And we all run home
Sermon by The Rev. Rick Millsap preached on October 11, 2026 at St. Paul’s, Year A, Proper 23.
1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 ‘The kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call
those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 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.” 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm,
another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed
them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned
their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not
worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding
banquet.” 10 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.11 ‘But when the king came
in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and
he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was
speechless. 13 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.” 14 For
many are called, but few are chosen.’
It’s an interesting coincidence I am preaching on this particular Gospel
passage. Leaving for my niece’s wedding in Phoenix this week. Clearly, the Holy
Spirit has been meddling again.
In this Gospel story, we’re in the last week of Jesus life, and he is teaching in
the Temple. All the stories we’ve been hearing over the last few weeks are his
teachings to the multitudes gathered around him in the center of Judaism. We are
not quite to the Passover, but we are getting closer.
The wedding here in Matthew was a lot more organized than the one I’ve
been invited to. You see, to begin with neither I nor my sister in Washington, her
aunt and uncle, were invited. To give you an idea what an oversight that was, I
somehow, a few years ago, became the patriarch of the family. I honestly didn’t
realize it, until I went to the last wedding one of my Phoenix sister’s children had a
few years ago. They were making such a fuss over me coming to the wedding, and
I couldn’t figure out why. It was my daughter who reminded me I was now the oldest
in the family. Joy.
This time, it seems the bride, a thrifty-minded girl, had axed the guest list to
nothing to save money and sent out the invitations… without consulting her mother,
my Phoenix sister, who is the undisputed cruise director of all family social events.
The Cruise Director was horrified and drama ensued. Within a day, new invitations
went out, there was a flurry of apologetic texts, a back-room deal for my sister and
her husband to pick up any extra guest expenses… and I suspect some tears.
The wedding Jesus spoke of in his parable today was a lot more organized.
To begin with, all the invitations had gone out early, And I know this because all of
the people who were invited had RSVP’d “Yes” already.
For any of you who have ever had the misfortune to plan a wedding, you
know how important those RSVPs are. They are how you determine the seating,
how much food to prepare, whether you can afford an open bar… They’re critical.
But these people who said they would come to the wedding suddenly began
to make excuses. Oh, I have to go check on my farm … Sorry, I can’t get away from
work. And it wasn’t just one or two people who canceled. 100% of all the people
who were originally invited and RSVPd they were going to come, cancelled.
The king was naturally furious, but he was going to do right by his son. He
sent out his servants to invite everyone they could find to the wedding until the hall
was filled! And they didn’t have to be anyone different than what they were. They
didn’t have to do anything to come to the celebration. It was purely an act of Grace.
Everyone was invited whoever they were… wherever they were… by grace,
everyone, Everyone, EVERYONE was invited to this wedding. You see, God’s plan
is different than most weddings. God’s way is not to pare down the guest list, but to
invite everyone.
And don’t you know the Pharisees and scribes and Sadducees — those in
control — listening in the outer circle around Jesus in the Temple got the point.
They had first been invited to God’s great wedding banquet, but had refused his
invitation. And instead God was now inviting everyone to this great feast and
celebration.
And even better than an earthly wedding, it costs you nothing. The invitation
is free, the banquet is free, the fancy clothes are free… God will even pick up the
cost of your flight. They are a gift… a gift of Grace. Whoever you are, wherever you
are on your faith journey, you are invited, you are welcome.
Now, the wedding I’m going to in Phoenix has a dress code. I was nervously
advised by my Phoenix sister that her daughter has chosen to have… a Hobbit-
themed wedding, and guests are encouraged to come in costume. One is given to
understand the bridesmaids and groomsmen will all be processing wearing
prosthetic Hobbit feet. I responded that I would… wear a tie. I refuse to wear
prosthetic Hobbit feet or dress as Gandalf the wizard — Which would be the most
appropriate costume for me — but I will try to honor the wishes of the happy couple.
This is my tie. Those of you who are Lord of the Rings fans will recognize the White
Tree of Gondor. I will be wearing a lapel pin which is a replica of the Elven leaf pin,
given to the Hobbits by Galadriel in Lothlorien. I am doing this for two reasons. First,
it is just polite to try and honor the wishes of the couple getting married. And
second, I am a good sport.
Whereas I had to buy my own tie and elven pin, the king in the Gospel story
had spent loads of money to buy people the finest clothes to put on. And I can even
tell you what kind of fancy dress God wants you to wear to this great celebration.
Matthew 25 tells us exactly how God wants us to dress:
34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world, 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you
gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited
me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you
hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when
was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you
clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40
And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of
these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’
Of course, there’s always that one guy at every wedding. And there was one
in this parable today also. He claimed he belonged at the wedding, but he didn’t
even have those beautiful robes God said he wanted us to wear. He stuck out like a
sore thumb. God can tell the difference.
There are people who claim to be Christians, Who claim to belong at this
great wedding banquet, but they aren’t wearing the right clothes. They don’t feed
the hungry; They cut SNAP programs in this country that feed the hungry. They
don’t give the thirsty something to drink; They cut funding for clean water in poor
African villages. They don’t provide clothing to the naked; They blame the poor and
say they should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. They don’t visit people
in prison; They build prisons so they can throw more people in them. They don’t
welcome the stranger among us; They hunt them… They hunt people whose only
crime is they want a better life for their children. They cruelly break up families.
There’s a story I read in CNN a couple weeks ago that has been weighing
heavily on my heart. It said, “Migrant children as young as 2 are showing up at
immigration courts nationwide, many without attorneys, to make their case to stay in
the US and avoid deportation.” The words of one boy got to me the most. He was a
13-year-old-boy named Angel born in Honduras, but brought here as a baby when
his whole family fled the violence there. He has no family in Honduras. All his family
is here in the US, but he’s the kid ICE was able to catch.
The immigration judge was unmoved. CNN reports: “The judge asked,
‘Would you like to request voluntary departure, or should I issue a removal order?’
“’I don’t know,’ Angel replied before bursting into tears. He stared ahead stoically
and continued to cry, eventually saying: ‘I have no one. I have nothing.’”
No matter how people may claim to be Christian, you and I can tell the
difference… And God most certainly can.
Sometimes life feels like a baseball game where we keep getting curveballs
thrown at us, and the crowd is jeering at us to strike out. Sometimes we’ve gotten a
hit, and done everything we can but the best we could do is get a base hit and we’re
stuck on first. Or maybe we hit a double and made it to second. Maybe we’re stuck
on 3rd, but none of us can make it to home base on our own. What we all need is
that last cleanup batter, a pinch hitter to bring us home.
Susan Sparks writes: Late in his career, Babe Ruth stepped up to the plate in
game three of the 1932 World Series. The Chicago crowd went crazy, yelling insults,
and even throwing lemons onto the field. Everyone wanted to take him down.
Standing in the batter’s box and taking the full force of the insults, Babe
suddenly called time out. He stepped out of the box and pointed toward center field
as if he were calling his shot and saying to everyone there, “Nothing you can do can
touch me.”
After a moment, he stepped back in the box, and the pitcher, Charles Root,
wound up and flung his best curve ball at him. Babe connected with an earthquake-
like crack, and the ball soared deep into center field, just where he had predicted. It
was the longest home run in Wrigley Field history.
It sometimes does seem in this world like evil will win. That we will be stuck
on base forever and never make it home. But don’t forget, you don’t have to hit a
home run. Do your best, strike out a few times, then maybe hit a single.
You just feed the hungry.
You give the thirsty some water.
You welcome the stranger.
And I guarantee you, in God’s eyes, you’ll be dressed better than anyone at
any wedding this earth has ever seen.
The author Anne Lamott talks about an important spiritual lesson we can
learn from baseball: She said, “Grace — bats — last.” You don’t have to be Mother
Teresa … you don’t have to be Mahatma Gandhi… you don’t have to be perfect.
While we’re standing around on the bases, doing our best, Grace, the cleanup
hitter steps up to the plate… and knocks it out of the park.
And we all run home. Amen.