A Wedding Robe - Matthew 22 - Proper 23A

A Wedding Robe

Tony E Hansen

Sermon based upon Matthew 22: 1-14; Phippians 4:1-9; Isaiah 25: 1-9

Opening prayer 

When I get invitations to weddings, there are questions.  What do I wear? What do I get them? 

This weekend, I am getting ready to fly out to Hamburg and I am getting anxious about that.  One of my UK colleagues got me a bit excited that I might see some Christmas markets already. Sadly, no, but I did score tickets for Paul Van Dyk!

In this parable, there are people who have been invited and find excuses not to show and some are just as wicked as the group from last week.  When they don’t show, others are brought into the party and they are given garments to wear. Let’s have a good time!  Except someone who decides not to wear the robe.

When in Rome, dress like the Romans.. or don’t.

This is criticism of leadership, of those who have been handed the stewardship of God’s garden, but have squandered or taken advantage of 

We all of have seen corruption and don’t like it. Jesus isn’t happy here and Jesus gives voice to that.  

How often do we get a chance to talk to leadership? How often when you know they have been corrupt, or just bumbling idiots, do you call them out?

Where are you in this parable? It is easy to sit in the bleachers but when people are in the arena, as Brené Brown would say, the perspective changes. 

The table has been prepared and everyone is invited. First the people who were directly and then the whole of town, without exception, clean and unclean, anxious or not.  God invites you to the love and mercy. God wants you to be at the table of grace. 

Here is your invitation folks!

Then there is this guy, has to be a guy, who isn’t wearing the robe. As one describes, it is like going to a party only to be constantly fiddling with your phone. (I say that and watch a guy feverishly tapping away on his phone while waiting for a coffee drink.)

Accepting the invitation is amazing enough but God wants us to not take that invitation for granted.

Why do you get invited? What do you do with that invitation? Why would you say no or yes?

You have been handed the gift of a lifetime, but what do you do with it? “You who have been refuge to the poor, to the needy in distress, a shelter…” You have been given this gift, this shelter, yet do nothing more with it than complain perhaps. 

At this wedding banquet, people are given a “wedding robe.” So what is this?

Paul’s letter to Philippians gives us an idea. “Rejoice in the Lord… Let your gentleness be known to everyone.” 

Let love rule and be us. Let the peace of God be us and everything we do. Bring everything to God in prayer, with thanksgiving. And then that peace, peace of God, will guard your hearts and minds.

That's the wedding robe. It isn't a suit or a dress you have to buy. God gives this to you prepared with all the gifts that surround:

Gentleness. Joy. Faith. Love. Peace. Gifts that are always present.

I'll confess, I'm not great at wearing this robe. Ask me how I'm feeling about getting on a plane to Germany this weekend. I've packed and packed again. 

Anxiety is a garment too, and some of us are too comfortable in that. Why?

We know how that fits because it is familiar and recognizable.

Paul’s letter doesn't stop there. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, pure, pleasing, commendable, think about these things. 

In other words, wearing the robe isn't just about what we feel. It's about what we do.

Isaiah describes God as a refuge for the poor and a shelter for the needy in distress. God spreads a feast for all peoples and wipes the tears from every face. 

When we put on the robe, we start to look a little like the host. We become the shelter. We become the peace and love that comes with God’s gift to us. Then, we become the people who go out to the streets and say, "There's room. Come in. You're invited too.”

I think that is what UBFM does so well. We wear our bright shirts, but we know that people recognize the love, tenderness and grace that is in those shirts. We extend God’s peace and love to others. We extend to others what has been given to us. 

That's the difference between the guest who sits at the table scrolling through their phone and the guest who is actually there. People received the invitation. Some truly accepted it.

So, are you just in the room, or are you at the banquet? Are you going to wear the robe God has provided for you? 

The table has been set; the feast is prepared and you have been invited.  Wear what God gives you and have some fun!

Thanks Be to God, Amen