Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen.)

Dear congregation,

he doesn’t need a fork. Ned Land prefers to eat with his fingers or just with his knife. Without a fork. He digs in and smacks his lips - and breaks all the rules of good behaviour. Captain Nemo chastises him: ‘There is a fork to your left, Mr. Land.’ But Land murmurs with his mouth full: ‘I do better without.’ This scene takes place on the Nautilus, the legendary submarine from the movie ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’, one of the really great adventure films from the fifties. By Walt Disney. I recently saw it again. On DVD. I am sure most of you know it, too.

A huge sea monster is rumoured to be striking terror in the south sea. It scares the sailors. Professor Aronax, his apprentice Conseille and the master harpooner Ned Land are on board a ship on a research trip to find the monster. Their ship sinks. The three of them are rescued by the Nautilus and its crew. Captain Nemo offers them the best of his sea cuisine. With the fine china, the good silverware in the captain’s mess of the ship.

Ned Land smacks his lips and digs in: He breaks all conventions of how to behave. He comes to my mind when I listen to today’s Gospel text. The parable of the wedding banquet, as it is called. I’ve known the story a long time, and I am sure you as well. But I know it from a different place: from the Gospel of Luke. There the parable is less brutal. It starts the same way: Just before the feast should begin, the guests say that they will not come. They have other things to do. But at the end of Luke’s version Jesus concludes the parable more simply by saying: ‘None of those people who were invited shall taste my banquet.’

In Matthew’s Gospel, our text for today, this is different. The beginning of the story is almost the same. A king prepares a wedding feast for his son, and he invites guests. When everything is ready to begin the guests don’t show up. All of them have different excuses why they can’t come. Some have good excuses, some have very weak excuses. The king gets very angry. But he wouldn’t cancel the feast. He sends his servants out into the streets to invite those who are there. All people, the good and the bad. And so finally a good community comes together for the king’s feast.

But from now on it gets harsh. The king looks at his guests, and sees one of them isn’t wearing a wedding garment. Again he becomes angry. ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ - Then he orders his servants to throw him out. Where people will weep and gnash their teeth. In the end Jesus concludes his parable: ‘For many are called, but few are chosen.’

When I hear that, I am horror-stricken. Such an injustice! Here is a king who invites people who were simply out in the streets going about their every day business. People who couldn’t know they’d soon be guests at a wedding feast. And if one of them was wearing the wrong pants, no tie, no proper shirt - whatever -, he was thrown out? I find this completely unfair. How could this poor man have been dressed for a wedding? This is not the kind of thing that I want to hear from Jesus. But, nevertheless, the story of the marriage feast is part of the Gospel. And now I see: The parable isn’t meant to be an easy read with a predictable progression.

There are several points in the parable of the marriage feast that don’t seem to fit together. For example: Isn’t it unlikely that the king would prepare a feast even though his guests wouldn’t come? That he would go ahead with his plan as if nothing had changed? And doesn’t it seem to be nonsense that he would have them killed and burn their city? Wouldn’t the slaughtered ox get cold in the meantime - Of course, the way he treated the man with the wrong clothing is just harsh. In the context of this story it makes no sense that this man gets blamed and cast out.

So what could the meaning be? What is the good news for us today? Apparently Matthew sacrificed logic to his message. That’s why the story seems grotesque. I believe, the story addresses us as the guests that have other, more important things to do. Like those in the story. His message is that we (i.e. the readers of his Gospel) can very well live in the kingdom of God. We are invited. If only we prepare ourselves. His invitation instead of doing our everyday business. No, we cannot enter the king’s house without preparation. We cannot enter God’s kingdom without preparation. That is: Accept and walk in. Participate. That is our side of the coin.

I think, we could also be those who are invited right off the street. Those, who didn’t know they’d be guests - all of a sudden. Then the story tells us: Be prepared! Spontaneous guests are welcome to the King’s house, too. - Come in and share the feast. Be a guest in the house of our God, in His kingdom. That is like an unexpected invitation to an unexpected party.

But there is the issue about the wedding garment. If we come in like those from the streets: The parable says that it does matter which attitude we have when we are at the feast. In those days in that region it was common practice that the host of a feast would give each guest a garment. A wedding garment for a wedding feast. So that we all would come dressed properly for the occasion. This was a clear convention - just as table manners are a convention upon which most people agree. For example most of us don’t eat with their fingers. We use silverware. There are even rules of how to use the silverware. The right hand holds the knife, the left hand holds the fork. In Germany - usually. I remember well how my parents taught me, “No elbows on the table. Close your mouth when you chew. Don’t talk with your mouth full.” When my grandfather was visiting and I had my elbow on the table he would push it off the table, hitting my funny bone. It had a long lasting effect.

Here I am back to Ned Land on board of the Nautilus. Ned Land, the harpooner, who doesn’t know his manners. Who breaks the rules of etiquette - uses no fork, chews with his mouth open and talks with his mouth full. Professor Aronax and Conseille sitting next to him of course know how to behave politely. How to eat under such circumstances. But Land doesn’t. Captain Nemo chastises him. Finally Land stands up and leaves.

Ned Land without manners. The man at the marriage feast without a wedding garment. And what about us? If we are guests in the kingdom of God, what do we have to do? I believe, that the story wants to tell us this: That we can enter the kingdom of God. We can. But we won’t get it for free. We’ll have to act. We are invited. But we’ll have to accept the invitation. And go there. This will have an effect on our lives. On our everyday business. We will have to deal with that.

It will mean that we shall not try to do it the old way. All our everyday business, our customs. It tells us instead that we shall respond to change. We should be willing to make some changes. Like walking into someone else’s house. The king’s house, God’s kingdom. To wear a new garment, new clothing, that we did not buy ourselves. But that we just receive. We receive something, but still we have to act. Put it on.

We can enter the kingdom of God. But not if we try to avoid change. We will be able to enter it if we are open to new things. Which the Lord of the kingdom wants to give us. A new garment, a great feast. A new community: the community of all who are there with us. And that is something that cannot be stressed enough: In the kingdom of God we belong to the countless number of all who are invited. Without weeping and gnashing of teeth. But with singing and joy without end.

May the peace of Got which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Copyright 2005, The Rev. Peter Stockmann