God’s Invitation and Our Response
Isaiah 25:6-10; Psalm 23; Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20; Matthew 22:1-14
The gospel presents us with the parable of the wedding feast. This is a parable about the Kingdom of God; a parable that expresses God’s plan for the salvation of all men. Through the Church we have all been invited. But the nature of our responses is categorized according to the behaviour expressed by those who were invited in the parable. Matt.22:1-3 some refused the invitation; Matt. 22: 4-8 some violently opposed the invitation and Matt.22:11-13 another was not clothed in the wedding garment.
1. The Danger of Excuses, worldly pursuits and sinful habits can make us reject God’s invitation: Who are those who refused this invitation? These are men who live in sin and are not ready to change. In the gospel they gave excuses for their absence; one to his farm and another to his business. In the Old Testament, we had men who equally tendered excuses; in Exd. 3:11 Moses underrated himself before Pharaoh; in Exd. 4:10 Moses begged to be excused because of his inability to speak well; in Judges 6:15 Gideon tried to excuse himself saying that his family is the least in Manasseh and he is the youngest in his father’s house. Therefore, how can he deliver Israel? This trait continued in the New Testament; in Luke 9: 59-62 when Jesus asked some men to follow him, one said ‘let me go and bury my father’ another said ‘let me go and say farewell to those at home’. Similarly, in Luke 14: 18-20 some men gave excuses; the first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ The Wedding banquet hymn goes thus:
I cannot come to the banquet, don’t trouble me now.
I have married a wife; I have bought me a cow.
I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum. Pray, hold me excused, I cannot come.
In the same vein we equally give excuses for non participation in the divine banquet. Many of us we have reasons why we don’t receive communion; we have reasons why we are not going to receive at this mass; we have thousand and one excuses against this great invitation. Beloved, this is the moment we should turn to God in all sincerity and honour this invitation. If we don’t honour his invitation He shall dishonor us on the last day.
2.Rejecting God’s Messengers: Again, those who murdered the messengers. These are men who heard the message of repentance and instead of them eliminating their ills went away incubating hatred. Instead of changing their attitudes decided to torment the messengers. Herod killed John the Baptist, 1Kings 18:4 Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water. Acts 7:59-60 Stephen was stoned to death; all the apostles except John were killed. Many of the saints were not spared the sword of violence. Beloved in Christ, whenever we maltreat God’s messengers we dishonour his invitation and reject God’s kingdom.
3.The Consequences of Sin: These murderers suffered the consequences of sin. The gospel says that “the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.” There is a penalty for sin, the bible says in Rom. 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. This death refers more to the death of the soul. What is that way that seems right to you; what is that thing that makes you dishonor God’s voice in your heart. Let us turn to God and honour his call.
4. The Wedding Garment of Righteousness: We are told of a man who came in without wedding garment. We can view this man from two spheres: 1. The man represents Christians who take God for granted; Christians who abuse the sacramental privileges; Christians who think that dressing anyhow does not matter.2. The man draws our attention to the importance of wedding garment. Why is the wedding garment so important? In Revelation 19:8 the bible describes the wedding feast of the Lamb and it says that the garment is the righteous acts of the saints. Beloved, we have been invited to the Kingdom but we must be in the right garment. We must have the righteous acts of the saints otherwise we shall be thrown out. The Bible uses clothing as an analogy to show how we “put on” behavior that is pleasing to God. Thus, let us put on the behavior that is pleasing to God. We must live a life worthy of the Kingdom. No repentance; no entrance. In a world obsessed with aso-ebi and owambe this parable reminds us that God is not checking your designer outfit, but your righteous deeds. The only garment God requires is righteousness. We must be clothed in Christ (Revelation 19:8).
We are all invited to God’s Kingdom, but we must respond with faith, repentance, and a life of holiness. The invitation is free, but our response must be sincere.
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
