07.02 | The Party Invitation

Matthew 22:1-22

“And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.”

Matthew 22:1-3

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There were many things I wasn’t prepared for as a parent. The emotional challenge of getting socks on. The panic of pulling together a passable fancy dress costume on the morning of World Book Day. The administrative load of school emails. Hama beads.

And party invitations.

Each party needs a well-planned weekend schedule. Lifts to arrange, a gift to buy, and integrating the party into the social and activities calendar of the other two kids, whilst also working out when to do the weekly food shop. The complexity of the task can lead towards party invitations getting stuck to the fridge, and (on one or two occasions), forgotten about.

Confession over.

Jesus’ words today are about a king’s invitation to a party. But those invited don’t want to come. In fact, they’re so against coming to the party, that they abuse and murder the messengers sent to invite them. Furious, the king responds—killing the invitees and burning their city.

It started with an invitation to a banquet. It ended in bloodshed and burning.

That escalated fast.

When we read this passage, often we get a little lost in what seems like the harshness of the punishments. We’re uncomfortable with language about killing and burning, and react to the idea of retribution that could be disproportionate to the crime committed. 

When we hold this parable before us today, we need first a softener for our fears, and then a challenge for our complacency.

The softener. Remember who Jesus is talking to. He’s talking to the religious leaders in the temple in Jerusalem. They are the people who are so utterly confident that they are invited to God’s banquet, that they have become blind to their own precarious reality. Jesus describes the Kingdom of God as a banquet—a great party, full of lavish food and joy and celebration. But again, He points to the religious as those who not only refuse to join in with the joy of God’s generous freedom and life, but who have persecuted and killed the messengers (or prophets) for centuries. Jesus tells a hard parable using imagery that would have been familiar (and reasonable), to jolt his entrenched listeners from their comfort with unreality. On the flip side of the exclusion of the hard and religious, this is a parable of lavish inclusion for those who never expected an invitation. 

But there’s also challenge. The guy without the party clothes gets me. Kings of the ancient world would sometimes offer special clothing for guests to wear in their parties. To reject this clothing was a direct rebuttal of the host. It meant showing up, but to engage only on one’s own terms. It meant you came to consume the food but with no regard for the king. While it is easy to run into being the man’s protector, feeling his punishment to be excessive to the dress code contravention, when we let the parable soak a little deeper, doesn’t this man illustrate a danger of our age?

The man without the party clothes challenges me. He challenges me not to be the guy on the edge of Jesus’ Way, picking stuff off the canapé table and sipping the wine, but all the while stubbornly dressed in my own ways of being. He challenges me away from a half-in spirituality, consuming those bits of Christianity that benefit me, but missing out on the joy of wholehearted, all in, tearing-up-the-dancefloor spirituality of Jesus. The kind of spirituality that only comes when we let go of our lukewarm reserve, rip off our old clothes, and go all in with His whole new way of being.

The party has begun, and the invitations have been sent.

And the king hands you a whole new outfit. 

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Reflection:

Picture yourself at this banquet, asking the Spirit to help you. Where are you? What are you wearing? How are you behaving? How are you treating others there? 

Where might the Spirit be inviting you into greater engagement in the party of God?

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Pray:

Father

When I read some parables

I find that I spend more time critiquing them

Rather than letting them sharpen me.

Today, I give you permission afresh

Sharpen me

Change me

Reclothe me

Liberate me

I hold back for so many reasons

Fear. Compromise. Skepticism. Judgementalism. Fatigue.

Help me to see that your invitation is not a great trying harder

But the great Letting Go

To the abandonment of my pride,

My agenda,

My fussy self-absorption 

And into the reckless immersion in the party of God

Where the broken cry Yes!

And life truly happens.

Father, set me free,

By the power of your Spirit

And in Jesus’ Name

Amen.

Old Testament: 

For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:

Exodus 29-30 | Psalm 20