Robes Required

 Matthew 22: 1-14
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.” But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’

Go ahead and speak your mind, Jesus. Don't hold back.

Jesus certainly let the Jewish leadership know that he was on to their intentions to arrest him and kill him and that they were on rocky ground if they persisted in resting on their assumptions that they were the chosen, the elite, the blessed ones of God just because they were born to the Jewish race and faith. These parables were dangerous ones for Jesus to lay before the Jewish elders. I have this amusing image in my head of the disciples standing behind the crowd using mime to indicate that Jesus should shut up. Fingers slashing across throats. Exaggerated pantomiming of zipped lips. Heads deliberately shaking while they silently mouthed, “Stop NOW.” But Jesus knew that there was already a cross with his name on it. Holding back at that point wouldn't gain him any points. Matthew wrote his Gospel for the Jewish people and Matthew related parables that pointed out that Jesus was serious that entrance into the Kingdom was not guaranteed just because someone was born Jewish and had all the right paraphernalia or even performed all the right actions. God looks at the heart not the outward show and it's still the same today. 

What Jesus was saying to the Jews was, “Going to the synagogue doesn't make you a good Jew anymore than standing in a barn makes you a donkey.” (Modern translation: Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.) No wonder those leaders were out to get him. 

Then Jesus finishes off the parable with a somewhat obscure and alarming addition where the king orders his servants to bind up a guest and throw him into the darkness just because the guest had no wedding robe. Just before that, scripture says the king sent his servants to round up anyone they could find, good or bad. If the king was so anxious to find guests to come to the wedding banquet, why would he pick on one poor soul who wasn't dressed properly? Maybe the guy was poor and didn't own a wedding garment. Where was the sin?

In the time of Christ, the host provided all male guests who came to a Jewish wedding feast with a white garment called a 'Kittel' to wear into the banquet hall. It looked a little like a bathrobe and it had no pockets. The robe was white to signify unity with the bride. It had no pockets to symbolize the act of marrying for love not for what material possessions could be gained by marrying the bridegroom. For a guest to enter into the banquet hall with no robe on was completely inexcusable and utterly rude. No wonder the guest was speechless. He had been caught out and he had no defense. There is also a possibility that his intention was to take advantage of the all the food and wine available, an act the pocketless robe would have hindered.

So, now another hard question faces us: how often do we go to Mass, the great celebration feast, without our wedding garment? What would that look like in our attitudes and our expectations?

The wedding garment that the host provided for the guests was white so that they could show their unity with the bride who also wore white. She wore white to signify purity. Our wedding garment was given to us at baptism where Christ clothed us in himself and in dignity but it is completely possible for any one of us to show up at the feast with that wedding garment hidden away. If there is no inner intention of or desire for unity with the bride of Christ or if we come to receive and not to give, the wedding garment has been left in a closet somewhere. Here are a few ways we can come to the feast inappropriately attired:

• When we instigate or take part in any talk or actions that could bring wounds or division to the community, the bride of Christ – or even hurt to just one member of the body – we are refusing to wear our robes. Disagreement within the body doesn't necessarily mean disunity. It's how we work it out with each other in respect and love that shows unity with the bride's garment. We should be wearing the full robes of integrity, peace, mercy, wisdom, understanding, humility, gentleness, patience, faith... wait, I'm describing the fruit of the Kingdom that Jesus referred to in last week's Gospel. Interesting how all these things weave themselves together, isn't it?

• When we come to get, not give, we are not donning our pocketless robe. In last week's blog I spoke of the trap of wanting to possess the vineyard instead of simply being servants within it, dependent on the landowner's generosity. It is so easy for us to begin valuing and guarding our placement and position at the feast rather than simply appreciating the goodness of the host. We start making sure that we're getting what we feel is owed to us and that no one else is getting more than they deserve.

• We all have times when we go to Mass for our own spiritual benefit. If we are not open to interacting much with those around us or we go just to 'fulfill an obligation' and to receive our weekly merit badge for Mass attendance instead of being there because we are a royal priesthood called to serve God and one another, we have misplaced our pocketless robes. Remember, the lack of pockets symbolizes a relationship built on love, on what one can give not on what one can get.

A white robe is a great equalizer. When we recognize that everyone is wearing exactly the same garment as ourselves, it's not as easy to categorize and dismiss others. Nobody is too young, too old, too new, too poor, too rich, too ignorant, too knowledgeable, too insignificant or too important; everyone is simply a cherished invited guest at the feast participating in a celebration of joy, united with the bride and with one another. 

White is not only a symbol of purity; in some cultures, white signifies death. At the wedding banquet, donning our white robes is a kind of death to self-importance. It says “I am no more important or powerful or needed than you. We are both here for no other reason than that the King and his Son invited us to come. They opened their doors and their storehouse and sought us out of the highways and by-ways to come and be a part of the celebration. We are here because the King wants us, not because we have a right.”

A wedding feast is the celebration of a love relationship. By feasting with the bride, the groom, the king and all the other invited guests, we affirm that love is the foundation of a holy union and of holy unity. We see the bride and the bridegroom gaze into each others eyes and behold the joy lighting up their faces. We know that in the married life there will be challenges, struggles, wounds and hardship and that these messy times are going to affect all of us because of our unity with them. But we all need to keep returning to the feast, keep returning to the love exchange and keep remembering that it is love that keeps us all afloat. You can have good rules, great programs, strong disciplines and cherished traditions and many children but if love has been forgotten or lost, it is a cold and empty house.

The banquet is ready, the guests are arriving, the music is playing, the bread is broken and the wine is flowing. Let's go to the feast.

But first, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm just going to go find my wedding garment, make sure it's clean - and check it for pockets.