God's gracious goodness. God has extended a warm invitation to everyone to come, participate, receive and be part of the transformation. The Church now has a new garment to offer. It is God's party and there is no limit to who can come. As the Church becomes more inclusive, it is changing for the better. Might the figure of the servant who is not properly dressed be symbolic of the one who is not interested in participating in the new and exciting, inclusive Eucharist? Might it be those who are there are holding on to grudges because the new guests are arriving and they would rather stay in their favorite old clothing, than join the excitement of what is happening? On the other hand, could it be that the inclusive Eucharist symbolizes God holding out God's hand to LGBTQ people who have been wounded by the Church in the past, and just won't try to trust God so that they can find healing and peace in God so that they can move on?
I think the call of God in this parable is for everyone to come and celebrate all the wonderful things going on in our lives. To come with a sincere heart of gratitude and share with everyone else who is there, with true Christian Charity and a desire for life-giving holiness. God knows that we come with our wounded hearts and angry emotions and yet, God welcomes us there. God welcomes us to come, but asks for us to put on the new robe of joy and celebration that allows God to truly transform us and the rest of the world around us. God will transform us and the world around us, as we give over our prejudices and grudges to experience the healing and reconciliation that brings peace to war, justice to the oppressed, and enlightenment where darkness seems to show no mercy.
Are all Christians who confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, ready to come and join in the banquet with everyone else, with a new robe? The time for weeping and holding on to those things that we need to let go of, is coming to an end. There is a new Church and society emerging. We are the disciples through whom Jesus wants to transform the world. If we will only celebrate with the robe of thanksgiving, joy and hearts full of love; the work of the Reign of God will become a living and beautiful reality.
I think closing with the words of St. Paul from today's Epistle is very appropriate.
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Amen.
Prayers
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and
follow us, that we may continually be given to good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 23. The Book of Common Prayer, p.234).
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have
done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole
creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
and for the mystery of love.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for
the loving care which surrounds us on every side.
We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best
efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy
and delight us.
We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the
truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast
obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,
through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life
again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.
Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and
make him known; and through him, at all times and in all
places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen. (A General Thanksgiving. The Book of Common Prayer., p. 836).
Great posting.
ReplyDeleteAs we come out once again on this National Coming Out Day, may we do so clothed in the robes of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Gender and orientation optional!
ReplyDelete