Jesus' Parable of the Wedding Banquet
Read Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a wedding banquet that a king throws for his son. Think of the food! Imaging how lavish and wonderful the celebration will be. Dancing, music, dessert will flow like water in a flood. It will likely be the party of the decade, perhaps the century. Who wouldn’t want to be there?
Well, according to Jesus’ parable many have been invited but they refuse to come. Maybe they are too busy with other things. Maybe they just don’t like the king. Perhaps they have nothing to wear to such and event and keep their distance because they feel inadequate. Whatever the reason, those invited reject the king’s invitation. Jesus concludes the parable with this haunting phrase, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” What could he mean? What is the difference between being invited and being chosen?
In the midst of these questions, along with the anger and irritation they cause, it is easy to forget that Jesus sees the kingdom as a grand party and a place of rejoicing with the Son who has finally chosen a bride to give his life to. Come and hear more this weekend in worship and Bible classes!
Pastor Lars Olson
By what authority …?
“And when [Jesus] entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?” [It’s important to note the context for this question which is prompted in the previous verses, 12-17 – when Jesus had, the day prior, overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple and healed the blind and lame.] (Matthew 21:23)
To a large degree, deep inside, the question of the chief priests and elders is ours as well … is it not? It’s the question of all humanity at bottom – especially in our age marked by increasing ambiguity and plurality, with its seeming cultural answer of relativism (You know, “Whatever!”) or even disingenuous indifference (You’ve heard it: “It is what it is.”) There is a longing in the human spirit for ultimate authority. To be in touch with, or know that which we can finally trust.
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Now hang-in there with me on some brief but key historical highlights of this quest, for understanding the matter of authority. … The ancient Greeks sought for it in eudaimonia (e.g. Aristotle’s “happiness” or “well-being”). The Medievalists’ thought of auctoritas or “authority” in terms of power (e.g. Duns Scotus’ potestas absoluta). Or later, philosophers like Immanuel Kant, during the Enlightenment (1685-1815), thought of authority in terms of reason – with their battle cry: “Dare to think [for yourself]” (sapere aude). And in our own time, authority has become invested in Science and Technology (where techne or Scientia, in terms of “technique,” has replaced sapientia or “wisdom.”)
From infancy we’re raised on various authorities. Authority permeates our lives. We accept it. We reformulate it. We reject it. And still, even in our rejection, we presuppose it. It’s vital for our lives, because authority marks where we place our trust. But where, in whom or what do we place this trust of ultimate authority? We ask the question of authority because, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’re so unsure of our own – or our constant disappointment by the authorities around us. Just consider the political authorities in America in 2017.
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Between now and this weekend, I’d like for you to read the Gospel text from Matthew 21:23-32, and ponder these two questions: (1) “What is the meaning of Jesus’ distinction between an authority “from heaven or from men” (see v.25a)? Is this reference to “heaven” just some easy cop-out to some pie-in-the-sky? … And (2) “Is either brother in the parable that Jesus tells, in vv. 28-31 our Gospel text, really obedient to the father’s request? Is there another son, somewhere in this Gospel text who is, and how so?” Perhaps the matter of authority, real and lasting authority, comes down to a matter of obedience. What thinkest thou?
In the meantime, God’s grace and peace …
j.r. christopherson
Senior Pastor
A Funny Thing Happened in Bible Study…
I write this blog post on Wednesday afternoon. Today in Bible Study*, sixteen participants and I had a great discussion of the Gospel text appointed for this Sunday, Jesus’ “Parable of the Generous Landowner.” In this story, a landowner goes out early in the morning to hire day-laborers to work in his vineyard. After agreeing with them on the usual daily wage, he puts them to work. Then the landowner goes out again at 9:00 and hires on another group, agreeing to pay them “whatever is right.” Again at noon and 3:00, he goes out and does the same. Finally, at 5:00, he goes out and tells those who have not yet been hired to also go into the vineyard. At the end of the day, in a surprising turn of events, all of these laborers are paid the same wage. Of course those who were chosen the earliest and worked the longest have a complaint against the landowner, to which he responds: “Are you envious because I am generous?” So it is with the kingdom of heaven, Jesus teaches us. “The last will be first, and the first will be last.”
In Bible study, the participants and I began envisioning that scene of day laborers, gathered together in one spot early in the morning, each hoping to engage in a day’s work for a day’s wage. It’s a scene that plays out all over the world, of course, including Sioux Falls. We imagined the relief and satisfaction that the early hires must have felt – knowing so early in the day that they would get the very thing they had hoped for – a day’s work, and a day’s wage. In this moment, the work that awaited them was received as a blessing! We imagined the tension building for the others who were idle as the day wore on. “This is not a fun kind of idle,” we realized, as the feeling of hopelessness and desperation would certainly set in for those who weren’t hired. They were preparing to go back to their homes, to their families, with…nothing. How very sad! What a tough day it must have been for those fellows, only to have it turned around by the surprising invitation and astonishing generosity of the landowner. Of course, those who found their joy early in the day realized that the others had received equal pay, and that’s when their work (which had once been a privilege) quickly turned into a burden. Has that ever happened to us in daily life, not to mention Christian life? You bet… and that’s what the sermon will be focusing on this Sunday as we hear once again of a God who is generous, and always gives us more than we deserve.
But I have to tell you, a funny thing happened today in Bible Study. One of the participants, Gene, couldn’t stop thinking about those day laborers. He wondered if day laborers in Sioux Falls began each day with enough to eat, to keep them going through a big day of work. “Wouldn’t it be nice,” he said, “if the church could show up with doughnuts for these workers?” “Well, yes,” I replied to Gene. “That is a very fine idea!” Heads around the room nodded in agreement. At the end of the study, Gene and four others – Betty, Doris, Barney, and Gloria – began making phone calls and plans, and as I write this, three cases of “First Lutheran water” (supplied by our Intern Pastor Jeff Backer) and dozens of doughnuts (funded by the pockets of these enthusiastic Bible study participants) are being delivered to People Ready on 37th and Main, where workers on Thursday and Friday morning will be treated to a surprise breakfast hosted by these friends of First Lutheran Church.
Will this become “a thing” in weeks to come? Who knows! Maybe it will become “a ministry,” or maybe it’s just a beautiful act of love and generosity that emerged from a really great Bible study. Either way, witnessing a group of Christians make surprising, unusual plans to bless others in the name of Jesus fills me with hope and joy – and reminds me of the surprising, amazing, generous God we serve.
And, if this idea sparks something generous in you, send me an email, and I’ll put you in touch with someone named Gene, Betty, Doris, Barney or Gloria.
Blessings,
Pastor Katherine
*Did you know that we have an open Bible study that meets every Wednesday at 10 am? It’s held in the Gathering Room of our church, and the pastor who’s preaching on Sunday leads a discussion among a lively, diverse group of participants on the coming weekend’s assigned text. It’s a really great opportunity that some call our congregation’s “best kept secret.” Since no Bible study should be a SECRET, I thought I’d take this opportunity to promote it now. Anyone is welcome to attend anytime.
Love Does No Wrong
Jesus' great commandment comes to us this weekend from Romans 13. "Love your neighbor as yourself" is one of the most well worn verses of all scripture. It is used as a guide by Christians to remind us of our duty to our neighbors, and it is used by non-Christians to remind us of our hypocrisy. The simple truth of the matter is that love of neighbor is commanded, but it is never complete. There is always another neighbor to love. There is always another action so that "love never ends" (1 Corinthians 13:8) until one has given away everything for another.
Given everything? Every single thing? Your time, energy, interests, reputation? All the things that make you you? Yes, all of it. This is what fulfilling the law looks like. Forgetting all about you and thinking only of the needs of others. It shouldn't take us too long to realize that love means our death, and then to realize exactly what Jesus does in loving us. He gives his whole, entire life to us; his kingdom, his righteousness, his goodness, his perfection.
The gospel, therefore, is not a demand for you to love better. It is the simple, unbelievable message, that in Jesus Christ, God has loved the world - not to be your example, but to be your new life. Love one other, not because it is owed, but because in Christ you no longer need any of the things that make you you.
Pastor Lars
A Cross Before A Crown
Having a Mind of Christ
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers [and sisters], by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. … Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may prove what is the will of God …” (Romans 12:1, 2; RSV)
“[As Jesus and his disciples entered the district of Caesarea Philippi, with all of its natural splendor and economic wealth] … Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you [with all of your popularity and power]. … [But after correcting Peter,] Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:21-22, 24; RSV)
These two texts for this coming weekend, as we continue our study of St. Paul’s Letter to the Church at Rome … joined together with this passage from the “hinge chapter” (Jack Kingsbury) of St. Matthew’s gospel … beg the following kinds of questions: “What is this matter of ‘a living sacrifice’ of ‘non-conformity’ and having a ‘renewal of your mind’ – not only in the time of the early church but in ours as well – that St. Paul is referring to? And why is it that Peter and Jesus get into such a heated exchange? What’s at stake here? What does it mean for us today, to ‘deny ourselves and take up Christ’s cross and follow him’?”
To begin with … Is it not that our role as Christians, as the people of the Cross within this world with all of its pressure to conform, precisely what Jesus said it was: to be salt, yeast and light (Matthew 13; cf. St. Paul’s echoing voice in Philippians 2:5-11). Our Lord’s metaphors for his community of witness were all of them modest ones: a little salt, a little yeast, a little light. Hmm? And yet Christendom has tried to be great, large, magnificent: from Cathedrals to mega-churches, from powerful Curias to TV evangelists, from gunboats to China to opportunistic political lobbying. Christendom tried and thought (note the past tense) itself the object of God’s expansive grace; it forgot the meaning of its election to sacrificial and transformational responsibility.
Today, we are constrained by the divine Spirit of God made manifest in Christ, to rediscover the possibilities of … hmm … littleness (‘oft expressed in a spirit of humility). We are to decrease in order that the saving Gospel “good news” news of Jesus Christ may increase. But we cannot enter this new phase without pain (“God forbid, Lord!” Matthew 16:22). For truly we have been glorious in this world’s own eyes and terms. It seems to many of us a humiliation that we are made to reconsider our destiny as “little flocks.” I mean, how in-the-world can St. Paul confess: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (II Corinthians 12:10)?! Is he out of his “mind”?! And can such a calling of Jesus be worthy of the servants of him who is the Sovereign of the Universe?! Yet, if that Sovereign be the One who reigns from the cross, could any other calling be thought legitimate?
See you at Saturday Vespers or Sunday morning …
In Christ
j.r. christopherson
Senior Pastor