Father Bill's Sermon, October 12, 2008

If last week the theme was rejection of the gifts given to us, this week the theme seems to be a meditation on what that REALLY means–which is a rejection of the giver, as well. Last week, we saw a land owner reject the responsibilities that go with owning property, tenant farmers who reject “tenanthood,” slaves who reject escape, and a son who rejects the trappings of office that would have saved him. Each one “suffered” and “caused others to suffer” because they couldn’t accept themselves and what life had given them.

And we thought of people who maybe have kids, then don’t want to say “no,” and do the hard work of parenting, but want to be the “best buddy” of the kid. Or, I gave the example from my own life of rejecting my humor. The point was that to find TRUE SELF and our TRUE HAPPINESS we need to walk the path that is “Ours,” namely through the stuff life has dealt us.

Well, this week the theme continues, but takes it to the next level. This parable shows us that a rejection of the gifts (symbolized by “invitations” to life’s banquet) is REALLY a rejection of the Giver, as well. So...the point is that when we aren’t true to our “calling” we fail to connect with God. And, so we find ourselves in the darkness–often “bound hand and foot,” in other words “stuck.”

Now, before you beat up on yourself, and heap on loads of that “Catholic Guilt” that’s waiting in the wings, just remember that the point of the Gospel seems to be that NO ONE really ever just “accepts” life’s invitations–unless we are absolutely forced to do so! In other words, that banquet table has ALWAYS been pretty empty, until life “forces” us to think differently. This is part of what being a human being is about....it’s about rejecting God....feeling the “pinch,” and returning to Him....which is what we call repentance.

Do we “KNOW” what the Gospel was referring to? In other words, does it have a historical point of reference? No one knows for sure, for we don’t have a time machine to go back and ask Jesus why He told it, or even IF He told it...but, we THINK the referent would have been the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in 70, by the Roman Empire. Like the folk whose city was burned in the Gospel for having mistreated the servants who brought the invitations, the Romans literally burnt the city of Jerusalem, and the population was dispersed to Judean hills where they hid. So...when the next servants go to the highways and byways, it’s to gather in those who had been dispersed. Even when we reject Him, God, apparently finds ways to RE-FIND us!

Now, repentance is possible, and works. And folk got in to the banquet, BUT, apparently, it takes some change to stay there! Hence the hapless fellow pitched out on his ear toward the end of the parable. In other words, most of us in some way “reject” God, and yet God finds ways to reach us and draw us in, BUT THEN it takes some effort on our part to stay...for it’s easy to “break the God connection.” And so the poor fellow is left outside........and we want to ask, “Is that forever? Has he no hope of repentance?” And the text is silent. Why? Well, the destruction of Jerusalem looked pretty final. In fact it WAS final............that is, until 1948, when it, or at least part of it, was restored to a Jewish heritage. Now, I’m NOT arguing one way or the other, here, for an Israeli Jerusalem. What I want you to see is how utterly FINAL the situation LOOKED to those who survived the fall of Jerusalem, and so we have this parable shaped in this way. BUT, you and I know, now, that God had ANOTHER word to say...another hope to offer....so....is that poor hapless fellow “kicked out for good.” I doubt it. But why go through that??? THAT’S what the Gospel wants to say to us....WHY GO THROUGH THE PAIN OF ALIENATION?

What we have here is a plea to begin the spiritual quest while you can...while you’re thinking about it...Don’t put it off. It will provide you with a veritable BANQUET. And not to embark on the spiritual quest, will leave you alienated and unfulfilled, “stuck” bound hand and foot.

We are winding down the Church year. We have only 8 or 9 weeks to go. So, now the readings take on the urgency of “decision time.” We are asked to take God seriously and ourselves seriously. Life is too short of shallowness. Live deep, and live well.

My prayer for each of us is that we WILL move deeper into the profundity of the Mystery of God, before Whom we stand, and that our lives will then take on the character of the imitation of God by adopting a generosity of life and spirit so that our lives may be benedictions of goodness in our world. And may God bless you all. +