The Marriage Feast of the Lamb

The Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
Twentieth Sunday after Trinity (All Saints observed)

October 25th, 2011

“The Marriage Feast of the Lamb”

Matthew 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,”
Today we are observing the great feast of All Saints. This is perhaps the most all –encompassing feast of the church, simply because it celebrates the inclusion of all of the saints of the Kingdom.

Sometimes people are shocked to learn that they, too, are considered saints. Consider what St. Paul says in Romans 16:15 : ”Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.” Also in 2 Corinthians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:”

With that thought in mind, do we all have the stature in the Kingdom of a St. Theresa, or a St. Paul, or a St. Andrew? Perhaps not. These people are giants in their way and certainly towering figures in the Kingdom of God. Yet, all of us, in some way or another, are called to be saints and to provide a witness to Christ is some way or another.

Yet, despite our failing and our foibles, which are many, we too are called to be saints. All of us are called to be reflectors of the light of Christ; and to so reflect that light as to give credit to our Father, which is in Heaven.
This is reflected in our Gospel lesson for the day, which focuses chiefly on our calling. In today’s Gospel, for example, we see the lesson of calling and of our answer at its most stark and self-centered. We also see Christ at His teaching best. He uses one of the most time-honored teaching methods, use of an analogy, to inform us of certain events that will come to pass. In fact, this analogy is so perfect that Christ and His ministry can be clearly seen throughout it. Yet at the same time, it is a message very well hidden from those not of the household of faith, or said another way, it is not apparent to those who have received the illumination of the Holy Spirit. All of this is caught up in our Gospel for the day.

Allow me to elaborate just a bit. First, we have Christ giving us the statement that the kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king who is giving a marriage feast for his son. This King sends forth his servants to call those invited guests to the wedding and they, we are told, would not come. In fact, “they made light of it.” The same story is also told in Luke, where he tells us “And they all with one consent began to make excuse.” The point is plain: these men were not interested in coming to the King’s Son’s wedding.

This is their response when the King sends other servants to call them. When he is again repulsed, the King is understandably angry for having made the preparations for a grand feast and then having no guests to enjoy it. He instructs his servants to go out and bring in those from “the highways” and to furnish his house with guests. This is done, with both the bad and the good making the guest complement complete. The King comes in to survey the party and he sees a man that does not have on a wedding garment. When asked why he is not wearing the wedding garment, the man is speechless. At this point, the King commands him to be bound and cast into “outer darkness”; that is, oblivion. He ends us this amazing story with the puzzling, yet chilling statement, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Let’s back up for a second and examine this moiré closely. Earlier, we mentioned that this is a perfect analogy, and so it is. We also said it could not be understood and fully appreciated without the benefit of the Holy Spirit; and so it is.

Looking at the various pieces of the story, we find that there is a direct and plain tie-in with Christ and his ministry throughout. First, we must consider who is this King and why is He throwing a wedding feast for His Son? We understand the King’s fury when those invited guests refuse his gracious invitation, but how could He throw a man, whom he compelled to come in, into “outer darkness” because he didn’t have a wedding garment? It just seems terribly unfair, doesn’t it?

Having heard this parable all of my life, I must confess that until I heard a sermon on it some ten years ago, I shared similar feelings of puzzlement and even outrage about it. Yet, when one understands it, it makes perfect sense. So, here we go…

First of all, we all recognize without any difficulty that the King is God Almighty, the Father and Lord of all. He is preparing His Creation for the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, in which all things will be consummated and completed. At this feast, the Creation will be wedded to Christ, just as a bride is wedded to her spouse. In anticipation of this great event, He calls his guests, His Chosen People, to share in the feast. To facilitate this, he sends “servants” to call them. These servants are obviously the various prophets whom God sent to Israel and Judah to call them into repentance and into fellowship with Him. These servants are rejected and the invitation is spurned. In short, God sent His best servants to call His People to the best thing that He has, which is fellowship with Him. He sent to His chosen People, but they would have none of it.

Yet, God being God and infinitely patient, He sent other servants (prophets), only to find that they too, were not accepted. In fact, the Chosen People not only rejected the prophets, they insulted and even killed them! It is at this point that the King has had enough. He exacted judgment and vengeance upon them, sending His armies who “destroy those murderers and burned up their city.” Of course, we know from history and from the Bible that this is exactly what happened to Jerusalem, both at the hands of the Babylonians and the Romans. Other armies have also had their turn sacking and destroying Jerusalem.

Now the King has His servants do something different. He commands them to go into the highways and bring the general population into the wedding. It is at this point that we Gentiles should be most interested, for this directly concerns us. Although it is not flattering, the fact is that God desired to extend his original invitation to the Jews, and when this was rejected, to turn to us Gentiles. Yet, we are not the “second choice” or Plan B, as some commentators have termed it. God did not have a “back up plan”, so to speak, when His People rejected Him. No, it was His Plan all along that salvation should be extended to all men through the sacrificial offering of His only Son, offered by His sacrificial people. As St. Paul tells us, the Jews’ failing is our glory, and thankfully so. Yet, to my mind and to many others, it remains mysterious why this is so. Only the Almighty and Omniscient mind of God knows.

Now we come to the crux of the story. Having filled his house with guests, of varied backgrounds and inclinations, the King comes to inspect the wedding. He spies a man without a wedding garment and questions him. On first examination, the King’s reaction seems harsh and unreasonable. He commands severe punishment for the man whom He required to come in! How unjust, we think.

Yet, when we know the customs of the day, the King’s reaction is totally understandable. The ancient Jews celebrated weddings for a number of days, not just for a few hours as we do. Recall the Marriage at Cana, where the crowd consumed some sixty-odd gallons of wine before Christ in his munificence made more! Aside from the lavish food and drink, it was considered important that the guests be attired properly. The wedding also called for a wedding garment. Now, it was customary for the bride’s father to furnish the wedding garments for his guests, so that no one would be excluded or unable to attend because they couldn’t afford the clothes.

One was given the very attire to be presentable, at no cost to himself. Thus, when one had received such a gracious and generous invitation, refusing it was virtually unthinkable. It was simply not to be done.

Yet, this is the situation in which the King finds himself in the parable. He has graciously invited guests to his banquet and has even provided them a wedding garment. He has offered his very best for them and he is soundly rejected…

Let us close this analogy. God Himself has invited us to partake in the heavenly banquet with the Royal wedding party, in a feast that will continue forever. He has not only invited us, He has also provided the wedding garment, Christ, in which we are to be clothed. In short, in order to attend the heavenly banquet, we are to “put on” Christ. He is our new identity, our new appearance in which we will be presented to God the Father. As we see from the parable, it is the only appearance that is acceptable.

When the King commands them, the general population, to be brought in, it is also a picture of the Last Judgment. This is why the King commanded all to be brought in from the highways and bi-ways. In Luke’s version, the King’s servants “compel” them to come in. It is not a voluntary appearance.

Finally, we come to the last, chilling statement where the King informs us that “many are called, but few are chosen.” This calling takes two forms: first, the all-loving, all-encompassing call of Christ from the Cross, where the grace of God is extended to all men. Salvation is offered to all men by this gracious call. Second, the call comes in the form of the Last Judgment, where all men will be held accountable. In fact, in the Family Prayer of the the Prayer Book, it tells us “we must give a strict account of our thoughts, words, and actions” to Christ. Those of us who have accepted the gracious invitation and who have put on Christ will be invited into eternal fellowship with Him. Those who have spurned, ignored or willfully rejected the call will be cast into “outer darkness”, where “there shall weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Yet, God the Father is not unreasonable, nor is he unjust or unkind. After all, He has provided us the wedding garment. He has given us exactly what we need. It is up to us whether or not we will put it on.

Beloved, let us embrace this gracious and wonderful invitation. Let us continually, day by day, put on Christ. Let us, day by day, know that God so loved us that He not only desired to have fellowship with us, He also made it possible. Those who do so will not only be called, they will also be chosen.

It is up to us. Let us accept this calling. Let us put on Christ and let us be the Chosen, beloved of God forever.

Matthew 22:12 “And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.”