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Dear Church Family,
Most of the texts from Matthew’s Gospel this month (and September) involve Jesus’ storytelling through parables. I love a good story, as it is a helpful medium to get lost in and explore my own reality through the insights I find. Jesus tells a lot of stories, and they are often quite a mix of flavors: disturbing, joyful, jarring, challenging, and grace filled, to name a few descriptors. Reading his parables, and talking about them - whether during our worship spaces or throughout the week - reminds me of what it means to follow God. Faith isn’t something we claim, and place on a shelf for others to see once in a while, or for us to dust from time to time. Faith is the constant prodding of how our beliefs take root in our lived realities. A good story gets stuck in our teeth in a way, nagging at us to mine for how we might be challenged, opened, or changed. These parables that Jesus tells are like seeds planted in us, with God’s watering and caretaking to nudge us towards growth and life. It isn’t all nice and easy, but we are often pushed to ask questions, face challenges, navigate humility and sacrifice, and grow in our understanding of God’s love for us and for the world around us. It is an edifying journey, though not often a smooth road.
At the beginning of chapter 22, Jesus tells the story of a wedding banquet. The beginning sets the tone for joy - a king sends out for the guests to come, the wedding banquet is ready!! But the story quickly takes a turn, as those invited do not come. The king sends another delegation to get the invitation out, only to be met with hostility and abuse to his messengers. In this version of the story, there is a pretty fierce response on the king's end - causing suffering to those who refused to come. And yes the party goes on - he opens the invitation wider, to any and everyone who wants to take part. It ends on another strange note, kicking a guest out due to seemingly improper attire. Perhaps you read this story and scratch your head - what IS this? We are pushed to explore the context a little more - about kings and kingdoms, invitations and protocols. The king of this story has a seemingly thriving kingdom, in which his constituents do not fear or even oblige themselves to his demands, but almost govern themselves. Would that be rare, to operate with such independence and seeming disrespect as a subject in a kingdom? When he throws a feast - a party open to the people, they are not even interested in attending - what would it mean for that kind of generosity to be so disrespected and rejected? And then the invitation was offered ever wider to everyone in the kingdom - the text says ‘both good and bad’! I wonder - where do you find yourself in this story? What questions do you hold if this is an image Jesus uses for the Kingdom of God?
You know who heard this story and knew exactly what it meant? Or at least were clearly convinced it was about them… Jesus’ audience who claimed to know God for themselves, who refused to celebrate the feast Jesus was inviting everyone to, and who doubled down on their own way rather than re-learning what God is all about. The next line is about how temple leaders then plan to entrap him. And you know what, we who are church goers and believers in Christ, must wrestle with the question of whether we too prefer our own way rather than God’s radical nature. Will we double down on what we think/believe, or will we bring before God what we have, and actually let God mold us? When we get into these stories, and explore the intention and audience at work in the Gospels, we in turn are invited to explore where we find ourselves in them. What disturbs us? What challenges us? What questions do we have?
This may be uncomfortable, but formation of any kind is likely not comfortable. We come up against what we don’t know, finding out where we are wrong, and how we can’t see the big picture as God does. But to walk with God in all of it is worth it - because it turns out God IS good, and is working that good in us and in the world around us, to live lives that are meaningful, profound, healing, and as joyful as a wedding banquet (just wear the right clothes!!). I’m glad we get to do this wrestling together - may we each pay attention to the stories God is telling, both in scripture and through our lives. Amen?
Blessings,
Pastor Becca
