Sermonic Reflection: Matthew 22:1-10 "A D-List God."

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.' 5But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated 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.

Have you ever heard of a whole host of people refusing a king's invitation? Think back through fiction and non-fiction; when was the last time you can recall a king throwing a party and everyone unanimously saying, "Thanks, but no thanks!"

It's an unbelievable thought, is it not? Let's go further. Say the king did receive the rejections, how would you expect him to respond? I imagine a king ticked off at the fact that people think so lightly of him as to view his invitation as something that contains an option, rather than a demand to attend. I envision a small band of skilled men sent to deal with the rejectors and send a message to the rest. What I do not envisage is a king who begins begging!

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.' 

"Come on man! Get a hold of yourself!" That's what I'd like to tell this sorry king. "Compose yourself with the dignity which befits the crown on your head!" The last thing we would expect is a king begging for company, as if he is some D-list celebrity who cannot get anyone to come to his show. What an undignified and sorry spectacle this king is making of himself. All the prestige that once attended to his name has been drained. Any sense of fear that the people had for him is replaced with pathetic indifference. He has lost all control of his image because he is a king who begs for company.

But yet, this king, says Jesus, is what the kingdom of heaven is like.  The kingdom of heaven is like a king who begs commoners to come and fellowship. Indeed, God the Father, is a begging God. Is that not what his Son is suggesting? Look through biblical record, is it not a longer version of this parable? The invitation from God comes and rather than graciously accepting it, it is refused time after time after time.

Is the bible not a story of a people who constantly seize the kings servants, tired of the constant invitations, and deal violent and deadly blows to them? Yes, we serve a God who begs for company.

I'm reminded of the Romans view of God. Their gods were powerful, not moved by emotion, unreachable, in a word, impassable. But the God of Christianity presents himself totally other than that. He is a beggarly God, a God who wants the company of the commoners, he is a God who becomes a mere man, and dies the death of a scoundrel. He is a D-list God.

Why would God beg? Because he loves the commoners. Why would a God beg? Because he desires to be with you for an eternity. Why would God beg? Because he created you with a purpose, and he will do what it takes to see you become the person he created you to be in his Son.

At the end of the parable the king adds a cherry to his cake of shame by breaking all types of social norms. He, once again, sends his servants out, but this time to invite ne'er do wells, marginalized people, the refuse of society, you and me, to his son's banquet.

This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. This is what God is like. A God who loves us enough to shame himself so that we might be with him. A shameful God and yet a mighty God.