19th Sunday after Trinity 2023 St. Andrew’s Milngavie
Today we were a modest turn out as we celebrated our Sunday Eucharist. We welcome Abigail to play for us.
This Week
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House.
Don’t forget the AGM next Sunday – please support!
Saturday 21st October – church walk. Meet at RSPB car park, Gartocharn, 11am walk to loch Lomond with picnic lunch. All very welcome, if the weather forecast is poor, we will postpone. RSPB car park is down a turning on your right just before you get to Gartocharn coming from Dryman, should be signposted.
October 22nd AGM in church following Sung Eucharist and coffee.
Readings for next Sunday – 20th Sunday after Trinity – Isaiah 45:1-7 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Matthew 22:15-22
Today’s readings – Isaiah 25:1-9, Philippians 4:1-9, Matthew 22:1-14
We have all been horrified and appalled by the news this week of the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel and the consequent eruption of violence as a result. Our hearts go out to all the innocent civilians caught up in the onslaught, we can only watch and pray for a calming of events and an end to the nightmare. Over the years the ME has so often been the focus of our prayers for peace as wars and conflicts wage over the different regions.
The poignancy is that this was the land where Christ was born and conducted his ministry, where his gospel of love, forgiveness, hope and salvation was preached, where the Good News was proclaimed. And yet the opposite seems to prevail.
As so often in times of distress and difficulty we turn to our scriptures for assurance and help. In the OT reading this morning the prophet Isaiah offers words of hope for his people who have been repressed by the exile and lived in troubled times as he assures them “The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all their faces” Isaiah 25:8 He will be a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade form the heat.
In Paul’s letter to the Philippines as his letter draws to a close, he asks his readers to rejoice, no matter their circumstances. All their concerns and requests can be made to God, who will grant them peace in the midst of this turbulent world.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
In the gospel we have the parable of the wedding banquet which was told in a similar vein to the parables of the last two Sundays, the parable of the two sons and the parable of the tenants.
It is generally agreed in this parable that the king is symbolic of God. Jesus himself is the ‘bridegroom’ and the wedding feast was the kingdom of Heaven -an illustration Jesus often used.
The ‘invited guests’ are the scribes and Pharisees – and the mistreated servants are the prophets — God’s messengers.
In this way the parable shows us how Jesus came and presented himself as the Messiah to his people and how they, the religious leaders, then rejected him. The people who were found in the streets, who were brought into the wedding feast in the place of those rejected guests, are meant to illustrate the Gentiles who God has now turned to.
This is an illustration of God widening his net, of wanting faithful people — reaching out to them and so opening the door to all people to fill his banquet hall.
The second part of this parable is less obvious in its interpretation. In a sense, it’s another story. The story of the man dressed in the wrong clothes. This poor man has been asked at the last minute to a big party and then when he obligingly comes, he’s ridiculed at what he is wearing and worse still he’s beaten up and thrown outside simply because he has no wedding clothes. What can this possibly be about?
St Augustine suggests that the reason the man in the story is ejected from the banquet is because he is not symbolically wearing the right clothes. He is not wearing the clothes of Christ. And the garment which he lacks is the one essential for the kingdom of heaven: love.
To enter the kingdom of heaven we need to cloth our self in Christ’s clothes. We need to repent and have a change of heart. But more than that this, repentance must be continued in a life of love and compassion. Merely acknowledging Christ is not sufficient.
So just to turn up at a do like this man isn’t enough – we must be part of it. We think of the words of Paul to the Ephesians “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God”, Ephesians 6:10
This is what we need to do to be fully part of God’s kingdom. In a sense the whole of Matthew’s gospel is about this invitation to the kingdom. The invitation to enjoy the full blessings of the kingdom of God. And in this parable, we see the nature of that invitation. It’s an invitation that is to be treated seriously; It’s not enough just to accept God’s love, we must live that love as well.
In our scripture today, in different ways, we have been encouraged to look beyond our immediate situations, our anxieties and fears to something beyond ourselves. In OT to the love and protection of God, in Philippians to the peace of God and in the Gospel to the kingdom of God……. The kingdom where our ultimate salvation will be found.