Today we have a very uncomfortable parable as our gospel of truth.  It is a parable that is meant to confront and unsettle us.  It is harsh, even jarring.  We know that Jesus told parables not to bring comfort or to ease understanding, but to push light into darkness and reveal the true nature of God in an Old Testament world that just didn’t get it, no matter how many prophets the Lord had sent.  

Before I read the Gospel text, I’d like to  preface it with a question I’d like you to consider:  What does Jesus’ anger say about what is important?

You can follow along on your Today’s reading sheet, but I am going to read a modern language version from a Bible Translation called “The Message.”

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My dad was a hard working German with a big heart, and a quick temper.  I have a vivid picture in my mind of some of those times in my childhood where I literally FROZE when dad expressed his anger.  Times like when we did our evening responsibility to herd the cows up to the barn from the pasture so they were ready when dad arrived to do the milking, BUT, then we went off to play rather than watch them and the cows drifted away, their milk leaking out!  I have this picture in my mind of my dad’s long arms raised over his head and thrown forward with angry frustration.  No words could cut as deep as that gesture of his disapproval.  Or when a farm machine broke down just when the crop was prime for harvest, and my dad would send us out in the field to do his work while he had to stop and fix the problem.  We often were afraid to do his bidding and begged off, or even refused to get on that tractor or run the harvester, and again, we would see that terrible gesture of ANGER that told us he needed help…the time to gather the harvest was NOW and we were a hindrance to him.

I don’t know how you feel about ANGER, but it has always SHUT ME DOWN.  I don’t like conflict, I avoid it, walk away from it, try to weasel out of facing my reluctance to DEAL WITH ISSUES THAT MAKE ME VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.   And sometimes, when I am around a more aggressive and outspoken person who DARES to speak their truth in ANGER, I want to run the other way.  Does anyone else feel that way?

In our text today, Jesus is ANGRY!  The hatred and deceitful entrapments of those who SHOULD have understood God’s WORD, and heard his prophets; the religious ELITE who claimed responsibility for following God’s law and carrying for the spiritual, social and political needs of God’s chosen; were instead plotting to kill him and thwart the vision our Heavenly Father has for His creation.  We have watched as Jesus stilled the storm; cleansed the temple; raised the dead; and blessed the children…now we watch as he RAGES at those who use religion to prey on others and mislead them with their own corruption and selfish pride.

What can we learn from this ANGER that Jesus brings to these final confrontations before he allows himself to be crucified at their hands?  To answer that question, I’d like to take us back to our text from Isaiah.  Isaiah is speaking to the Israelites at a time when all of their hopes and dreams have been crushed into a bondage to a foreign land.  Their city, their temple, their families and livelihoods have been destroyed and those who survived lived in a land where there was so little hope.  As refuges of war, they longed for restoration.  They dreamed dreams and clung to visions of how their God would not abandon them forever, but would deal with the ruthless nations that had enslaved them; give them refuge from their poverty and shelter from their distress.  (Vs 4-5)

Verse 7 captures the vision of God’s promise and faithfulness.  “He will destroy the shroud cast over all peoples…he will swallow up death forever and wipe every tear from their eyes.”    Then it would be known to all:  “See, THIS is our GOD…the Lord for whom we have waited, let us be glad and rejoice in HIS salvation.” (vs. 9)

Isaiah gives us a foretaste of the feast to come!  The feast that Jesus now speaks of in a chilling parable about a King who throws a wedding feast and expects his people to come when they are invited.  Anger builds when the invited guests ignore his invitation; shrug their shoulders; have better things to do with their time, and ultimately MOCK the King by rising up against those he sent to extend the invitation.  The beauty, sanctity, and gift of an invitation to celebrate life and newness of a relationship of committed love has been trampled on as if it is unworthy of their consideration, and now the King is ENRAGED!  One might think that the King would respond with destruction and fury, and in this parable, he does.  Just as it historically came to pass that Jerusalem fell, the temple was destroyed, and the people were carried off to bondage, a TERRIBLE vengeance would be brought to bare.  But the parable doesn’t end there.  The King’s grand vision for a FEAST BEYOND FEASTS, will NOT be thwarted.  He sends out his invitation to EVERYONE…BOTH GOOD AND BAD, and they come, filling his house with grateful guests.   What are we to make of this?  Perhaps that this King…or as Jesus is implying, our GOD, is determined to bring something new and desperately needed:   RELIEF FROM INJUSTICE, MERCY AND NEW LIFE out of misery, deception and death.  The feast he envisions  CHANGES EVERYTHING.  Only goodness and mercy can thrive in the light of grace so lavishly poured upon ANYONE who accepts his invitation and comes.  So why doesn’t the parable stop here?  Why does Jesus go on to speak about an imposter guest who shows up without a wedding robe?

The king calls the impostor “friend,” and that unnerves the guest so much that he is speechless. I guess when he gets caught trying to manipulate this king for his own benefit, there is a consequence of truth.   And what is this wedding garment that is so necessary to receive the fullness of this feast?  If we go back to our words of Paul to his brothers and sisters to the many churches he wrote letters, we will hear him say over and over again that we are to be be like CHRIST, the same mind; the same humble self-giving, with a faith that responds to God’s invitation.  IN CHRIST WE ARE A NEW CREATION AND AS SUCH, OUR LIVES REFLECT A DIFFERENT WAY OF BEING IN THE WORLD.  “Let your gentleness be known to everyone, for the Lord is near.” Says Paul.  “Whatever is TRUE, HONORABLE, JUST, PURE AND WORTHY OF PRAISE…PUT ON THESE THINGS.”  This is the wedding garment that reveals a heart truly touched by the saving mercy of Almighty God and revealed… discovered… experienced and LIVED out in Jesus.

My friends, we may not realize it in our modern world, but that same invitation is right here, before us each and every day of our lives.  It’s an invitation to turn away from our own understanding and agendas for human life, and live with another goal…LOVE that includes EVERYONE.  Clothing wrapped in humble repentance; forgiveness; kindness; patience and peace.  Clothing that Jesus bought for us when he did what we could never do for ourselves….give it all so that WE MIGHT ENTER THE ETERNAL FEAST OF HIS FATHER’S KINGDOM.

So I am back to the question I set before you at the beginning: What does Jesus’ anger teach us about the Kingdom of Heaven?  Could it in part be these?

JUSTICE MATTERS.  No matter how many times and ways we experience deceit, social harm, blatant greed and life taking hatred rear its head in our world…God WILL provide a refuge for the poor and disenfranchised.  God WILL deal with ruthless nations and restore right order.  And the DEATH that holds us all captive WILL be gone forever as our Lord wipes away our tears…our regrets…and our trembling fears.

LOVE WINS and ultimately  IT MATTERS HOW WE LIVE:  no matter how hard it is to embrace humility, there is a joy beyond our understanding in following Christ.  When we open ourselves to his invitation to come to the feast of REAL life, he eagerly clothes us in new lives.  Lives that are pure; holy; self-giving; and peacemaking.  Lives that aren’t afraid to walk through the valleys of death.  Lives filled with gratitude and joy in simply being children of our Living God.

And finally…GOD’S VISION FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN  IS UNSTOPPABLE:  Ultimately, God’s commitment to goodness over evil will mean that the terrors of this world will be cast out.  Light will overcome any darkness.  And the glory of God in Christ will be revealed.

So maybe ANGER isn’t so bad afterall.  When Jesus was nailed up on a terrible cross he didn’t cry out for revenge. Anger at the wages of sin ripped his heart open and he took it on.   He looked down and said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Amen.  Let us pray:

Father, forgive us for those moments when we turn away from your invitation to come to your feast of forgiving grace.  Forgive us when we listen to voices that mock you and  invite us to put our faith in deceptive symbols of power, greed and supremacy over your creation and over one another.   Help us to follow the path Jesus modeled.  Clothe us in Love that is lived out in stewardship and compassion to all.  Come Lord Jesus, and let anger give way to life in your name.  For we are yours, now and forever. Amen..