On making choices
Ordinary Sunday 28: 9th October, 2005
Fr John Davis, Vicar of St Peter's, Eastern Hill
Today we have another parable about call and choosing. A parable of the kingdom – that place, that space where relationship with God is at the centre – where once again we have a story about invitation and response. Generously offered hospitality and rejection of it. The Scriptures return to this theme again and again. There is a somewhat bewildering twist to the story that has us asking questions and we are finally left with that enigmatic scriptural verse: "Many are called but few are chosen". (Mtt 22:14) Once again, we have something to get our teeth into.
Three weeks ago we heard the gospel parable of the kingdom about a vineyard and two workers, that ended with the Lord's highly provocative observation to the chief priests and elders that 'tax collectors and prostitutes were going into the kingdom of heaven ahead of them' – it was a question of who believed and responded and who did not. Last week there was another vineyard story – this one about the tenants ultimately murdering the son of the landowner. Another highly provocative observation from the Lord to the elders: 'the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom'. According to Matthew it was today's parable that finally had the elders deciding to take serious punitive action. This one was just too much.
We have no vineyard this time but rather a banquet hall on a grand scale. This time invitations to a wedding feast are sent out. Those who were invited would not come. They were again invited and there was rejection or worse. The third time the call went out to all the streets and lanes and the place was eventually filled with good and bad alike. And if we stopped there we have a good enough parable – considering the ongoing invitation and call through the centuries by way of the prophets, and the continuing pattern of rejection and renewed generous invitation that is the story of the people of God. But we have the problem of this man without a wedding garment. We can understand the symbolism of a wedding feast or a banquet. We can understand the symbol of a king or a father and how the ways of God might be described in such ways. But the symbolism of a breach of dress code is lost on us because we are not familiar with these customs.. So we need to work on this one.
That man who got in but was not dressed in the wedding garment that everyone else was wearing is the final and ultimate rejector of the hospitality and generosity offered by the king. It is not a matter of someone without access to appropriate clothing for such an occasion. It is rather someone who, with such clothing provided and available, has not considered it worth the effort to put them on. In doing so the action was both a rejection of the hospitality of the host and a pretty clear indication that the nature of the occasion itself was not being taken seriously. The host does indeed take major offence.
So this is a final example of rejection and choosing to say no. But there is an alternative. The religious search can also instead take the path of acceptance and saying yes. And this parable today is all about such possible choices. It finally ends with a major twist – just like that 'who is my neighbour' question in the Good Samaritan parable being turned into a 'who proved themselves to be a neighbour' question. That is actually quite a different question. It invites some self-discernment and self-awareness.
So now today in this parable so full of people making negative choices in response to the invitations offered, the question finally shifts from 'what might I choose?' to 'what, in the light of all this decision-making, does God choose?' Until the last verse we could observe that all the choosing was being done by those rejectors. But there is in fact a final choosing that is to be done by God. "For many are called, but few are chosen". Now that teaching too invites some reflection and self-discernment. So this whole section of Matthew's gospel presents the issues at stake as being very significant indeed. Our lectionary has taken it seriously too – with these three weeks given over to the theme.
Big decisions here that many others have not made. Life directions and relationship with God, that so many think unimportant or just plain silly. Being part of the building of a community of faith, when there are so many evident institutional failings and so many of our family and friends can see no need or purpose. So much else that could be done – or perhaps just nothing at all – on every long and beautiful Sunday morning. We too then know something of this question of choice as well. But we are here. And just right now there is something increasingly encouraging about that.
We have been considering over these last few weeks once again what it might mean to us to be a community of faith gathered in this place now. We have been exploring possibilities that it is not by accident that we find ourselves trying to respond to the fact of God here, within this tradition of Christianity and at this stage of our lives. In our public corporate worship of God and in the particular form and style of worship we offer, we find at least part of our response to our vocation – as people called, as people trying to respond to learn and to grow, as people in community, however tentative our connections may from time to time be.
We start with that offering of worship and we reach out from there in service and in care. All that we have and all that we are is being brought into relationship with God in Jesus Christ. That is what Christian discipleship is about. It can be noted that we are an interesting mix and that we celebrate our diversity and our difference. It can be very creative and stimulating. But none of this life together can be taken for granted. There are costs and there are responsibilities that we recognise. We have been also considering therefore – and I have to add in a very encouraging way rising to the challenge – together putting a growing proportion of our individual material resources towards the support of what we do here, in order to make it better. That is building on the actual substantial and generous increase over the twelve months just ended already received – a $15,000 jump in one year.
On that last matter I would hope to have a reasonably full report available for us in the pew sheet next week as we process the new requests for planned giving envelopes and the other growing number of parishioners giving through the ADF direct debit scheme. Just to say that new givers are well into the double figures. These are both newcomers to the parish and long-term parishioners taking on this form of commitment. The indication also would seem to be clear that many existing financial supporters have chosen to commit to an increase. Our budget for this new year will be able to reflect this, in the various ministries we are able to offer and support in and from St Peter's. I cannot stress too much what an encouragement this is and express our most grateful thanks. Well done. To adapt Mother Teresa's memorable phrase: we want to do 'something beautiful for God' in this place; we want to be 'something beautiful for God' in this city church.
And this in turn ties in to our earlier consideration of making a choice to respond to the invitation of God; making a choice to be an active part of this community of faith at St Peter's and praying that we may in some small way ourselves together be part of God's graceful and generous choice, so decisively made personal in Jesus Christ.
The Lord be with you.
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