Judges 4:1-19
Acts 6:15-7:16
John 4:27-42
Years ago Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe composed a song entitled “I’m My Own Grandpaw.” In it the singer recounts how, by birth and by marriage, the relationships in his life have become so complex that he is now his own grandfather.
Oh, many, many years ago
When I was twenty-three
I was married to a widow
Who was pretty as can be
This widow had a grown-up daughter
Who had hair of red
My father fell in love with her
And soon the two were wed
This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life
For my daughter was my mother
'Cause she was my father's wife
To complicate the matter
Though it really brought me joy
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy
This little baby then became
A brother-in-law to Dad
And so became my uncle
Though it made me very sad
For if he was my uncle
Then that also made him brother
Of the widow's grown-up daughter
Who of course is my step-mother
The song goes on from there, but you get the drift. Our readings for today are not intended to be humorous, but frankly they get close. The Judges account displays a complexity of human relationships. Samson wishes to marry a Philistine woman (against his parents’ advice). But during the wedding feast she betrays him to her kinfolk. This leads Samson to an act of violence and ends the marriage. In the Acts passage Stephen recounts for the council the history of the Jewish people from Abraham to the time of bondage in Egypt. This, of course, is a tale full of twists and turns, of betrayal and reconciliation, of…well, the complexities of human relationships strung out over generations. The gospel reading from John concludes the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Here, too, there are riddles to be solved, questions to be answered, and social customs to be navigated. Ultimately Jesus is able to bridge the gap between him and the Samaritans by sharing his message with them.
It is common for people in our own day to despair in the breakdown of human society. Divorce, childbirth outside of marriage, economic hardships, the decline of religious affiliations: all of these and many other factors seem to cascade against the family and any sense of a well-ordered community. No wonder we have so many problems in our world. But if nothing else, our three readings should demonstrate that there has never been a time—even within the community of faith—when relationships or community and family life have ever been “easy.” Human connectedness is always complex. But throughout our readings God remains an active participant with God’s people as well. Things can never get too complex for God’s care and concern. And that is really good news because life doesn’t show any sign of becoming less complex any time soon.
Prayer: Lord, things are often a mess in our lives. We find ourselves being pushed and pulled in so many directions and dealing with so many distractions. As Jesus did in Samaria, build a bridge for us today above and beyond the complexities, that we may focus on you and thus be led to live in peace with one another. Amen.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
A Question of Identity
Judges 13:15-24
Acts 6:1-15
John 4:1-26
Each of our passages today raise issues of identity. In the Judges passage Manoah, soon to be Samson’s father, converses with an angel of the Lord, but does not recognize him as such (Judges 13:16). By contrast the Acts passage tells us that when the members of the council “looked intently at (Stephen)…they saw his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). So Manoah sees an angel and thinks he’s a man, and the council sees a man who appears to them to be angelic. But even more significant questions of identity come in John’s account of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well. In the course of their conversation Jesus tells the woman, “If you knew who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Even this is not enough of a clue, though, for moments later the woman asks Jesus, “Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob…?” (v. 12)
Most of us have a number of identities based on the number of roles we play in our lives. I’m a husband, a father, a son, an uncle, and a cousin. I’m also a minister and a writer. I am a sports fan and a Facebook user. I’m American, southern, white, Presbyterian, right-handed, an Arkansan who enjoys Cool Whip on pumpkin pie. But at the very heart of my being, right down at my core, who am I really? Once I take off all the masks and identities and characteristics, what do I have left? One contemporary Children’s Catechism begins with the question, “Who are you?” to which the answer is, “I am a child of God.” This is a really good place to begin understanding who we are in our very essence. We are children of God and we bear on us the marks of God’s creative activity, God’s fingerprints as it were. Once we recognize that we are children of God, then the rest of “who we are” can be shaped and ordered accordingly. But if we forget that at heart we are God’s people, products of God’s creation, then we will forever struggle to answer the most basic questions of identity and meaning.
Prayer: God of creation, by whose hands we were pressed into being, help us to recognize our dependence on you and to live as your people. May we also see your love in those whom we encounter, allowing ourselves to be built into a community of faith and light. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Acts 6:1-15
John 4:1-26
Each of our passages today raise issues of identity. In the Judges passage Manoah, soon to be Samson’s father, converses with an angel of the Lord, but does not recognize him as such (Judges 13:16). By contrast the Acts passage tells us that when the members of the council “looked intently at (Stephen)…they saw his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). So Manoah sees an angel and thinks he’s a man, and the council sees a man who appears to them to be angelic. But even more significant questions of identity come in John’s account of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well. In the course of their conversation Jesus tells the woman, “If you knew who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Even this is not enough of a clue, though, for moments later the woman asks Jesus, “Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob…?” (v. 12)
Most of us have a number of identities based on the number of roles we play in our lives. I’m a husband, a father, a son, an uncle, and a cousin. I’m also a minister and a writer. I am a sports fan and a Facebook user. I’m American, southern, white, Presbyterian, right-handed, an Arkansan who enjoys Cool Whip on pumpkin pie. But at the very heart of my being, right down at my core, who am I really? Once I take off all the masks and identities and characteristics, what do I have left? One contemporary Children’s Catechism begins with the question, “Who are you?” to which the answer is, “I am a child of God.” This is a really good place to begin understanding who we are in our very essence. We are children of God and we bear on us the marks of God’s creative activity, God’s fingerprints as it were. Once we recognize that we are children of God, then the rest of “who we are” can be shaped and ordered accordingly. But if we forget that at heart we are God’s people, products of God’s creation, then we will forever struggle to answer the most basic questions of identity and meaning.
Prayer: God of creation, by whose hands we were pressed into being, help us to recognize our dependence on you and to live as your people. May we also see your love in those whom we encounter, allowing ourselves to be built into a community of faith and light. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Time to Pay Attention
Judges 13:1-15
Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we had detailed instructions about how to act and what to do? Certainly we have scripture, the word of God, and it is central to what God’s people are to be about. But honestly, sometimes we can get tied up in knots trying to figure out what exactly it is that the Bible is telling us. (One easy example is the debate about exactly how to baptize believers.) Why can’t we have a handy, pocket-sized flow chart to carry with us and use to answer any questions that come up? That’s what Manoah, the future father of Samson, seems to want. When his wife tells him that they will have a son he spends the rest of the passage worrying about what exactly they wife are supposed to do with the child. We can almost sense his panic in verse 8 where we read how he “entreated the Lord, and said, ‘O Lord, I pray, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we are to do concerning the boy who will be born.’” When the messenger does return he says, in short, “relax Dude. Your wife knows what to do.” No instruction book, just a surprising promise from God that events will unfold and that things are going to change. Manoah might fret and worry, but God was going to act anyway.
Acts 5:27-42
Talk about your surprises. According to our reading from Acts the high priest had the apostles arrested for teaching in the temple. But it wasn’t long before they were able to walk right out of jail and go back to sharing the good news. A funny scene follows the next morning when the apostles are discovered to be in the temple instead of under lock and key. What should the religious leaders do with these people? Should they be tolerated? Are they telling the truth? Or are they to be silenced for spreading blasphemy? I’m sure the high priest and his supporters would have appreciated a memo from God telling them exactly what was going on. Instead Gamaliel, “a teacher of the law, respected by all the people” (v. 34) addresses the council with the advice to let the apostles alone. If what they are saying is false then in time they will disappear. But if what they are saying is true, then the council might find itself in the embarrassing position of opposing God (vv. 38-39). Again, no instruction book, just a surprising promise from God that events have unfolded and will continue to do so, events that are going to change everything. Like Manoah before them, the Saducees, the high priest, and the council might fret and worry, but God was acting and it was time to pay attention. We, too, may fret and worry and wish for detailed instructions, but God is at work in our world today and one of our important tasks is to live in faithful obedience and to let God be God.
Several years ago I wrote a hymn text based on the Magnifecat in Luke 1:46-55. One of the verses, intended to place Mary’s Song into our own time, reads:
God is at work in our lives even now,
Called by Christ Jesus we take up the trowel,
Weapons of war we will beat into plows.
God is at work in our lives even now.
Prayer: God of surprises, we sometimes get wrapped up in our desire to know what is going on. We worry and fret about what it means to be your people. And when we do we can miss the opportunity to share in the work of your coming reign. Help us to trust you and to go where you lead us instead of stewing over the details. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we had detailed instructions about how to act and what to do? Certainly we have scripture, the word of God, and it is central to what God’s people are to be about. But honestly, sometimes we can get tied up in knots trying to figure out what exactly it is that the Bible is telling us. (One easy example is the debate about exactly how to baptize believers.) Why can’t we have a handy, pocket-sized flow chart to carry with us and use to answer any questions that come up? That’s what Manoah, the future father of Samson, seems to want. When his wife tells him that they will have a son he spends the rest of the passage worrying about what exactly they wife are supposed to do with the child. We can almost sense his panic in verse 8 where we read how he “entreated the Lord, and said, ‘O Lord, I pray, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we are to do concerning the boy who will be born.’” When the messenger does return he says, in short, “relax Dude. Your wife knows what to do.” No instruction book, just a surprising promise from God that events will unfold and that things are going to change. Manoah might fret and worry, but God was going to act anyway.
Acts 5:27-42
Talk about your surprises. According to our reading from Acts the high priest had the apostles arrested for teaching in the temple. But it wasn’t long before they were able to walk right out of jail and go back to sharing the good news. A funny scene follows the next morning when the apostles are discovered to be in the temple instead of under lock and key. What should the religious leaders do with these people? Should they be tolerated? Are they telling the truth? Or are they to be silenced for spreading blasphemy? I’m sure the high priest and his supporters would have appreciated a memo from God telling them exactly what was going on. Instead Gamaliel, “a teacher of the law, respected by all the people” (v. 34) addresses the council with the advice to let the apostles alone. If what they are saying is false then in time they will disappear. But if what they are saying is true, then the council might find itself in the embarrassing position of opposing God (vv. 38-39). Again, no instruction book, just a surprising promise from God that events have unfolded and will continue to do so, events that are going to change everything. Like Manoah before them, the Saducees, the high priest, and the council might fret and worry, but God was acting and it was time to pay attention. We, too, may fret and worry and wish for detailed instructions, but God is at work in our world today and one of our important tasks is to live in faithful obedience and to let God be God.
Several years ago I wrote a hymn text based on the Magnifecat in Luke 1:46-55. One of the verses, intended to place Mary’s Song into our own time, reads:
God is at work in our lives even now,
Called by Christ Jesus we take up the trowel,
Weapons of war we will beat into plows.
God is at work in our lives even now.
Prayer: God of surprises, we sometimes get wrapped up in our desire to know what is going on. We worry and fret about what it means to be your people. And when we do we can miss the opportunity to share in the work of your coming reign. Help us to trust you and to go where you lead us instead of stewing over the details. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Light That Has Lighted the World
Judges 12:1-7
Acts 5:1-12
John 3:1-21
In his conversation with Nicodemus Jesus says that despite the presence of God’s light people have chosen to dwell in the darkness. This is because their deeds were evil (John 3:19), a fact which the light would make visible. Human “evil,” that which makes all of us crave the darkness and not the light, puts us into conflict, not only with God, but also with one another. And even when we think we know the truth, or how to pronounce “the secret word” (Judges 12:6), we are apt to discover that we are clueless. Nicodemus, “a teacher of the people,” didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about, and the high priest and the Saducees were equally “in the dark” as to the message of the gospel (Acts 5:1f). Too often we would rather assail those who don’t know how to “speak the way we do,” than to lay down our weapons and together share the light that has come, not to condemn the world, but that the world may have salvation through it.
The late George Harrison, a former Beatle, was well-known for his adherence to eastern religion. On occasion his spiritual musings sound an awful lot like Christian teachings. In his song “The Light That Has Lighted the World” Harrison speaks of the human tendency toward darkness:
The thoughts in their heads manifest on their brow
Like bad scars from ill feelings they themselves arouse
So hateful of anyone that is happy or “free”
They live all their lives without looking to see
The light that has lighted the world.
The Son came not to condemn the world but to save it. Would we rather live in the light of truth or cower in the darkness that hides our ill will?
Prayer:
Lord, forgive our tendency to divide, to insist that ours is the proper way of speaking or seeing, especially when it sets us at odds with each other and with you. “Heal our warring madness” and “bend our will to your control” that we may live whole lives, as individuals and as communities. Amen.
Acts 5:1-12
John 3:1-21
In his conversation with Nicodemus Jesus says that despite the presence of God’s light people have chosen to dwell in the darkness. This is because their deeds were evil (John 3:19), a fact which the light would make visible. Human “evil,” that which makes all of us crave the darkness and not the light, puts us into conflict, not only with God, but also with one another. And even when we think we know the truth, or how to pronounce “the secret word” (Judges 12:6), we are apt to discover that we are clueless. Nicodemus, “a teacher of the people,” didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about, and the high priest and the Saducees were equally “in the dark” as to the message of the gospel (Acts 5:1f). Too often we would rather assail those who don’t know how to “speak the way we do,” than to lay down our weapons and together share the light that has come, not to condemn the world, but that the world may have salvation through it.
The late George Harrison, a former Beatle, was well-known for his adherence to eastern religion. On occasion his spiritual musings sound an awful lot like Christian teachings. In his song “The Light That Has Lighted the World” Harrison speaks of the human tendency toward darkness:
The thoughts in their heads manifest on their brow
Like bad scars from ill feelings they themselves arouse
So hateful of anyone that is happy or “free”
They live all their lives without looking to see
The light that has lighted the world.
The Son came not to condemn the world but to save it. Would we rather live in the light of truth or cower in the darkness that hides our ill will?
Prayer:
Lord, forgive our tendency to divide, to insist that ours is the proper way of speaking or seeing, especially when it sets us at odds with each other and with you. “Heal our warring madness” and “bend our will to your control” that we may live whole lives, as individuals and as communities. Amen.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Finding Hope In the Potter
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Jim:
There is something very comforting in this passage from Jeremiah, and I’ll get to that in a second, but first a word of comparison. The promise that God makes through Jeremiah in verses 7 and 8 could easily be placed in the book of Jonah. “At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.” You can almost see Jonah sitting under his little bush, waiting for the destruction of Nineveh to begin, only to be disappointed by God’s mercy. Of course God is not beholden to you or me, and owes no one an explanation or excuse when God relents from a word of judgment. That, in and of itself, should be good news enough. God allows for repentance, for turning around, for getting back on one’s feet and doing it God’s way this time. God allows for us to give it another shot.
But let’s go back to the potter, because for me and for today, at least, that’s where I’m finding the greatest comfort of all. No matter how badly flawed I may feel myself to be, no matter how awful I think I turned out, or how difficult it is being me, or how cracked or imperfect my life may feel, God can always mold me into a useful person, a life with value. I may think things are a mess, but God still has the ability to use me. I am as clay in God’s hands and as such I have the divine fingerprints all over me. And so do you. And so does the noisy neighbor, or the obnoxious driver one car ahead during rush hour, or the candidate from the other party, or anybody else you can think of. We all are clay in God’s hands and we all bear the mark of God’s fingers. That means, first of all, that we each have value and purpose and that no one can take that away from us. Our lives are important to God. But it also means that God has work for us to do, because God is not molding us into a life just to cast us aside. God is making us into God’s people, and as God’s people we have a responsibility to share God’s blessings with the world, with all the others who have been shaped by God and who need to hear the good news.
Jim:
There is something very comforting in this passage from Jeremiah, and I’ll get to that in a second, but first a word of comparison. The promise that God makes through Jeremiah in verses 7 and 8 could easily be placed in the book of Jonah. “At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.” You can almost see Jonah sitting under his little bush, waiting for the destruction of Nineveh to begin, only to be disappointed by God’s mercy. Of course God is not beholden to you or me, and owes no one an explanation or excuse when God relents from a word of judgment. That, in and of itself, should be good news enough. God allows for repentance, for turning around, for getting back on one’s feet and doing it God’s way this time. God allows for us to give it another shot.
But let’s go back to the potter, because for me and for today, at least, that’s where I’m finding the greatest comfort of all. No matter how badly flawed I may feel myself to be, no matter how awful I think I turned out, or how difficult it is being me, or how cracked or imperfect my life may feel, God can always mold me into a useful person, a life with value. I may think things are a mess, but God still has the ability to use me. I am as clay in God’s hands and as such I have the divine fingerprints all over me. And so do you. And so does the noisy neighbor, or the obnoxious driver one car ahead during rush hour, or the candidate from the other party, or anybody else you can think of. We all are clay in God’s hands and we all bear the mark of God’s fingers. That means, first of all, that we each have value and purpose and that no one can take that away from us. Our lives are important to God. But it also means that God has work for us to do, because God is not molding us into a life just to cast us aside. God is making us into God’s people, and as God’s people we have a responsibility to share God’s blessings with the world, with all the others who have been shaped by God and who need to hear the good news.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Capital Punishment
Jim:
Numbers 35:1-3, 9-15, 30-34
In reading verses 30 and 31 I was led to wonder how these words compare to our modern criminal justice system. “If anyone kills another, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness. Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is subject to the death penalty; a murderer must be put to death.” One of the most persistent controversies surrounding capital punishment is that it is not meted out in a fair or even-handed manner. It is commonly assumed that those with more resources are able to avoid the death sentence more often while those with fewer resources are not. And of course there have been wrongful or questionable executions over the years. The verses from Numbers allow for—insist on—a death sentence in the case of murder, but set a high standard of evidence in such cases, and do not allow for an alternative to death. As forensic science moves ahead one would hope that the instance of wrongful executions would disappear. But I wonder if we are doing enough as a society to provide for evenhandedness in such cases. And while these verses from the Old Testament support the use of a death penalty, what are we to infer from the gospel and the words of Jesus? (Incidentally, I find http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment to be a very helpful overview of the issue of capital punishment from various religious and cultural perspectives.)
Romans 8:31-39
And just like that, Paul moves the entire question of capital punishment out of the way and reminds us that nothing at all can separate us from God’s love. Does that include murder? I believe so. Years ago when Debbie and I lived in Scotland we were made aware of a man found guilty of murdering his mother, who served time in prison for the crime, and, after his release, became a minister in the Church of Scotland. Who better to understand the love of God than one who has done so much wrong and yet been led back to the light of God’s grace and truth? I wonder what he would have said about the passage from Numbers. I wonder also how fresh the word of God appeared to his parishioners in light of his past. As the words of the hymn “Amazing Grace” testify, “I once was lost but now am found/ was blind but now I see.” What God is able to do with a life is beyond our ability to comprehend. Ultimately we belong to God no matter what, and we need to value that in every way possible.
Matthew 23:13-26
In light of the other two readings I find Jesus’ words in verse 23 to be enlightening. There he condemns the religious leaders of the day for paying more attention to the minor aspects of the law and overlooking God’s desire for “justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others,” Jesus says. Do we spend too much time on the minor details while willfully ignoring God’s command to love one another and to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with…God”? That’s the real danger, I’m afraid.
Numbers 35:1-3, 9-15, 30-34
In reading verses 30 and 31 I was led to wonder how these words compare to our modern criminal justice system. “If anyone kills another, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness. Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is subject to the death penalty; a murderer must be put to death.” One of the most persistent controversies surrounding capital punishment is that it is not meted out in a fair or even-handed manner. It is commonly assumed that those with more resources are able to avoid the death sentence more often while those with fewer resources are not. And of course there have been wrongful or questionable executions over the years. The verses from Numbers allow for—insist on—a death sentence in the case of murder, but set a high standard of evidence in such cases, and do not allow for an alternative to death. As forensic science moves ahead one would hope that the instance of wrongful executions would disappear. But I wonder if we are doing enough as a society to provide for evenhandedness in such cases. And while these verses from the Old Testament support the use of a death penalty, what are we to infer from the gospel and the words of Jesus? (Incidentally, I find http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment to be a very helpful overview of the issue of capital punishment from various religious and cultural perspectives.)
Romans 8:31-39
And just like that, Paul moves the entire question of capital punishment out of the way and reminds us that nothing at all can separate us from God’s love. Does that include murder? I believe so. Years ago when Debbie and I lived in Scotland we were made aware of a man found guilty of murdering his mother, who served time in prison for the crime, and, after his release, became a minister in the Church of Scotland. Who better to understand the love of God than one who has done so much wrong and yet been led back to the light of God’s grace and truth? I wonder what he would have said about the passage from Numbers. I wonder also how fresh the word of God appeared to his parishioners in light of his past. As the words of the hymn “Amazing Grace” testify, “I once was lost but now am found/ was blind but now I see.” What God is able to do with a life is beyond our ability to comprehend. Ultimately we belong to God no matter what, and we need to value that in every way possible.
Matthew 23:13-26
In light of the other two readings I find Jesus’ words in verse 23 to be enlightening. There he condemns the religious leaders of the day for paying more attention to the minor aspects of the law and overlooking God’s desire for “justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others,” Jesus says. Do we spend too much time on the minor details while willfully ignoring God’s command to love one another and to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with…God”? That’s the real danger, I’m afraid.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Dressing for the Reign of God
Jim:
Matthew 22:1-14
Matthew’s account of this parable is full of details that Luke omits making Matthew’s version more violent and, it would seem, less inclusive. But give Matthew credit for being emphatic, for here Jesus warns his listeners, both the crowd in Jerusalem and the religious leaders, to be ready; the hour is close at hand when those who are not prepared will not find a place in the reign of God. The most difficult verse for me comes near the end of the passage. One of those brought in to replace the original invitees is discovered to be unsuitably dressed. “Why are you not wearing your wedding cloak?” the king thunders. But the man is speechless, thinking no doubt how he has been nearly carried into the banquet hall by the king’s servants who never once mentioned there was a dress code. But the implication is that this guest should have known better, should have realized that every guest to a wedding banquet must be wearing the appropriate attire. This is where the message of the parable comes closest to our lives. Be prepared, Jesus is saying, be properly dressed for life in the reign of God. Be dressed in your righteousness and your love for God. Taken together with the familiar words of Matthew chapter 25 (“When did we see you hungry and not feed you?”) we may understand the proper dress to be that of sheep as compared to goats. So while I really prefer the Luke telling of this parable––with a wider net cast for “new guests” and with no one killed or tossed into the outer darkness––Matthew serves to underscore the point that God wants us ready, whoever we are, and wants us working for the reign of God here and now.
Matthew 22:1-14
Matthew’s account of this parable is full of details that Luke omits making Matthew’s version more violent and, it would seem, less inclusive. But give Matthew credit for being emphatic, for here Jesus warns his listeners, both the crowd in Jerusalem and the religious leaders, to be ready; the hour is close at hand when those who are not prepared will not find a place in the reign of God. The most difficult verse for me comes near the end of the passage. One of those brought in to replace the original invitees is discovered to be unsuitably dressed. “Why are you not wearing your wedding cloak?” the king thunders. But the man is speechless, thinking no doubt how he has been nearly carried into the banquet hall by the king’s servants who never once mentioned there was a dress code. But the implication is that this guest should have known better, should have realized that every guest to a wedding banquet must be wearing the appropriate attire. This is where the message of the parable comes closest to our lives. Be prepared, Jesus is saying, be properly dressed for life in the reign of God. Be dressed in your righteousness and your love for God. Taken together with the familiar words of Matthew chapter 25 (“When did we see you hungry and not feed you?”) we may understand the proper dress to be that of sheep as compared to goats. So while I really prefer the Luke telling of this parable––with a wider net cast for “new guests” and with no one killed or tossed into the outer darkness––Matthew serves to underscore the point that God wants us ready, whoever we are, and wants us working for the reign of God here and now.
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