Exodus 32
Luke 14: 15-24

The Bible passages assigned for today take us to two parables about celebrations: “Worship with Aaron and the golden calf” and a “Wedding banquet in the kingdom of God.”  Both of these are similes to the church in the world today.  Let’s explore the background of each of these.

In Exodus, we find Aaron in the base camp at the foot of the mountain where his brother Moses has gone to convene with God.  Some time has passed and the people are getting restless again.  They are no longer sure that God is with them.  They wandering in the wilderness, trusting that God was leading them.  But now their leader, Moses, was gone up that mountain for some time and they were no longer sure Moses would be coming back.  They needed a visible symbol such as the images of God as a bull they were used to back in Egypt.  (That is similar to our modern day use of the lamb or the cross as a symbol of Jesus.  We wear it around our neck or stand it on the mantle as a reminder).  So they appealed to Aaron, the second in command, to help them.  So Aaron collected all the gold jewelry and placed it in a dish in the fire until it melted into a symbol that was like a small bull or calf.  Then Aaron sought to have a worship celebration, celebrating God’s presence among them.  Meanwhile Moses was up communing with God etching out the Ten Commandments.  He had just finished when God told him about the idol worship going on down in the valley with his people.  God called the people stiff necked and was ready to destroy them all but Moses appealed to God reminding God of his covenant which should not be broken and we are told that God relented.

What a parallel to God’s people today.  As the nation plunges into financial chaos and people scramble to survive what appears to be an economic holocaust, we realize how much we have created an idol of money.  In Gold We Trust!  Is this not the consequences of greed gone wild?  Do we really trust God more than we trust gold?  Is it possible that we have become so individualistic that we care only about what happens to us individually?  Hold that thought!  Let’s turn to the Gospel lesson for today.

In Luke’s gospel we find Jesus telling a parable about the Great Banquet.  This is a direct parallel to the Matthew story of the King’s Wedding banquet.  In both cases the important people who were invited had reasons why they didn’t make it.  It is important to understand how things worked before modern day inventions.  When the King or Lord of the Manor would throw an important party such as a wedding, his servants would go out with invitations to the important people of the village.  No day or time would be set yet for it took some doing to prepare.  This was like a Save the Date (without the date).  So some time later, the servants would go out again and say all is ready, come now!  Of course the important people may have other priorities such as 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'  "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out.’  Please excuse me.'  "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come now.'  Yet this would be seen as an insult by the King or Lord of the Manor.  In his anger, he commanded his servants to 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'   When this had been done they reported to him,  'Sir, what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'  Then the master told his servants, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.  I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’

What are we to make of this in today’s society?  Obviously attendance at the banquet may not be our highest priority!!  We have other compelling activities and needs.  We are willing to see to God activity with our spare time but it should not interfere with our many other daily activities.  So what about our time?!  Could we ever believe that our time is God’s time and our house God’s house?  Is it possible that God is sending us out to invite those who don’t really belong in the church?  At least we will make room for them if they happen to come to us and don’t demand any great sacrifice on our part. 

So what is the meaning of these parables in our growing spiritual understanding? 
First, we need to reexamine what it means to accept Jesus invitation to become part of his body on earth.  We accept the invitation in order to enjoy the banquet and then have the privilege of inviting others to whom God sends invitations.

Perhaps that is why Jesus told so many parables about weddings.  His first miracle was done when he and his family had been invited to a wedding and he changed water into wine.  Later, he speaks of the women who were prepared with enough oil in their lamps waiting for the wedding party to arrive.  The others missed it because they had to go get more oil at the last moment.  Missing the wedding was a big deal!  And now we realize that while many are called, few are chosen and many of those chosen would never have received an invitation if we were careful about politically appropriate, polite society.

We are told that once Winston Churchill received an invitation from George Bernard Shaw to one of his opening plays back in the early 1900s.  The note read, “Enclosed are two tickets to the performance of a play of mine.  Bring a friend – if you have one.”  Churchill sent back this reply: “Dear GBS, I thank you very much for the invitation and tickets.  Unfortunately, I am engaged on that night, but could I have tickets for the second night? – if there is one.”  Beyond the sarcasm and bantering about who belongs and who gets tickets, we recognize that we are not simply the privileged of society, but we are privileged to be chosen to belong to the body of Christ because we have either accepted the invitation or inherited by the customs of our families. 

A woman arrived late for a wedding.  As she came rushing up to the door, an usher asked her for her invitation.  “I have none,” she snapped.  “Are you a friend of the groom?”  he asked.  “Certainly not!” the woman replied.  “I am the bride’s mother!”

So the question is, did you get an invitation to belong to the body of Christ?  Do you have any invitations to give to others?

Second, with whom do you identify in this parable?  Are you aware of your role as an indentured servant of God or do you prefer to see yourself as an equal partner?  Or perhaps you can see yourself as one of those who work the land but are you aware that it is God who owns the land and expects you to set aside a specific portion of the results of your work to serve others.  Do you also see yourself as one who often avoids what God may have you do by changing the subject or flicking the channel?  All these are elements of this parable. 
As busy Christians, while we have our own lives, when God calls us it is not optional.  We either obey or risk missing out on the true enjoyment of being part of God’s kingdom.  That enjoyment gives deep meaning to life itself.  When we mistake church as a Sunday entertainment center, we risk missing the true joy of our relationship with God.  We come to worship because we are called to do so by God, not just because we don’t have something better to do with those few hours.  We come to fulfill the ultimate commandments of God: that we love God with all our heart, soul and minds and we share that love of God with others, especially those who need it the most. 

Friday, I officiated at a wedding in Soquel and one of the guests had jokingly let me know that he thought religion was for the weak.  I told him that I bet that he was as religious as I am.  I explained that religion was how we act out our spirituality and we are all spiritual beings.  He was surprised and countered that he believed in Energy as the primary force in life.  That sounded like a definition of soul so I asked if he believed in the principle of physics that energy cannot be created or destroyed!  His wife added that she believed in reincarnation so he played with that idea by stating I believe that my energy will be distributed in a lot of people after I die.  I replied: “So much for not having any religion.”  What a fun opportunity in a few short minutes while passing in the parking lot. 

Everyone is searching for meaning in life!  We have so many missed opportunities to take that seriously as we engage in polite conversation or try to make someone believe the way we do!  Perhaps God calls us to opportunities to plant tiny seeds if we simply can discern those opportunities.  Then we let God do the rest.

Finally, I believe that the congregation is a body of Christ in the world that is constantly seeking more knowledge and discernment of what God is doing, like the disciples of Jesus day.  We are given eyes to see when God sends someone our way to receive God’s love through us.  I also believe that we are nudged to go out of our way to seek those whom God knows may have been rejected by others.  They are out there in the alleys and byways of life.  Jesus makes a point of stating that we will go out into the alley ways and by-ways to compel them to enjoy what we enjoy.  In case we don’t get the message, Jesus reminds us that as we do it to the least of these, we do it to God.  God is embodied in those others reject because God is about the good news that Grace is for all just as rain falls upon the good and the bad.  We no longer worry simply about our own salvation but we are the messengers of the GOSPEL, the good news!

Exodus 32 
The Golden Calf

1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."   
2 Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me."
3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD."
6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings.  Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.  
7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.
8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'
9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people.
10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."  
11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.
13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.' "
14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Luke 14:15-24
The Parable of the Great Banquet

 15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." 
16Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.
17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 
18"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' 
19"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 
20"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' 
21"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
 22" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 
23"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.
24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”