Isaiah 25.1-9, Matthew 22.1-14
The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, 11th October 2020
Keasden, Austwick and online
Imagine holding a party which no-one wants to come to.
Why did those invited to the king’s wedding banquet resist so strongly, so aggressively? I think it’s because this king is a tyrant whose subjects are growing tired of, a despot they’re starting to resist. He’s using the opportunity of his son’s wedding to try to regain some popularity in his land, but the people are boldly resisting - some passive-aggressively, by simply snubbing his invite; others by acting violently against the king’s messengers, even going as far as murdering them. When his final bid for popularity fails he reverts to intimidation and violence to try to reassert himself as king of the people’s hearts.
This king’s actions show us that there is no good in him. I think Jesus meant us to see him as an example of the worst kind of brutal dictator, who would even fill his banquet hall for a joyful family occasion by using lethal force and terror. He doesn't just kill the first invitees who turned him down - he makes a big show of it by also destroying their city. No wonder the second round of invitees come to this wretched wedding - they’ve just seen what this king does to those who resist him. And those who do attend witness his brutality towards one who turns up wearing the wrong outfit. Rather than reasserting his authority as he intends, these violent actions are the final confirmation to the people that this king cares nothing for them, and as they reject him his power drains away. [2]
You see, this parable isn’t so much about wedding planning. It’s part of a discussion which Jesus was having about authority. Just previously in Matthew, the chief priests and the elders came to him asking, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus provokes them by implying that his authority comes from heaven. [3]
Imagine holding a party which no-one wants to come to. They won’t do if they mistrust you and feel you’re coercing them, and when they resist, any power you have over them slips away, any authority you have shrinks before your eyes.
Today I am deeply troubled by the publication this week of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in the Anglican Church in England and Wales, which said the church had protected its own reputation above its “explicit moral purpose”:
Since the 1940s 390 clergy and people in positions of trust in the church had been convicted for abuse. In 2018 alone over 2,500 “safeguarding concerns” about children and vulnerable adults were reported to dioceses, including 449 claims of recent child sexual abuse. Just a quarter of these cases were reported to statutory authorities.
This damning report said the C of E’s culture of deference and “clericalism” meant it was a place where abusers could hide. Clericalism, which means that the moral authority of clergy is perceived as beyond reproach. The report said: “Deference to the authority of the church and to individual priests, taboos surrounding discussion of sexuality and an environment where alleged perpetrators were treated more supportively than victims presented barriers to disclosure that many victims could not overcome.”
Matt Ineson, a survivor of sexual abuse, said: “The church’s treatment of victims has been, and is, cruel and dishonest, only ever concerned to protect its reputation. Victims have been ridiculed, discredited, ignored, lied to and lied about, spied on and treated wickedly. Lives have been broken and lost … The church has proved itself unfit to deal with abuse cases, and archbishops and bishops have shown themselves not fit for office.” [4]
Imagine holding a party which no-one wants to come to. I can’t help thinking that the Church is a party just like that, just now. Why would anyone want to accept invitations from an organisation whose moral authority is so questionable, so diminished? Who should be an open-handed community of protection and care but are proven instead to be an entrenched association dangerous for the vulnerable to join.
The Church is a party no-one wants to come to, for good reason. We can only start to rebuild trust by prayerfully putting ourselves daily under the influence of the One whose authority comes from heaven; by actively shaking off the negative influence of an establishment broken by human frailty. Let us repent our culture of deference and clericalism, recognising that our clergy are no different than anyone else and treating them as our peers, rather than putting them on pedestals. And let us learn how to privilege the most vulnerable over the kings and bishops and vicars of this world, listening to them, genuinely caring for them and putting their concerns first.
Thankfully, there are many examples of how Christians are already living in this way, of churches which are genuinely open and welcoming and listening to the lowest and the least in society, where clergy and non-clergy are partners together in actively protecting the vulnerable ones, and advocating for them and with them. Thankfully, God does not abandon us at this low point in our history, but gives us wonderful promises in scripture such as the promise we heard today from Isaiah, that “The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and take their disgrace away,” [5] which encourages us that, repentant, we can change our ways, and face better days.
God calls us to keep a watchful distance from the ways of the world and to follow first the way of Jesus. In so doing, we place ourselves foremost under the influence of his moral authority, which is not self-imposed or granted him by the institutional church, but gifted him by his loving Father, and which he demonstrates through his countless acts of grace and self-giving love towards us.
As St Paul wrote to the Philippians, ‘Stand firm in the Lord, my beloved’. [6] And the old Prayer Book teaches us these words to use in our daily prayers: ‘Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep your law’. [7]
Notes
[1] See also my Matthew 22 - Never let a man arrange a wedding? preached in Somerset in 2014, 2017.
[2] Paul Nuechterlein, Notes in Girardian Lectionary, Year A, Proper 23a.
[3] Matthew 21:23-25a.
[4] Harriet Sherwood, C of E bishops should lose responsibility for safeguarding children, says inquiry. Guardian, 6 October 2020.
[5] Isaiah 25.8.
[6] Philippians 4.1.
[7] Refrain in The Ten Commandments in Book of Common Prayer: The Lord's Supper or Holy Communion.
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