The Harvest Celebrations are over, and we are drawing to the end of Ordinary Time (God is with us all the time), it will soon be Kingdom Season and we will be faced with the challenges of what it truly means to follow Jesus as our king, and God our judge. Today’s gospel passage points us in that direction. Another of the parables that Ordinary Time is peppered with, but one with a sting for us all. This Sunday I will be celebrating Holy Communion at St Andrew’s Church, Clayhidon, and you will be most welcome to join us.

I have recently finished watching Unchosen on Netflix, a thriller set in a closed community or cult in which it is hard to tell the wolf in sheep’s clothing from the wolves. I was reminded of it as I read through today’s gospel passage from Matthew 22

In the parable that Jesus tells, he is comparing the Kingdom of Heaven with a wedding banquet for the King’s son. The analogies are not too difficult to work out: the King is God the Father, the son is Jesus, the important guests who turn down the invite are the religious leaders of the time, the new guests gathered in are, well, everyone else who wanted to come. It all feels very inclusive.

Then we get to the plot twist: one of the new guests isn’t wearing the right clothes! It feels unfair: the guest didn’t have time to plan a fancy outfit, none of them did, and yet this guest is the only one unsuitably attired. The plot twist in Unchosen weaves in and out of the thriller, but only at the very end do we see the truth.

It’s a parable. Jesus isn’t really talking about party clothes, he’s talking about people who aren’t who they seem to be. People who don’t value the Kingdom of God even though they pretend to. The sheep in wolves clothing (to mix my parables).

How does this relate to us today. Firstly, accept the invitation!

Accept the invitation and value it for the treasure it is. Had we been invited to the Royal Tea Party we would feel honoured and make plans to attend in our finest attire, and let nothing get in the way of being able to attend. If we treat the invite of an earthly king, a human, in this way, how much more should we value the invitation from heaven. Secondly be ready! The wedding of the King’s son is another analogy, one often used in the Bible of a match between Jesus and the Church. Are we ready to meet our Groom?

So, the clothes, what are they? How do they translate?

The preparations for our outward appearance we take great lengths to go to when attending a wedding, are turned inward. How are we prepared to meet Jesus? How are our souls, our hearts, our minds prepared for the heavenly party? Do we take the time and energy to come closer to God, or do we find other more important things to do and opt out of any invitations that come our way. What invitations am I thinking of? To begin with there is regular Sunday worship. Every week we are invited to come and learn and worship together, each week we are offered different Bible passages to consider, and to consider beyond the sermon. Keep reflecting during the course of the week.

Then there are the events that pop up throughout the year: the Mini Roots, Shoots, & Fruits Conference beginning tonight, the Advent and Lent Bible Studies, the Christianity Explored Courses to renew our faith or think things through for the first time. Did you accept the invitation? Were you there? Or did you find something else more important to do? It’s easy to find an excuse; and is there really any need to do anything more? These additional events are the party frock. These are the moments which draw us closer to God, won’t you accept the invitation?

Following on from the mini-conference we shall be launching Home Groups. These are opportunities to study and pray together, to ask the difficult questions, to support each other, to laugh and cry: to discover what it rally means to have siblings in faith.

This parable asks us to look afresh at our commitment to Christ, to his Church, and to our own relationship with God. Why was the guest without the robes speechless? This guest thought he had it all. Thought he was good enough as he was and didn’t need to change a thing, not even his clothes. God loves us just as we are, that’s true, but God also wants the best for us, and sometimes that means changing out of our own clothes and donning the wedding robe.

In this week’s epistle (letter to the early church) Paul commends the people of Philippia to don the clothes of righteousness:

beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

These are the wedding robes: let us not be found naked!