Wedding reception in 17th-century Russia by Konstantin Makovsky

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying:

"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, 'Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' "

"But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them."

"The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.'"

"Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests."

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?'"

"And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen." – Matthew 22:1-14 (NRSV)

It is an odd sort of story unless you remember it is a parable and, as such, has one message.

Actually, it is almost two parables and, while there is a possibility of two messages, there may also be one.

In one case, there was an invitation sent and it was met with open and violent hostility. The king pushed back with anger and that was that.

But he still wanted to honor his son and celebrate his son's new relationship with a beautiful bride. The party was ready.

How do you get someone to come to a party?

He said, "Go out and invite everyone."

Everyone!

This time,  one of the guests, while not openly hostile, was passively indifferent. He did not grasp the magnitude of the occasion. It was free after all. It was an open invitation. Surely no special preparation was required.

But free is not cheap.

Open is not unimportant.

It was a grand occasion and it deserved to be treated as such. He was unceremoniously thrown out.

This Advent, God is throwing a big party. He is celebrated as relationship. He may have started with a small guest list, but many have rejected His personal invitation with violent hostility. Having expanded the guest list to include all, some do not appreciate the wonder and honor of it. After all, no one guest is any more or less important than any other. No one has bragging rights.

But at least we could dress for the occasion. At least we could appreciate the significance. At least we could enter into the festivity, the joy, the celebratory attire, and the grand dance.

It is a party, a Kingdom Party! It is the greatest party ever, not to be treated with contempt or indifference. If we do that, we don't need to be thrown out, we've failed to really enter at all. We don't need to be judged; we have judged ourselves and excluded ourselves.

So, let's take the sour looks off our faces, remove the reluctance from our hearts, turn off the criticism, and exorcise the humbugs. It is time to show up ready for a party.