18th Sunday after Pentecost, Oct 12, 2014

Proper 23

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reflections: This wonderful collect reminds me of Collect 57, one of two prayers for guidance in the BCP, page 832. Check it out.

Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”

But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Reflections: There’s a wonderful Zen saying that play on the classic Zen practice of spending hours at a time on a meditation cushion: “Don’t just do something! Sit there!” Now there’s some sage advice. Unfortunately, it comes several thousand years too late for these Israelites.

But they, rather than acting like despicable idolaters, were just doing what we all tend to do when we don’t know what to do: When in doubt, turn to what is familiar. So maybe we don’t have much of a villain in this story.

But we do have an obvious hero: Moses. Even God appears to disown the Israelites when saying to Moses “Your people, whom you brought . . . have acted perversely.” Sounds rather like an argument between the parents of a kid who’s just broken the neighbor’s window (“Do you know what your son did today?!!). The family analogy doesn’t stop there.

Moses, challenges and negotiates with God. And this is certainly not the only instance in the Hebrew Bible. In this story—as in many others—we see that God invites us, not as submissive spectators of God’s actions, but as family members engaged in a shared striving for truth, justice, and love. 

Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23

Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, * for his mercy endures for ever.

Who can declare the mighty acts of the LORD * or show forth all his praise?

Happy are those who act with justice * and always do what is right!

Remember me, O LORD, with the favor you have for your people, *
    and visit me with your saving help;

That I may see the prosperity of your elect and be glad with the gladness of your people, *

    that I may glory with your inheritance.

We have sinned as our forebears did; * we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.

Israel made a bull-calf at Horeb * and worshiped a molten image;

And so they exchanged their Glory * for the image of an ox that feeds on grass.

They forgot God their Savior, * who had done great things in Egypt,

Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham, * and fearful things at the Red Sea.

So he would have destroyed them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, *
    to turn away his wrath from consuming them.

Reflections: In many of the Psalms, the Israelites sing an unvarnished version of their history, not glossing over their unfaithfulness, but celebrating God’s fidelity and mercy. Their honesty is instructive. I don’t know about you, but when I’ve done something that troubles me, I just can’t get it out of my mind. It plays over and over, and no matter how I try to rehearse it in ways that make me feel better, it won’t be put to rest. I have discovered, however, that peace is not so far away. If by God’s grace, I am willing to do what the psalmists did, suck up my pride and replay the event in brutal honesty, I do find peace. God always offers mercy. But often we are too pained to acknowledge our need for it.

Epistle: Philippians 4:1-9

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Reflections: This reading closes St. Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. While the bulk of his writing here was theological and therefore perhaps a bit abstract, the close of his message is intimate and practical. Faith means nothing if it is not lived out in concrete terms.

          And what is the antidote for the inevitable conflicts that arise among our personalities, needs, and actions? It is to continually touch down in the great love of Christ that binds us together in a larger identity and purpose, in the reconciling work of God. 

Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.

Reflections: Instead of the wedding of a king’s son, the parallel parable in Luke 14 is a great supper. But the invitees in Luke also gave excuses; Luke, however, has the servants invite everyone, and when the hall still wasn’t filled, he ordered the servants to “compel them to come in.” went out and invited, then out and compelled. Luke’s story is followed by passages recounting the cost of discipleship.

The fact that Matthew is different highlights the troubling passage in today’s reading: the bit about the wedding robe.

Mother Karen did something very good with the Gospel reading. She invited us to imagine ourselves as different characters…the invited guests, the slaves, the people recruited to the celebration, and the man caught without a wedding garment. One assumes that the King and his son represents the Father and Christ—though admittedly, that identification causes problems if we take it too rigidly.

Most of us are probably like the invited guests, but we of course we don’t realize it. Like the invitees in the story, who were occupied with justifiable enterprises, we’re busy with our work, or our search for work, or the debt collectors, or running the kids to their next activity. Most of the things that compete for our attention are not optional activities, but serious obligations.

And then there are the slaves, sent out to issue unwelcome invitations, or sent out to round up whoever was available for the feast: sometimes happily received, other times rejected or abused.

And of course, the attendants commissioned to eject the fellow in the wrong clothes. It is difficult, with our understanding of God as unconditional love, to read of this seemingly whimsical God whose invitation proves less unconditional that it initially appeared. More profitable, rather, to ask ourselves, in what ways we might appoint ourselves gate keepers.

But we also can’t escape the possibility that we identify with the one remaining person in the parable. The unfortunate person without a wedding garment. What might that mean? Could we be clothed in something that prevented our sharing in the joy of the divine wedding? Might we be clothed, instead, with regret, resentment? Some pain that claims our soul and will not free us to be fully open to God and to one another in the present moment?

Most likely, we are to some extent all of the characters in the parable. Let us pray for the grace to enter into God’s joy in Christ—even in the midst of our sometimes chaotic and difficult lives.