This is not
a popular reading. It seems to say something which is uncomfortable to hear
and portrays an image of God in a judgmental mood. And yet biblical scholars
are fairly confident that it can be regarded as an authentic saying of Jesus
rather than being a story which the gospel writers edited into their texts
to support their own arguments.
Part of its discomfort comes from the way in which it ends on a powerfully judgmental tone. Jesus says:
"For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner."
That last comment is the climax of the story, so we need to know who it's aimed at. It's easy to overlook the fact that the grammar in the original Greek changes slightly but crucially at that point. In that last sentence, the words are not those of the householder talking to his servants: we have now moved outside the context of the story. The grammar indicates that they are the words of Jesus talking to his listeners - and they are aimed quite specifically at the honoured guests who are present with Jesus at supper in the house of a senior Pharisee.
It would be reasonable to think that the message is also aimed rather broadly at us - especially when we are in our holier-than-thou moods; especially when we are inclined to say, 'Thank God I'm a better Christian than she is'; especially when we are tempted to think that only our way is God's way. Those are the times when we become Pharisees.
We also hear a rather severe warning about placing God's call on our lives as a lower priority than some of the more mundane demands on our time and energies. It seems as if a very definite judgment awaits us if we fail to turn up for the banquet which God prepares for us. There can be no excuses: our place will be given to someone else, and we shall not taste the gifts of God for the people of God.
The parable about the banquet was certainly intended to have some shock value, and to serve as a wake up call to those who had reached a 'take it or leave it' stage in their religious observance. But we should never lose sight of the fact that the parable was a fictional illustration designed to make a teaching point - it should not be regarded as a working model that we can apply literally to our relationship with God. As with most of what have come down to us as the sayings of Jesus, we need to look beyond the literal meaning and find the broader message.
For example, it's easy to misplace ourselves in the parable. It's tempting to look around the small group of us gathered here today and to think that we are the ones who responded to the invitation and have come to the banquet. It's tempting to look round and ask where are the rest of them? The doors are open, the welcome is there, there's plenty of room, the meal is about to take place. What kind of excuses have they made this time for not coming in?
If that's how we think, perhaps we need to beware that still small voice of the Pharisee within us. Perhaps we need to consider whether, instead of being guests, proudly clutching our invitations as we take our places at the feast, we are actually called to be the slave who goes out into the streets and the lanes and brings in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame; because although through God's grace we are treated as guests at the banquet, haven't we also taken on the role of servants to the Master? Isn't that what our personal ministries mean? Isn't that what our commission as disciples of Jesus directs us to do? Ours is to be the joy of leading someone to the table.
Teachings and stories about God's judgment linked to reward and punishment were a characteristic feature of Jewish culture at the time of Christ. It's natural that Jesus should have used such a concept to give power to his parables. But it's not a concept which empowers our understanding of God today. We do ourselves no favours by seeking to hold too literally to the ideas of absolute inclusion or absolute exclusion as we look towards an eternity in God's presence.
And yet there is still a quick cold shower for us in that parable about the Great Banquet:
Amen.
(Philip Jones)
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.