Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 11, 2026
Proper 23, A
Isaiah 25:1-9
Psalm 23
Matthew 22:1-14
Right now, we have our government planning a public execution, live-streamed, of a man who killed soldiers at Fort Hood. Now, whether the man deserves to be killed or not (pretty easy to say he does), is not the issue when it comes to live-streaming is execution. The defense being given is, well, he murdered soldiers, and therefore he deserves death, and he deserves to have his death live-streamed so that people will fear what happens when you cross the line.
The question is not really “what does he deserve”, but “who are we going to be as a people?” Are we going to be a people who delight in killing? Are we going to be a people who delight in revenge? Are we going to be a people who delight in death as entertainment?
As I said last week, when we put on Christ, we take on a way of life, and there are some things we just don’t get to do anymore. Bringing popcorn and a Coke to a public execution is one of those things we just don’t get to do.
They guy in the parable Jesus told about the wedding banquet, the guy who ended up without a wedding garment, who was thrown out into the outer darkness, he seems like the kind of guy who would have brought the popcorn and Coke to a public execution.
Looking at this story, we’ve got this man’s town that had just been burned down. The king had invited all these guests to his son’s wedding banquet, and they all said, “Yeah, thanks a lot. We don’t want to come.” So the king tried again, and he sent his servants, and they invited everyone again, and the people of the town who had been invited to the banquet, instead of just going (what else do you have to do on a Friday night?) or just saying “no” again, some of them decided to kill the king’s servants.
You invited us to a wedding banquet. We’re going to murder your servants in return. I have images of Sodom and Gomorrah, where, rather than show hospitality to these strangers who came into the town of Sodom, they said, “We’re going to rape and kill you. Come on man, let’s go. We’re going to rape you all night long to show you we’re in charge, rather than show you hospitality.” Cruelty was the way of Sodom, and in this city that Jesus is talking about in his parable, it seems that cruelty is the way there, too.
“We want you to come to a wedding banquet.”
“Yeah, we’re just going to rape and kill your servants instead.”
If we look at the parable in that sense, we have this city that is so corrupt that their people would rather rape and murder than feast together. So, the king destroyed the town, burned it down, and then there were a few people who were left, those who had not been invited initially, those who no longer had a town, and the king brings them in. He says, “You’re my honored guests. You weren’t a part of that murder, so you’re now the members of my kingdom”, and you’ve got this one guy who wouldn’t wear the wedding garment, as though to say, “I’m actually kinda good with the murder that we just did. So, send me back. I’d rather be a part of murder-rape town than your fancy feast.”
So, he was sent out where he seemed to want to go, back to the murder-rape village. See, putting on the garment of Christ as these other villagers did, they put on this wedding garment, they put on this new way of life, meant that there were things they no longer got to do. They had a new identity. They were no longer a part of murder-rape town. They were a part of this kingdom of feasting, this kingdom of love together.
Now, having said that, putting on Christ is not a threat. “You better not get a toe out of line, or else you’ll be cast into the outer darkness.” That’s not what Jesus is saying here. Putting on Christ doesn’t mean we’re constantly afraid of backsliding, whatever the hell that is.
Putting on Christ means we are putting on a way of life, and that way of life is marked by love and kindness. The way of Christ is marked by forgiveness and mercy. The way of Christ is marked by valuing and honoring human life.
So, when we see one another not honoring and valuing human life, it’s kinda like seeing that guy without the wedding garment, but we’re not going to throw that person into the outer darkness. We don’t need to threaten that person with eternal torture. Threats of hell are not the ways of those who have put on Christ. Threats of hell are not loving or kind. Threats of hell are not forgiving or merciful. Threats of hell are not honoring and valuing human life. Threats of hell just let me ignore my own tattered and crummy garment by noticing how much worse yours is.
A challenge with the parable Jesus told, is that we sometimes get afraid when we hear this parable, wondering, “What if I don’t have a wedding garment? Oh gee whiz. Well, if I don’t have a wedding garment, I might get thrown into the outer darkness, and I sure don’t want that.” So, we end up with a really easy way to ensure that we have the wedding garment, that I have the wedding garment.
What’s the easiest way to make sure I have a wedding garment? Make sure I identify someone else who doesn’t, and if that person is different from me, well then since they don’t have the wedding garment, then I must have the wedding garment, so I’m good.
That’s not honoring or valuing human life either, and that’s not what Jesus meant with this parable. Putting on Christ, like having that wedding garment means there are ways of life that we get to follow, and there are ways of life we don’t get to follow. If it’s going to be that I get to hurt someone else in order to feel good, well, that ain’t a part of the way of Christ. That could also mean that I get to threaten this person with hell so I feel better about my salvation. That ain’t the way of Christ.
So, the questions to ask are not, “Am I doing good enough for Jesus not to throw me out, or are they doing bad enough that they will get thrown out?” No, the questions to ask are, “Is what I’m doing kind? Is what I’m doing loving? Is what I’m doing filled with forgiveness and mercy? Is what I’m doing honoring and valuing human life?”
If yes, then we’re probably living with the garment of Christ, and if no, we’re probably not. Which means we get to turn around, and change our ways, and put back on that garment of Christ.
Now, there’s another way of looking at this parable. This is a way of, instead of seeing the king as God, we could see the king as a crazy, mad, lustful, powerful king who decides he’s going to burn down an entire town because a few people killed his servants. He’s not just going to go get those few people, because now he’s angry, and he’s going to burn down the entire town, even though most of the people, they just didn’t want to go to his wedding banquet.
That’s crazy. That is a despicable ruler. So then, this crazy king who burned down an entire town for the sake of a few people (and because the others didn’t want to come and eat his food), he gathers up those who are left alive, terrified at what’s just happened, and brings them into his castle, and they all just go along with it.
They’re not saying, “Um dude, you just slaughtered our people. We’re not going to follow you now.” No, they just go along with him and say, “Ok, cool. You just killed everybody, and I don’t have a house to go back to, but…sounds great. I’ll be a part of your kingdom now." Except for this one guy who wouldn’t put on the clothing of an oppressive government, who wouldn’t put on the clothing of an oppressive empire just to be ok. He wouldn’t conform to the ways of a mad king.
Well, looking at it that way, that’s also the kind of thing that God demands of us. We’re not going to conform to the ways of craziness and awfulness in the world just so we can get along easier with whatever group or people we fell is in charge. It doesn’t need to be a government. If there’s a group of people we kinda belong to, and they’re going along the ways of hatred and harm, not kind, and not valuing human life, and we just go along with their ways because it’s easier than saying “no”, then we’re just putting on the garment of the mad king, rather than showing up and actually saying, “No, I’m not going to live that way. Y’all are wrong. If you kick me out of your group, so be it. This is wrong.”
The way of the wedding garment, whichever way we look at this parable, we’re looking at the ways of Christ. The ways of Christ are love and kindness, forgiveness and mercy, honoring and valuing human life. That means that even when someone has killed others, even when someone has come onto a military base and murdered soldiers, maybe that person needs to die, but that doesn’t change who we are.
We are not a people that enjoys killing others. We are not a people that finds it fun to watch someone else’s death. We are a people that values human life, and so when this man is being executed, the way of the Church is not to watch with popcorn and a Coke. That neither honors nor values human life. That shows no mercy, or forgiveness, or kindness, or love. That shows contempt. That shows once again, “Ha, ha! I’ve got the wedding garment, and you don’t!”
Instead, the way of the church, when that man is executed, is to pray for those whom he killed, and to pray for their families. The way of the church is to pray for the soldiers who are given the task of killing this man. The way of the church is to pray for this man being executed, for we are taught to pray even for our enemies, not to delight in their suffering, but to pray that they too, may find the forgiveness, mercy, and loving-kindness of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment