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Some Sundays (I dare say, most Sundays), our congregations simply need to be reminded of the most fundamental reality: they are loved by God. Our God loves us so much that he sent his son to pursue that relationship. Our God is a rescuing God, and our God is leading us to a good place.
In our Old Testament reading (Exodus 32:1-14), Moses is with God on the mountain and the people become anxious, anticipating a word from the LORD. In these moments when they are unable to rightly remember, unable to see or hear from God, they fashion a golden calf. This was not an effort to create a new god, but an effort to see or hear from the one true God, the one who rescued them, and from whom they now feel distance. The calf emerges solely from their own possessions (given by God to them in the first place) and their own creativity (same). The LORD responds with anger, and yet, as Moses pleads for them, does not bring disaster upon them.
Many times in life we find ourselves stuck in-between the realities of rescue and healing. We struggle to remember the promise and we struggle to yearn for the hope. In those moments we are most vulnerable to distractions. Life can quickly become about what we can do, about who is on the right cultural team or how we can fix the world through our own efforts. We will try to make a version of the good life and call it a move of God. We are all prone to this. It is the nature of the wilderness. And yet, we will always find those golden calfs unsatisfying. What we make in a hurry is so paltry compared to what He makes in process.
The famous quote words of C.S. Lewis,
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
In our epistle reading (Philippians 4:1-9) Paul, in the context of a real-life conflict between Euodia and Syntyche (about which we have little information), challenges the church to rejoicing, to active celebration. This is not the militant victory chant of revolutionaries. This rejoicing is characterized by gentleness. It is the formational remembering of what God has done in Christ Jesus. This is a true festival of the LORD, resting in him, not a counterfeit festival centered around what we have done. Therefore, “do not worry,” is not a command to “chill out” (something which is never helpful for those who are worried). It is the challenge to be a people who feast, who celebrate what God has done. This ritual re-orientation, and this only, will bring peace.
It is this transformation of our everyday habits which point our minds towards the true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, and commendable things. We can’t make ourselves change our thoughts by a singular decision. It is a change in habits which brings about lasting change to our thought life.
This is a wonderful opportunity to remind our congregations of why we worship. Proper worship is not about earning an invitation into God’s family. It is about proper formation in the way of Jesus, and is shepherded by God, who guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
In our gospel reading (Matthew 22:1-14), Jesus tells the story of those who had accepted the king’s invitation to his Son’s wedding banquet, but then refused to show up. On top of that, they killed the messengers who brought them the notice that the food was ready! In the world of first century Palestine, this would have been the ultimate sign of rejection and even treason. Because of their rejection, judgement has come upon them.
Still, the good news is that new invitations have been sent. The food is still ready and all are welcome—both good and bad. Those on the under side of power; those who never considered themselves worthy of such an invitation are now invited to feast in honor of the king’s son.
Yet, feasting at the banquet requires proper preparation, to be “dressed” in the proper “clothing.” The robes have been provided for us, but we must be prepared, to be oriented towards the kingdom; not showing up at the wedding as if we were going to the ballpark. To desire the kingdom to be something that it is not, to try to control it on our own is to say that we’d rather be elsewhere. Judgement reveals that desire. Though Jesus’ words are harsh: the improperly dressed guests are thrown into “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” it simply illustrates where our counterfeits lead…mud pies in the slum.
My hope for us is that we would embrace all that God has for us, that we would be reminded of his character and the nature of the kingdom of God, which has been revealed in Jesus. In the “in-between” seasons of this world, we will go through difficulty, all that the wilderness brings along with it. But we are anchored by God’s faithfulness in the past. He has heard our cry, died for us, and conquered death! The world is a different place!