Feast of Peace | The Rev. Chad E. JarnaginMatthew 22:1-1422 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants[a] to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants,‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”We all follow patterns. Patterns for getting up & going to bed. Traffic patterns... flight patterns... Social patterns... receiving an invitation and then going to an event. Even the Church follows patterns. We are a community of fasting and feasting. In the gospels, we see the patterns of provision for our souls.In parables, Jesus means them to create awareness of a bigger picture so that everyone can understand... Here, this King had a banquet thrown for his son, when he invited the first group of people, they were probably highly esteemed, popular within this community... but they declined the invitation. Then when the King asked for his troops to go invite anyone to the banquet, many turned up. They had a unique chance to go to a feast, a celebration party. Perhaps by fear... or maybe for the invitation itself.They knew who it was for and they dressed up. Basically, they understood what needed to happen in order to go to this wedding banquet; except for this one guy. We don’t know his story but we know he accepted the invitation. He knew he would be fed and would probably have a great time... but was unprepared.This parable seems to be revealing the first group of people to be indifferent or apathetic to the invitation... or maybe they didn’t respect the king and family? Regardless, apathy leaves us on the outside of opportunity... and indifference can leave us lifeless when beauty and adventure are to be experienced.God loves us for who we are, wherever we are. However unprepared we are. When we live devoted lives where God’s goodness is reflected, that is not simply consuming the things of God... A sacramental way of life. God in all things and all things in God.Just as we can have a peace that passes all understanding, God wants us to share 'joys that pass our understanding'. This is good / great news.Indifference, willfulness, and carelessness have a unique power on us to misplace our joy... our peace. May we be mindful and aware of the opportunities around us to engage in the otherness of life. Maybe saying yes to a simple feast leads to something bigger... or an awareness that life is a feast itself.My parting thought: Prayer as resistance. Pray and release apathy and indifference... open to patterns of joy and opportunity. Perhaps pray for a heightened awareness of good news around us... sharing the feast of peace with everyone we meet.
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