We Don't Worship

A king wanting to celebrate his son’s wedding invites the big-wigs and big-names and puts the wedding announcement in the paper. TV shows run commercials about the cost of the dress and the size of the cake. I mean this wedding is going to be big. And why not . . . this prince is worth it! So the invitations go out . . . and they are nice invitations . . . but nobody RSVPs. Nobody cares. Nobody goes.

So the king sends his servants to find out why but half of them are killed. Killed? Who would murder servants hunting down RSVPs?

But I know you already know what’s going on - I mean come on Barrett, this is Matthew 21-22. Pay attention to the setting of the story. Jesus is in the temple having a private conversation with the Temple rulers. No one else is there. He’s two chapters away from being murdered, and he’s making enemies left and right. This parable must be about the religious leaders.

So it makes sense. The kingdom of heaven is like a banquet that God’s hosts in Jesus’ honor. The Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes make the invitation list but they don’t go. They don’t even RSVP.

But how could they not go? They were invited to God’s party! Why couldn’t they see this was a big deal? They rejected it. Spat on it. They should have been the first in line. They were so close. They were invited. They were right there on the cusp of something great, something perpetual, something everlasting, they could see it, but they saw no value in it.

And I don’t think we do either! God comes to us, invites us, hosts a party in Jesus’ honor with us in mind, yet we refuse the invitation. We make excuses, rationalize our fate, and downplay the importance of the celebration. We don’t see it as an invitation to meet God; we, instead, care more about everything else than we do worshiping God. That which our lives should be most about has become what its least about. We don’t worship anymore.

Which takes me back to the parable: Not only do the townspeople kill the servants, but the parable says the king then declares war on the townspeople – although this is debatable. Several ancient, manuscripts omit this detail. But whether you think the king killed more of the townspeople or not is not the point. This day was supposed to be about a wedding . . . now it’s turned into a war!

Worship is supposed to be a party that inaugurates a marriage. It’s supposed to be a rite of passage, but everyone involved in it is at war.

But I don’t know why this shocks me. Our world today is the same way. We can’t get past our bruised egos, our backstabbing or pointing nuclear bombs to actually prepare for enjoying a wedding banquet together. I can’t name two countries after watching an hour of CNN that are still allies. Everyone hates one another. Nobody wants to go to a party to see each other. I don’t even think I could name one church in our own association that would want to do a joint service with us. We’ve all being invited to this wedding but we don’t want to go.

We don’t care about the banquet. We aren’t interested in celebrating. We don’t want to be around one another. We don’t see a need to truly worship.

Maybe this is why mainline Protestantism is dying. Maybe that’s why we fill our three hundred seat sanctuaries with all forty of us. Maybe that’s why the millennial generation dubs itself spiritual but not religious.

Because none of us religious organizations care about Matthew’s messianic, wedding banquet. We don’t care two lives are merging together. We don’t even understand that this wedding is between God and humanity.

Maybe that’s the point of the parable. God's saying here, “This wedding banquet’s a big deal and you aren’t even paying attention!”

There’s something life-changing in Jesus right now, right in front of us and we’re missing it. We’re rejecting it. Sometimes we’re even subverting it, holding it up, and killing it. It’s time churches and individuals realize the importance of being at this banquet. God is calling us to be participate in worship.

For “Thy kingdom’s come and thy will’s being done . . . but not by us.” But we could if we just accept the invitation. We’re already invited . . . the life-changing banquet is moments away . . . we just have to go!

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