Jesus tells a story. It is, at first glance, a strange story but it's a story that tells us a lot about God, the world and ourselves.
They are the three things that the Bible tells us about: God, the world and ourselves a nd this story is very revealing in what it tells us about all three but it needs a bit of unpacking . . . .
Jesus says that God is like a King whose Son is getting married, so the King invites guests to the wedding reception. Then on the Big Day he sends out his servants to collect the invited guests. (A bit like a chauffeur service: stretch limo with smoked glass windows coming to your door to collect you.), but the guests refuse to come. Oh dear.
How does the King feel? Humiliated? Embarrassed? Sad? Angry? What does the King do? He does the same thing again, but not exactly the same thing – this time, he goes even further, trying to win and woo his guests. He sends his servants out as before but this time theyl are to tell the invited people that the food is ready and waiting – in fact, that the King has killed his best animals for this party. Expensive sacrifices have been made and they cannot be undone. The King is almost pleading with these people to come to his Son's banquet. Not, in a sense, very King-like behaviour, and what is the response?
Well, those who have been invited and already rejected the servants' first visit copy the King: they go even further with their behaviour. The King went further in trying to get them to come and they go further in rejecting him. Last time they ignored the servants; sent them packing. This time, even though the King humbles himself and tells them of his sacrifices and the good food that awaits them, they humiliate him and abuse his messengers. One goes off to work on the farm, another to the factory.
Imagine: they would rather go to work than to a royal wedding! Worse still, some of these people actually abuse these poor servants who have been sent to invite them to the party of a life time. In fact, some of the servants are killed. Well, how do you think our King responds to that? A third mission, with even more pleading?
No: his patience has come to an end. Patience is only a virtue if it has an end, otherwise, it's just weakness, and here the King's good naturedness and kindness and patience ends. He is furious and rightly so – put yourself in his shoes, and try and comfort the widows and children of his murdered servants (they weren't even murdered while delivering bad news trying to collect money, no, they were killed while out delivering good news.) So what does the King do? He falls on these wicked people from a great height. He sends his army to level their city. Bang, and there's a reminder of the awesome power of God.
We know the power of the US army, for example, because we can see it in action every night on the news, but we don't often see God's destructive power – and yet it is infinite, and ultimate and he is quite rightly angered by our rejection of him and his invitation to his Son's party. So while the smoke clears over the flattened city let's recap before we go any further.
God is like a King who has a Son. God is throwing a party for his Son, Jesus Christ. God invites people to that party. Then he sends his messengers and servants to remind us, to get us ready and to pick us up. And who are God's messengers and servants? How about: prophets, the Bible, the church, Christian ministers, leaders, and teachers, each other, our consciences, the beauty and truth we see in creation – all the ways God reaches out to us and speaks to us and calls to us. What is the party?
The party, the feast, the banquet is, I think two things: God's love for us here and now and, or course, the Ultimate Party – Heaven, where we will really have the time of our lives in the company of the King and his Son. But we don't want to go to his party, we don't want to be loved, we don't want to be special, we don't want to have a good time and we don't want to meet his Son. (Are we mad?) At best, people ignore God's messengers and servants, busying ourselves with all sorts of mundane, workaday things. At worst, people are openly hostile to this Good News, to the invitation, to the King and his Son. And they take it out on the Kings servants and messengers and that makes the King angry. (Well, put yourself in his shoes: wouldn't it upset you?).
OK, now on the last part of the story. The chosen guests have rejected the King's good offer of a place at the party. (These first set of people may be the Jews, who were God's special people and who had the initial invitation and also the servants to remind them and prepare them but who rejected God and killed his prophets). So the King decides that if those who were sent invites said no, then he would just randomly invite anyone and everyone to the party. After, the best animals have been slaughtered and the food's on the table rapidly going cold. Expensive sacrifices have been made and the Kings wants guests to come and enjoy the feats he's laid on for his Son. So out go the servants a third time – this time to the street corners, to pick up and collect passers by, strangers, anyone at all. It must have seemed like a con, like some sort of scam or trick. Imagine: Royal footmen, in all their livery, stopping people on the street and inviting them to Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle for a Royal Wedding. You know the old sayings: “If it seems too good to be true then it probably is” and “There's no such thing as a free lunch”. Well, I wonder how many people didn't come because they were too cynical or suspicious! (Imagine getting this as an offer by email . . . .) I wonder if the same is also true today. I mean, Christianity is an amazing offer. God made us, loves us, gave us his son, forgives us, sends us his spirit to be with us and to guide us and then takes us to his party in heaven and what do we do to earn or deserve this? Nothing. It's an unconditional free offer. Which goes against common sense and all the laws of nature. It's not the way things are and thats the trouble: it's “too good to be true”, except it is true, in fact, it's the ultimate truth, the only truth.
But I wonder if people sometimes wonder whether is a catch, or what the con is, I wonder if that stops people coming to God, I wonder if they still feel that there must be some requirement, some deal, some small print. There isn't, of course, but Christians can still feel guilty, anxious, driven, when they should have love and peace and joy.
BUT. God does ask us to respond to his love. His love is still free and unconditional, and he takes all the initiative and makes all the running. But he hopes and wants and expects us to love him in return. After all, we have to respond to the invitation and we have to turn up at the party. It takes something from our side, we have to play our part. We may be escorted to the party, but we still have to choose to go and we can, of course, choose not to – like those first guests.
Which brings us to the final part of the story. The party is in full swing, with all and sundry taking the places of the invited guests, when the King notices a person not wearing the wedding costume.
Here we need a word of explanation. When you arrived at a wedding you would be given a nice white robe to wear. Instead of checking in your coat to the cloakroom attendants THEY would give YOU a white tunic. This would help in a number of ways: it was recognisable festive (like a paper hat at Christmas or a carnation at wedding), it showed the host's wealth and generosity, it gave the party a sort of uniform to everyone felt they belonged, it covered up the clothes you came in so they didn't get stained or dirty in the revelry, it levelled class distinctions and it showed who was a guest and who was a waiter. All in all, quite a good idea! But one person has refused the gown. He or she is happy to come on her own terms and stuff her face with the King's food but she will not conform or comply with this custom, yet again we see the two sides to the King's character. Having invited all and sundry he now finds that someone wants it all on their terms, wants to take advantage of his hospitality without regard for the house rules. So yet again, for the second time in this story, our kind and generous King is angry, yet again, if you put yourself in his shoes, I think you can see why. This person isn't interested in a bit of give and take, even when it works so wildly to his favour. No: he is happy to come and eat but he will not even submit himself to taking the free robe that everyone has accepted. So he goes out and the party goes on.
So: we have seen sacrifices on both sides – but mostly on God's. He throws the party, he invites us, he bears all the cost and incurs all the expense. All he asks of us is that we love him in return and that we accept his offer as a whole and on his terms. We can't pick and choose the bits we want or like; we can't have God on our own terms, taking advantage of his goodness as and when it suits us. Sometimes we might be called to change – and not just our clothes.