C.S.
Lewis once said, “For you will certainly carry out God’s plan, however you act,
but it makes a difference to you whether you act like Judas or
John.” This curious saying is highlighted quite clearly in today’s difficult
gospel lesson from Matthew.
Today,
we are confronted with the last of three parables on judgment that Jesus tells
the chief priests and Pharisees. The theme of God benching the starters in
favor of the 2nd and 3rd string players continues. And of
course, God doesn’t bench the starters because they are pitching a blowout.
Rather, the starters get benched because their head isn’t in the game.
Like
the previous parables on judgment, today’s story spells out God’s judgment in
exaggerated terms. For starters, who in their right mind would decline an
invitation to the greatest party ever thrown? Even more, when was the last time
someone was hunted down and killed because they didn’t come to a party? And
finally, there is a man who is sent to the dentist’s office (that is my new
euphemism for hell) because he didn’t
come wearing the right kind of clothes.
Ultimately,
this parable reminds me that God will go to any measure to get our attention.
In fact, God goes all the way to the cross – sacrificing his own Son – in hopes
that we will claim a transformed life in Christ. But even then, there are those
among us who will continue to resist the new life we are given freely in Jesus.
“Many are called, but few are chosen.”
Now,
if I were a Calvinist, this would be the perfect time to make a pitch on why we
should believe in the Doctrine of Predestination. But I am not a Calvinist, so
this lesson isn’t that easy to explain.
While
I believe in Calvin’s doctrine of Unconditional Election (that is – we are all
invited), I do believe we have a choice – like C.S. suggested in the opening
quote – in how we respond to the invitation – something a Calvinist would
reject based on the doctrine of Irresistible Grace (that is – those who are
elected will be unable to resist God’s invitation). It seems clear to me that
some will not know what to do with grace when it hits them in the head.
Human nature holds a
doctrine of fairness and deservedness. Human nature is not conditioned to
choose grace because it shatters how the world is supposed to work according to
the law of deservedness. Human nature likes to make sense of the world by
separating the good from the bad.
But again, quoting C.S.
Lewis, “we don’t know how bad we are until we try to be good.” Eventually, we
are all confronted with the truth that we are not as good as we would like to
think. But this is the beginning of the good news. According to today’s lesson,
we are not judged on whether we are good or bad. The king, after all, tells the
servants to gather up the good and the bad for the party.
I have an image of John
and Mary Katherine in my head when I think about this extended invitation. When
Mary Katherine wants to have nothing to do with Mom and Dad’s love and
affection, Mom and Dad go and squeeze on baby John. But when Mary Katherine
sees that she is missing out on the hugs and kisses, she suddenly changes her
minds and wants to be a part of the action. And of course, we let her in.
While this is not spelled
out in the parable, I like to think that those who initially reject the
invitation will be drawn back to the party because they don’t want to miss out
on the action. I like to think their illusions of fairness and deservedness are
shattered when they see how God’s grace and mercy makes room for the greatest
party ever thrown. For those who initially reject the invitation, God’s
judgment to extend the invitation to others turns out to be a word of mercy.
However, this parable
shows another kind of judgment – a final judgment. The people who are judged
most harshly in today’s lesson are not the ones who reject the invitation to
the party. Not even the bad people are judged harshly. The person who is judged
most severely is the one who comes to the party wearing his own clothes rather
than the clothes given at the door by the king.
The place where there is
weeping and gnashing of teeth is not for those who decline the invitation or
even for the bad people but rather for the one who shows up to the party
thinking they are good enough to wear their own clothes to the party.
I guess this might be
like the highly recruited starting quarterback who thinks he can call whatever
audible he wants to because he thinks he is smarter than the coach. And I’ll
let you draw your own conclusions as to what the head coach will do to this
quarterback.
God doesn’t care if you
are a one-star recruit or a five-star recruit – you are invited to join the
team – everyone makes the cut. And your decision to accept or reject the
invitation doesn’t stop God from throwing the party – God’s will be done – with
or without you – Judas or John. But it does matter how you act once you make
the decision to show up. And by the looks of it, you have shown up to the
party.
While all are invited to
the party, you can only stay if you are all in. You can only stay if you are
willing to change into new clothes, if you are willing to take off your own
clothes of righteousness and put on the robe of righteousness given by the King
of grace and mercy, if you are willing to accept that your life is in the hands
of God and only in the hands of God.
Until
you are willing to go all in, you must stay on the bench. Until you are willing
to give it all to God, you must sit in the dentist’s office where there is
weeping and gnashing of teeth. And it is God’s hope that this reverse
psychology, that this hard word of judgment will be revealed as a happy word of
mercy where you want to get back in the game.
May God’s word of
merciful judgment give you the grace to stop trying to look good in your own
clothes, give you the grace to stop trying to keep up with the latest fashion
trends, so that you may put on the clothes that God has chosen for you to wear
through Jesus Christ – clothes that will never go out of style. Amen.
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