HOMILY - 28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - October 12, 2008

The invitations were out! The preparations were over! The banquet is ready! The follow-up is personal! The King's servants cry "Come!" This is no call for duty - this is an invitation to joy. It is a wedding feast.

The response is rejection. Of course, this parable of Jesus has immediate application. Matthew places it during the last week in the life of Jesus. The Son, the bridegroom, will soon be rejected and killed. The Scribes and Pharisees, those initially chosen, disregard the invitation to his kingdom.

Is there also a universal application of this ancient story? Can it speak to those of us trying to make sense out of life in this present time?

How easy it is for us with our very busy schedules to regard or disregard an unsolicited invitation as an intrusion. In an age of consumerism we hear more about rights than privileges. We control our choices. We can turn others on or off with our remote control and VCR. We surf the Internet, but we decide among the options. No one has a claim on us unless it is our choice. When God says, "Seek ye first" we respond with "Let me first."

Those invited did not deem it important to come to the banquet. They took it lightly. We read one went to his farm, another to his business. There is no hint of either engaging in unsavory activities. We did not hear that they did not go to the banquet because they will go to the casino instead, or just hang out with friends or went to rob a bank. Don't miss the point -- these are responsible, busy people in the everyday working world. They are simply so consumed with the "dailyness" of their tightly prescribed schedules that nothing can break through that even God can wait.

Christians make a grave mistake when they think their only choices in life are between good and evil. In the parable of the Pearls, the merchant sells his good pearls for the Supreme Pearl. The choice is never between pearl and mud. It is between this pearl and that pearl. Sometimes the good we have, becomes the enemy of the best we might enjoy. The servants may well have been doing good things on the farm and at the business, but in their busyness they missed the banquet. If one is full, an invitation to a feast is not good news. No wonder Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount -- "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness sake, for they shall be satisfied." Those whose stomachs and schedules are satiated, cannot experience a spiritual hunger for the kingdom.

We wade in shallow waters when we understand sin only in terms of wrongdoing. For most decent, law abiding, human beings it is manifested in terms of waste -- under living our potential, settling for good by declining an invitation to the best.

In Jesus' parable of the talents, the one talent man is not criticized for having one talent. He is not condemned for doing anything wrong. He was condemned for doing nothing. He took his talent and hid it in the ground -- unwilling to trust God with any initiative. His sin was that of omission rather than commission.

I don't want to fall into the trap of playing comparative goodness -- all of us sin and fall short of the glory of God. No one is worthy or deserving of the invitation to the kingdom. God's grace is not limited in the parable -- eventually all are invited, but never underestimate the tragedy of wasted potential in the initial rejections.

Then here we can look at ourselves how blessed we are with so much talent.. How much of those talents are being used? You may have been invited by the lord to use those talents for the good of the society. You may be very good in community organizing, but you did not get yourself involved because you have other plans to do. You may have the talent is sports, in coaching our kids, because you have other plans to do. You may have the talents in singing or your kids and could that beautiful voice in the choir, because you have other plans to do. You may have the talent in teaching children and could use that in our Religious Education, because you have other plans to do.
Is the Prodigal Son the only prototype for entrance into God's kingdom? Do we have to have a far country experience losing everything? Are guilt trips the only journeys we experience in our churches? Can we not say "yes" to the invitation out of gratitude and a responsible stewardship? Saved to serve, blessed to be a blessing, we dare not waste our God-given potentials.

Now that is the story of those who refused to come to the banquet. They missed the best part by sticking it out with the good. How about this man who the king found out was not dressed for the wedding banquet? Now here it is.

The King arrives at the banquet, greets his guests, and notices one of them not wearing a wedding garment. When asked why, he was speechless; so the host has him forcefully evicted and thrown into the outer darkness.

We are never told why the man did not observe the dress code. Why a king gracious enough to invite him would in the first place turn around and rudely evict him from the reception?

The dramatic turn in the parable has little to do with the dress code. We may take God up on His gracious invitation but we sometimes are like this man who was making light of the invitation after he had come to the banquet. We may accept His gracious invitation — but not let it truly make a difference in how we live.

Could it be that these are the ones who respond to God but then do not let God make a difference in their lives and remain as they are? Could it be that being a part of God’s kingdom requires more than just saying “Yes” to the invitation? Could it be that after you have said yes to come to the baquet, it means changing your life, letting Christ make a difference in how you live your life? Could God’s invitation mean being accepted “as you are” but not staying “as you are”? Yes — in fact it could be that indeed! You can come as you are, but you can’t stay as you are.

And so we are here as a church, as a faith community, as a faith family to help each other grow and transform into the Christian we should become. Open our Sunday Bulletin; we have range of programs practically that would cater to every single member of our parish, the young, the seniors and toddlers. We have programs to help you mature spiritually, to help you learn and understand our faith, to help you reach out to people in Christian Service, to help you feel that you belong and actively participate in our community. There are countless of these. I know that we have every good thing that you do, but aren’t you missing the best? Please, come as you are, but you can’t stay as you are.