Come and Join The Party Every Day!

 

Come and Join The Party Every Day!

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger,

and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.  Exodus 34:6

 

For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger,

and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. Jonah 4:2

 

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  Psalm 103:8

 

But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy. BCP 337

 

I begin with these to remind us that the Bible and The Book of Common Prayer echo a formulaic description of the God of the Bible that runs from Exodus all the way to the end. It may not sound like it, but the same God who in Isaiah 25 is threatening to destroy the vineyard, Israel, which he has planted and tended is the same God who also “relents from punishing,” as Jonah found out when the Ninevites repented and were spared. This upset Jonah who seems to have been looking forward to the spectacle of disaster visited upon Nineveh. We have to admit, we sometimes find ourselves wishing for the similar destruction of others from time to time. Not very “made in the image of God” of us, is it?

 

Given the Bible’s view of God, it strikes me that Matthew’s presentation of “the banquet” (Matthew 22:1-14) is quite odd. I mean what kind of king, or God, first destroys a city and all its people for not coming to his party, and then sees someone amongst those he ordered to be brought in off the street to the banquet, and then has the poor soul bound hand and foot and tossed into the “outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth” simply for not having the proper garment on? Certainly not someone whose property is “always to have mercy!” We even heard Kahlil Gibran the other day at Noonday Prayer saying that anyone who considers themselves “good” does not ask even the naked, “Where is your garment?” For it is, after all, Matthew’s Jesus who says, “I am the naked; I am the stranger; I am hungry, I am the prisoner…” I am persuaded that Matthew repurposes the parable to address trouble within the early church rather than as a description of the “heavenly banquet” of God’s Reign, calling those of us who claim Christ as Lord to look deep within ourselves and how we treat one another.

 

So, instead of allegorizing Matthew, I offer a more believable vision of the banquet as my long-time mentor, pastor, preacher and friend, the late N. Gordon Cosby of the Church of the Saviour, Washington, DC, once described it:

We’re Invited to A Grace Party! When we hear the invitation to claim our membership in God’s family, it’s like we’ve stumbled onto a Grace Party. We can hardly believe our good fortune. The sights and sounds of it are pure delight. Abundance characterizes the whole shindig. The most delectable manna is falling everywhere, and wine overflows as though from an Artesian well. Everyone is eating and drinking endlessly, yet not being harmed because this food and wine are not of the world but of New Life.

 

And get this: Everyone’s invited! That’s the really good news. No one has to crash this party, there’s no limit to how many of my friends I can bring along with me. Or, my enemies for that matter. It’s such a blast that I want everyone to come – those with wealth or not a penny to their name, those who are down and out or who thought they had some power. I do notice, though, that the so-called nobodies seem to be having the most fun. It takes others awhile to lay down everything they brought with them and start to play.

 

What are people doing at this party? That’s the funny thing – We’re not ‘doing’ much at all. We’re just being. We’re being our real selves, relaxed and eager to help out with whatever the host asks of us. Love is flowing all over the place. Whatever you need, we’re ready:

 

Do you want someone to listen? We’ll hear whatever you need to say.

Are you bleeding from wounds of the past? We’ll soothe and bandage your wounds.

Do you need to be held for a while, just being quiet in a safe place? Not a problem. We have all the time in the world.

Looking for respect, even reverence? You’ll get such a dose of it you’ll wonder if you can take it all in.

 

In fact, there’s so much peace and joy at this party that it can be hard to absorb. Some of us just aren’t able to let in this much unimpeded Love and Goodness. That’s right. The host isn’t pushy. We can come and go as many times as we need to until we can handle this much joy.

 

This is simply the nature of a Grace Party. None of us is here because we deserve to be. We haven’t earned any of it. And although some of us might keep turning down the invitation, the host will never stop inviting. And neither will we who have decided to stay. We’ll be spreading the news of this unbelievable Feast everywhere we go. Come to the party! It won’t be the same if you’re not there.

 

Hey, come right away! Come and join the Party Every Day! 

Amen. It is truth. It is so!