Twenty-First Pentecost, Proper 23, 2005: 

     John, age 92, and Joan, age 89, were all excited about their decision to get married.  They went for an evening stroll to discuss the wedding.  They passed a pharmacy and John suggested they go in.  John motioned to the man behind the counter.  The man stepped forward and John asked, “Are you the owner?”  The man answered that he was indeed.

     “Are you a pharmacist?”  Again the man said he was.

     “We’re about to get married.  Do you sell heart medication?”

     “Of course we do,” said the pharmacist.

     “How about medication for circulation?”

     “All kinds,” the pharmacist assured him.

     “Medicine for rheumatism, scoliosis, halitosis?”

     “Definitely.”

     “How about that little blue pill?”

     “Yes, and about every other color you might need.”

     “Stuff for memory problems, arthritis, and dry skin?”

     “Yes, a large variety.  The works.”

     “What about vitamins, sleeping pills, Geritol, Correctol, antacids?”

     “Absolutely,” the pharmacist said.

     “You sell wheelchairs and walkers?”

     “All speeds and sizes.”

     John then said to Joan and the pharmacist, “We might ought to register here for our wedding gifts?”

      Have you ever noticed that it is always younger whipper-snappers who make fun of older folks who remarry?  Well, God bless them and we wish them much happiness and joy.

     I’m glad and most grateful that the Kingdom of heaven is like a wedding banquet where gifts are neither needed nor expected.  That heavenly banquet will be in reality a party.  It will, no doubt, far surpass anything we might plan or conduct in this realm of existence.  We also need to understand that should we accept the invitation to attend, a lot of folks will be there; for everyone is invited to the wedding feast.  That includes the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the young, and the old, those who look like us and those who look vastly different.  We will be expected to be spiritually clothed.

     According to the Lord of this life and the life that is to come there are three reactions to this invitation.  First, some will make light of it.  The invitation is put in a pile; to be decided later.  The invitation does not have a date on it, no RSVP.  It just says, “Come to the wedding feast given by the King in honor of his son.”

     Some made light of it.  I suppose one way to think about this is to ask ourselves how often we really get into deeper matters of life even with our closest friends, even at church?  Most of the time the conversation is very much on the surface; problems of hurricanes, weather patterns, taxes, schools, deficit budgets, the war in Iraq, presidential political appointments, and other very important subjects, but generally surface ones, occupy our conversations.  One of the things that make funerals so difficult in our culture and one of the reasons so few people get around to making final arrangements, is that doing so would require us to move beneath the surface and talk about preparing our souls for the wedding feast.  So, some make light of the invitation.  Some give the excuse that they are not good enough to come to the Lord.  They say that things will have to change before they will feel worthy.  That kind of like saying, “I’m too sick to go to the doctor.  I’ll need to get a lot better before the doctor can do me any good.”

     Secondly, the invitation transcends earthly distinctions and divisions.  Those measuring rods that seem so important in this life melt away.  Race, color, social standing, life style, even deeds are not taken into consideration in extending the invitation.  Some may resent it, but certain questions are not asked in issuing the invitation and certain questions are not answered.  “How can that person be worthy of the Kingdom of God,” some say?”  “They never darkened the church door and now on their deathbed they repent and think that will do,” others say.  Well, according to Jesus, it will do.  We can not use this invitation to design a social order or a dogma that tells us who is in and who is out.  All are invited to put on the wedding garment.

     That brings about the last thing some will argue when the invitation is extended.  Some will refuse to put on the wedding garment when it is offered.  Martin Luther preached a great sermon on this subject.  He said, “The works do not exist that can take away sin.  Sin is rather increased by works.  For the more those who try to justify themselves by works labor and sweat to remove sin, the worse their burden of sin becomes.  For only grace can remove sin, and there is simply no other way to remove it.”

     That means God has invited us to a banquet, the Kingdom of heaven.  God has provided us with a wedding garment.  That garment is woven with God’s love and grace.  That garment is stained crimson with the blood of the one who said, “I have died for you and that is enough.  My body was broken and my blood shed in order that yours would not have to be.”

     Sadly, some scorn and refuse the garment, like the man in the parable.  “I’ll do it my way,” some say.  “I’m worthy enough, based on the life I’ve lived and I’ll take my chances.”  To those the King will say, “Friend, why did you try to get in here without putting on the only wedding garment that is required?”  Another way of saying that is, “Are you so concerned with the things that brought rank and prestige in this world that you are willing to risk the things of eternity?” 

     We have been invited to a wedding feast again this morning.  Don’t make light of it.  Be grateful that the invitation includes all of God’s children.  Don’t refuse to put on the only garment that is required for entrance.  The only gift that is desired is the offer of our hearts, upon which the King wishes to establish a throne.  Amen.