One of our Sunday afternoon practices which may seem strange is to listen to and/or watch parts of other services from churches that still feel like part of our wider spiritual community, most often the ones where we've been members. It seems strange to me, because we've already spent a huge chunk of Sunday in church--and now we want more church?
Yesterday we watched the sermon that was delivered at the Lutheran Church of the Nativity in Arden, NC. Pastor Doug Kearney preached a great sermon. I had just preached on the same text, Matthew 22: 1-14, so I was interested to see if we drew the same conclusions. I was relieved to hear him preach on the need to remember that we have spiritual obligations to work for change in the world, even as he admitted that he's the kind of Lutheran that believes in "grace, grace, and more grace."
He was more pointed in the kinds of changes he thought we should work towards: racial justice, an end to poverty (he's done important work to establish a garden that provides fresh produce to the local food bank), the kinds of issues that you would think wouldn't be controversial in a Christian church.
My approach was more understated, although I, too, preached about the need to remember that we aren't given grace so that we can lounge on the sofa in our non-wedding clothes. But my call to action was much more muted: "Jesus showed us how to live as the community of God. We share what we have, knowing that it will be multiplied to be enough. We invite everyone, even though some won’t accept. We heal our societies in the ways that we know how to do, and we remember that even when it seems there is no way, we pray to the one who shows us again and again, that there is a way out of no way, a way that is different from the ways of earthly empire. God invites us to a wedding feast—not an ordinary banquet. I hope that we say yes."
I had thought about making more specific recommendations for how we say yes to God's invitation, but my sermon was already a bit long, so I decided against it. And I had also thought about bringing the current events happening as Israel prepares to obliterate Gaza, but there, too, I decided against it. I spoke about earthly empires who destroy whole cities, but I didn't name names. After all, there's plenty of that behavior to go around--no need to single out just one nation.
And part of me doesn't want to get too political on a Sunday morning, even though I believe that Christians need to be involved politically. I am still relatively new to this congregation, and my focus will be on good news.
This morning, I read an interesting approach to the parable that neither Doug Kearney nor I used. Nadia Bolz-Weber sees the figure cast into outer darkness and gnashing of teeth at the end of the parable as Jesus: So, beloveds, what if the kingdom of heaven isn’t like a bullying-king what if the kingdom of heaven is like the guy who refuses to play along? What if the kingdom of heaven is like someone who shows up and says no to empire. What if the Kingdom of heaven is like the one who stands speechless before his accusers refusing to dignify taunts with a reply, … What if the kingdom of heaven is like someone who is hog tied for not participating in victimizing the weak (or for not self-protectively piling onto someone when we sniff out a mistake they made years ago). What if the kingdom of heaven is like someone who is thrown by the empire into the outer-darkness . . . and what if the name of that outer darkness is Calvary?"
I wish I had seen her sermon before yesterday, so I could have mentioned this interpretation. But this Sunday's lectionary reading, Matthew 22: 15-22, might give me another chance. Hmm. Stay tuned!
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