Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the 19th Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services today are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'. if you are unable to be with us in person, you can find resources below to help you worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Longing for Light, We Wait in Darkness (Christ be our Light)"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 22:1-14 The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
Once more Jesus spoke to the people 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, mistreated 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.”
Reflection
In this parable, Jesus uses very exaggerated allegories to paint the picture of the King who is shunned. In brief, Jesus is describing the behaviour of the Jews who failed to recognise the message of God’s kingdom of heaven and salvation that He had come to deliver.
When Jesus describes the slaves being mistreated and murdered He is referring to the prophets in the Old Testament who were ignored and in some cases killed by the Israelites.
Up until Jesus’ time, the Israelites had been considered as the chosen people of God, from as far back as Abraham. God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, [Deut. 7:6] Here, Matthew is addressing his gospel to the Jewish-Christian readers who should have recognised Jesus’ words, ‘those invited’, to mean the people of Israel.
Yet, during Jesus’ time on earth and also during the early growth of the Christian church, many of the Israelites failed to follow Jesus or accept His message and teachings. To use an appropriate phrase, they just didn’t want to come to the party.
God, (the king in this parable), then says, invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet…..the good and the bad. This is seriously good news for all of us. Jesus is saying that from now on, we are all invited to follow Him. We are all invited to God’s kingdom in heaven. Being called to be God’s people is no longer the sole privilege of Israelites, but also the gentiles, the Greeks and everyone else - even sinners!
This is reiterated explicitly by Jesus when He commissions His disciples; Go into the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptised will be saved and the one who does not believe will be condemned.
However, there is more to it than us just saying we are followers of Jesus, we also have to act as disciples in our love for one another and live in a righteous and obedient way. It’s not just about turning up to the party but also doing what is expected, like wearing the right clothes. Paul
Our Prayers
God of love and Mercy,
Thank you for inviting us all to be part of your heavenly kingdom.
Help us to clothe ourselves with righteousness
and so to follow the teachings of your Son, Jesus.
Lord we pray that we will make time to be true disciples
To proclaim your Good News and invite others to your eternal banquet.
