Stake Your Claim
Proper 23
Fr. Tim Nunez
May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Today’s Gospel continues where we left off last week, and where we have been for several Sundays. Jesus has come into Jerusalem as we celebrate on Palm Sunday. He has cleansed the Temple and has been teaching, preaching and healing there, and he has been confronted by the priests and elders, in essence the religious and civil authorities. This is his third parable in response to them, following the two sons and the bad tenants.
In order to grasp the weight of this parable, we need to focus on the main character. This isn’t a friend or a neighbor, a colleague or a client, or a distant relative. This is the king, which we need to understand in their context. A king was at the very apex of their social order. He was in charge, period. He had absolute authority, wealth, and an army.
How could those invited to the prince’s wedding dare not show up? It is a huge honor. The king has everything prepared and he has invited them twice! Who could be so indifferent? Perhaps this verse from Psalm 103:8 gives us a clue: “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness.”
Apparently, these invitees have mistaken their king’s compassion and mercy to the point that they neither fear nor respect him. They are so indulged that they aren’t even enticed by the wonderful banquet that has been prepared for them. The ones who go so far as to mistreat and even kill his slaves are in open rebellion. The king puts the rebellion down by force.
Clearly the king is an analogy for God, the slaves are the prophet and the invitees are the priests and elders. This is a stern warning they cannot miss.
Then the king extends his invitation – to us. The guy without the robe represents one who is there for the feast but his heart isn’t right. The Kingdom of God will not have false attendees. No one wants to be that person. That is the point.
This is our ultimate goal, to quote Job, is “to see God face to face who is my friend and not a stranger.” When we die, we want to see Jesus, to hold out a hand and say, “Yes, Lord,” and he will take us with him, to be raised up on the Last Day and to be with him forever.
There are alternatives. I want nothing to do with any of them, but apparently not everyone is persuaded to my point of view. If that sounds harsh, I didn’t make it up. Take it up with him. I’ve looked over this parable many times and I don’t see a part where the king asks everyone’s opinion of his judgment.
In the course of just a few days, Jesus will pay for this banquet to which everyone is invited by going to the cross. By grace through faith in Jesus, once we accept him as Lord, truly from the depths of our hearts, that is done. As he said, “It is finished.” Yay!
But not everyone cares about him. Not everyone is enticed by his extraordinary gift. Not everyone cares about the price he paid, or even believes it. Some scorn it because to acknowledge it requires us to yield to our king.
This is not merely a consideration after death. The Kingdom of God has come near. Eternity includes now. We are meant to live as citizens of the Kingdom today.
One way to approach that is to be open to him for continuous self-improvement. “Jesus, come into my house and do what you will.” He is a carpenter, after all. He will take it all the way down to the foundation and build you up. Just surrender to him. “Lord, I am afraid, please give me courage.” “Lord, I am judgmental; please help me be more kind.” “Lord, I am irritable; please teach me patience.” It’s like being a fixer-upper sort of house and we keep running to Jesus for repair.
It is in that surrender that we truly find the joy Paul finds always, in all circumstances. We find the peace of God that passes all understanding.
People often hesitate to surrender. We are wired for self-sufficiency, after all. Resistance will show up in their giving. Some give a token amount. Some give a significant amount, perhaps tied to the value they perceive in church programs or its place in the community, or their relationship to it. All of that is normal. But God offers something far better than normal.
A little earlier in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We tend to do the opposite, put our treasure where our hearts are, supporting what we love or where we take interest. Hear the promise. There your heart will be, will be. When we stake our claim in the Kingdom financially, our hearts follow.
Do you want to rejoice in The Lord always? Do you want to have such confidence in God’s ultimate victory that you gain a tremendous depth of patience, wisdom and forbearance? Do you want to tamp down anxiety? Do you want to trust God completely in your prayers of need and of thanksgiving? Do you want to find that peace that passes understanding because you know to the core of your being that he already has you in his hand?
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Stake your claim in his Kingdom.
Some years ago, my parents were asked to write a brief statement on stewardship for their church newsletter. They wrote:
If we had the money we have given to churches since we decided to tithe in 1972, we could be living in a mansion surrounded by fancy furniture and doodads instead of our lovely condo and good neighbors. We could have had suites on our 25 cruises instead of cabins. We could be flying first class on our trips. We could have a vacation home on a mountainside instead of a unit in an RV Park full of interesting friends. We could have been driving Mercedes and Cadillacs instead of Hondas and Fords. All that money scraped off the top of our income, and what did we get for it? We received five loaves and two fishes worth of blessings through our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We have the joy of knowing we are loved by our faith community. Jesus has returned a multitude of blessings to us and we are very happy. Join us in putting God at the top of your budget. The dividends are wonderful and eternal.
My parents haven’t been paying God for protection and blessings. Staking our treasure in the Kingdom opens our hearts. In all my life as a Christian, I have never heard of anyone who regretted tithing. No one. The testimony of tithers invariably sounds like my parents. Meg and I can testify, too. It’s not that we have no troubles. We do. We all do.
If you don’t believe me, ask Jesus, and then try what he says. I am trying to persuade you about your invitation to God’s banquet. If this feels to you like coercion, please hear this next part clearly.
What you can and should give is your business, between you and God. It isn’t about an amount, it is about the heart. Jesus used the widow’s mite, her penny, to illustrate the proper heart of giving. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Meg and I don’t want to wait until we die to see Jesus, to know Jesus and the power of his Resurrection. We want it now. We want it for our children now. We want it for our grandchildren now. We want it for the children of this church and our community. We want it for our Thrift Shop volunteers and customers. We want it for Camp Wingmann’s campers and their counselors. We want it for the Care Center’s clients. We want it for the Kairos participants and team. We want it for you now. All y’all. And Jesus does too. Come to the banquet prepared for you. Put on your robe of love and devotion to your king and live for his kingdom.
AMEN!