Proper 23, Year A                                                                   Isaiah 25:1-7
October 9, 2005                                                                      Psalm 23
St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church                              Philippians 4:4-13
The Rev. Linda McCloud                                                         Matthew 22:1-14 

Whatever shall I wear to the wedding? 

            It’s official.  Molly and Greg are getting married.  Yes, my beautiful niece Molly is going to marry that handsome California guy, Greg.  This past week, I received a post card in the mail.  It was a photo of Molly and Greg with the message:  “Save this date.”  I immediately e-mailed Molly that I plan to attend if at all possible. 

            The post card didn’t even give the time of the ceremony.  This is just the first wave of notice before the formal invitation and response card I expect to receive later.  The wedding is several months away.  But still, this is an important piece of information, as I need to have as much advance notice as possible.  I’ll have to make plans.  I’ll have to get a priest to sub for me.  I’ll have to make airline reservations to fly to Los Angeles.  I’ll have to figure out how to get from the airport to San Pedro for the festivities.  When the wedding announcement comes, I hope I’ll be all set to attend the ceremony. 

            Somehow this pre-invitation from Molly and Greg felt very Biblical to me.  Maybe that’s because our Gospel reading today is the parable of the marriage feast.  The King in Jesus’ story is obviously God, and the Son is obviously Jesus.  The guests had obviously been invited and were on notice that the marriage feast would take place at some time in the future.  They could have expected a formal announcement that the wedding was about to take place.  They could have put their lives in order.  They could have had someone standing by to take care of their farms, their businesses, while they attended the celebration.  But when the festivities were about to begin, those who had been invited refused to attend.  Why would they not come to the party? 

            After this sermon, we will stand and say together the Nicene Creed, the last statement of which is “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”  Theologians call this “eschatology.”  This is the doctrine of last things, or the final, ultimate destiny of individual souls as well as the whole created order.  The “life of the world to come” is often depicted in scripture as a feast, especially a marriage feast.  In the Book of Revelation this is referred to as the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Rev. 19:9, NRSV)  In our communion prayers, we pray that we may be brought to that heavenly country where the life of the world to come may be realized.  At communion, we not only remember Christ’s death and proclaim his resurrection, but we also “await his coming in Glory.”  We get a glimpse of the “marriage supper of the Lamb” right here at this altar. 

            The Prophet Isaiah saw last things as a feast on the temple mount in Jerusalem.  Isaiah is also the prophet who predicted peace in the created order.  This is often rendered by artists as “the peaceable kingdom,” with all the animals standing around smiling at each other.  The shepherd-Psalmist-king David took this concept of God’s feast personally, saying, “You spread a table before me . . . my cup is running over.”  Are all last things about eating and drinking, or is this a parable inside a parable?  We can only speak of God in metaphors – comparisons.  I believe this is why Jesus used parables. 

“The Kingdom of God is like . . .” 

“The Kingdom of God may be compared to . . .”   

In his earthly ministry, our Lord Jesus loved a good wedding feast.  Wedding feasts in Jesus’ day would last a week or so.  It was one of the few times that family and friends could get together as a group, and it was important for everyone to be there.  Maybe that’s why Jesus’ first miracle was done at the wedding feast in Cana, near his hometown. 

When I received Molly and Greg’s card, one of the first thoughts that ran through my mind was, “Whatever shall I wear to the wedding?”  I know this will not be a “come as you are” party.  I might have to go shopping to get just the right clothes.  But one thing I’ll wear to the wedding is the fact that I belong there.  I’m family.  I am Molly’s aunt.  I’ll also wear my feelings for her on my sleeve.  She has always been such a love.  I’ll wear my memories of her younger years.  At one of the few times I got to see her as a little one, I carried her around on my back in one of those baby pouches.  She fell asleep. 

Fast forward to her teen years and Molly is six feet tall and drop dead gorgeous.  I have a wonderful photo of some of our family touring the Seattle harbor on a boat and I am sitting on Molly’s knee – just long enough to take the picture.  Now Molly is twenty-something and in love.  I’m so thrilled for her.  I know she is busy even now making preparations for the wedding.   

At their wedding ceremony, Molly and Greg will enter into a covenant with each other, giving and receiving rings as symbols of their marriage.  Just so, baptism is the symbol of the covenant relationship into which we enter with God.   

We as humans know that we must eat and drink in order to continue living.  The most important eating and drinking we do is Holy Communion, or Eucharist.  This is the “holy food and drink of new and unending life in him [Jesus Christ].”  The first Christians recognized how important this Eucharistic feast is, and as a result, only baptized Christians were allowed even to see the priest or bishop celebrate communion.  The non-baptized Christians-in-training were allowed to attend the preaching part of the service, but when the Eucharist was celebrated, they had to leave.   

When people were baptized in the Early Church, they were clothed with a white robe, much like the alb I wear on Sundays.  This was considered to be the baptismal garment.  In reflecting on Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast, I have wondered about the gentleman who did not have on a wedding garment. Was this a metaphor for a baptismal robe?  The man is asked, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?”  Since baptism symbolizes our covenant with God, perhaps this parable is the way that Matthew’s Gospel tells us that only baptized persons could keep the feast.   

In the early part of the first century after the death and resurrection of Christ, the first Christians expected Christ to return and usher in the last days.  They expected this to happen immediately.  They expected that Jesus the Messiah would soon return and that they would be treated to this Messianic banquet.  As time went on, however, they began to realize they did not know the timetable for Christ’s return to earth.  Some of the Apostles and other first Christians were dying, and those who were living tried to reason as to why the Lord had not returned in triumph to start the festivities.   

St. Paul was one of the first Christians to make some sense of this.  Although Paul’s cup was brimful, just like David’s, Paul knew that we are all living between the now and the not yet.  So Paul tells the Philippian Christians:  “Don’t worry about a thing.  The Lord is close by.  He is always near.”   

The atmosphere of our world seems negatively charged.  We have to work hard to keep a positive outlook while at the same time remaining realistic.  We would do well to follow Paul’s plan for cultivating the presence of God and the peace of God in our lives: 

1.      Don’t worry

2.      Pray – talk to God and listen for God

3.      Keep your thoughts pure by thinking about honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, praiseworthy things. 

Let God keep you in peace. Wear your baptism with all humility.  Then, you will be prepared for the marriage supper of the Lamb when it happens.  You know the invitations have already gone out.