Every so often, Vicki of Nashville, the one who creates the Lectionary readings, throws us some texts that just don’t seem to go together. That’s how it is for the upcoming weekend. I just can’t find the holy thread that knits them together; unless… Unless we find out that all these scriptural passages indicate that God loves the People, no matter what; and that God’s inviting all sorts of folks to the Heavenly Banquet! You and me too!
ISAIAH of Jerusalem usually writes in an “I TOLD you so!” frame–except for some verses. 25:1-9 are among these that glorify YHWH in the midst of exile and battle. “When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm, the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place, You subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled.” Isaiah announces a word of hope within harsh times, contrasting God’s steadfast love with the fatalism of the idols. Today’s hearers may well affirm this steadfast love, especially by caring for those who’ve given up hope.
PHILIPPIANS 4:1-9 is St. Paul’s farewell to his friends in the city of Philippi, written from house arrest in Rome. Under the shadow of execution, he can still be joyful, considering that “joy” is a shared feeling. He sees that Joy isn’t predicated on circumstance, but is a spiritual understanding that God’s in heaven, all’s right with the world. Does that mean that we don’t have to save ourselves? That we can trust that God’s in charge even in our exilic battles? Good News indeed! “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer with supplication and thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
In MATTHEW 22:1-10 we read about the Wedding Banquet, a story here laced with Matthew’s humanity. He sets this as a parable of Jesus, who in his last days is telling the System that other people are just as important. The meat of this for us today is that the Church is open to both “the good and the bad”: have we been exclusive in our charity and our dress codes? As refreshing as this parable should be to the hopeless and discouraged, it also reminds us not to be too smug: those awful tax collectors have the same entrance as we do, i.e. the love of Jesus.
“I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; ills have no weight, and tears not bitterness. Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if thou abide with me” – ——Henry F. Lyte
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
Come with me every Tuesday as we explore scripture passages that will be heard on the upcoming weekend; at horacebrownking.com
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