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Serving God and Sharing Good News |
Weekly Bible Notes
Ordinary 28 Year A (Trinity 20)
Introduction
Today the passage from Matthew tells about a magnificent banquet held by a king, to which the rich and famous would have been invited. The story tells that suddenly the guest who had all promised to be there, suddenly turned down the invitation, made excuses and became enemies of the king.
It sounds ridiculous, why would everybody treat the king in such a fashion when they had been invited as special guests to his feast ? The story might seem lack credulity, it appears far fetched, people just don't behave like that. Even if the guests wanted to abuse the king surely they would wait until after they had enjoyed the party! But Jesus has a serious point to make. God has called people to his banquet, special guests - but people do not accept the invitation. No doubt Jesus has certain people in mind when he spoke, people who had been violent towards him in his ministry, even though he was sent by God. But today the story has a further meaning. Now the invitation is made to you and I, each one of us is invited to share in the celebration of God's kingdom. You have your invitation, are you going or not?
Opening Verses of Scripture Philippians Chapter 4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray
Lord, in your goodness, open our eyes to your light and so fill our hearts
with your glory, that we may acknowledge Jesus as Saviour and hold fast to
his word in sincerity and truth. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen
First Bible Reading Exodus 32: 1-14
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." Aaron answered them, "Take off the
gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and
bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought
them to Aaron. 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." When Aaron saw this,
he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will
be a festival to the LORD." 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. Then the
LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out
of Egypt, have become corrupt. 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.' "I have seen these
people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. 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." But Moses sought the favour
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? 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. 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.' " Then the LORD relented
and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. (This is the
word of the Lord -- Thanks be to God)
Second Reading Philippians 4:1-9
Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! I plead with
Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes,
and I ask you, loyal yoke fellow, help these women who have contended at my
side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my
fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord
always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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. Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about
such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen
in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you (This is
the word of the Lord -- Thanks be to God)
Gospel Reading Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is
like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants
to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they
refused to come. "Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who
have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened
cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding
banquet.' "But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another
to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed
them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers
and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is
ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners
and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into
the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad,
and the wedding hall was filled with guests. "But when the king came in to
see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
12'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The
man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and
foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.' "For many are invited, but few are chosen." (Reader:
This is the word of the Lord - Thanks be to God)
Post Communion Sentence
God our Father, whose Son, the light unfailing, has come
from heaven to deliver the world from the darkness of ignorance: let these
holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the way
of life and walk in it without stumbling, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary
In the passage from Matthew this week we read about a very
special invitation to a banquet. It is not just an ordinary party to which a
man invites guests, it is an invitation from a king. The best food and drink
would have been prepared, servants were sent out to "summon the invited
guests to the feast." According to the custom of the time, the guests had
already received the invitation and were waiting for when things were
prepared and they received the announcement to come to the feast. The guests
had already accepted the invitation and been catered for! But the story
takes an unexpected twist. At the last minute and for some unexplained
reason the cream of society behaves quite rudely. They claim they have more
important things to do, important business to conduct and so, cannot come to
the feast. What an insult to the royal house! They are utterly
unappreciative of the offer which is made. They are so ungrateful that one
not only refuses to go but kills the servant who bring the invitation.
So in the story Jesus is clear, the deviant guests were not outsiders. When
people heard Jesus speaking about a king inviting people to a banquet they
would know exactly what he was speaking about. The King is God and the
people who were invited were the Jews. God was planning the great party for
which the Jewish people had waited for so long, but now at the last minute
they were refusing. The prophets who had proclaimed the coming kingdom had
been ridiculed and killed, the Messiah was present and ready and they all
rejected the offer.
The hearers would also come to realise exactly what Jesus meant when he
spoke of the King sending his soldiers to destroy the city. After the fall
of Jerusalem in AD70 the pieces of the story would all fit neatly into
place.
So what about those who came? Nobody who came would be able to boast of
anything they had done to get there. They could claim no privilege or rank.
None of them had a special status. They came because they were hungry, not
because they could afford it or were posh. So the parable becomes our story
too. We are now the recipients of God's gracious hospitality and generosity.
We are Christian people because of God’s generosity, not because of any good
we may have done. We claim no right and we feel privileged to find ourselves
in the banquet hall. We are from the highways and byways no longer. We are
honoured guests. Just like the guests invited to the banquet in the story,
each one of us is invited as a special guest by God to his celebration. It
is a truly remarkable thing that God should bother with us at all and yet he
goes so far as to make us honoured guests.
In the midst of a troubled and turbulent world, where the frailty of life is
ever before us, the simple message of this parable should come to us as a
great reassurance. In spite of the seeming unimportance which attaches to us
in the universe, nevertheless our lives are significant. Life might so often
seem cheap and unimportant and yet we are individually watched over and
cared for by God. The realisation that God is involved with each of us
should change the way that we think about things, life is no longer a series
of abstract choices, we are not adrift subject the vagaries of life. This
message should cause us to have much peace and a sense of purpose for the
future which gives real meaning to our lives. Sadly for many people this is
simply not the case, offered such a magnificent invitation they choose to
ignore the blessings of God and miss out on the generosity of God. The
message of the story is clear, if you choose not to go, then somebody else
will take your place. For this reason we should not be slow to respond but
willingly answer God’s call on our lives. Charles Royden
Meditation
Ramadan - Understanding other faiths
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan began on the sighting of the new moon, 4
Oct 2005. During the 29/30 days of Ramadan all adult Muslims must give up
food, drink, smoking and sexual activity during the hours of daylight. Sawm
(fasting) is the fourth pillar of Islam.
Listen to Umh Haider of Basra
"Ramadan isn't about how much you eat or drink, it's an examination of the
faith inside of your soul. God said that 'your reward depends upon your
effort,' and that 'all the other months of the year are for the people, but
this one month is for me.' Ramadan is the best month to clean your heart and
soul. When you feel hungry you can remember the suffering of the poor, who
are usually hungry, and by remembering you can help them always. Ramadan
isn't just to forbid you from eating and drinking; it's to forbid you doing
any bad thing. During Ramadan, Islamic activities increase, like praying,
reading from the Quran, and helping others. These activities strengthen
Islamic relationships because you must join with other Muslims."
Hymns
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Tell out my soul 86
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I’ll go in the strength of the Lord
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Come sinners to the Gospel feast Tune Fulda 460
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What a friend we have in Jesus 559
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Mine eyes have seen the glory 242
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
When we stand gazing upwards, bring us down to earth: with the love of a friend through the songs of the
sorrowing in the faces of the hungry. When we look to you for action, demand some work of us, by your touch of fire, your glance of reproof, your fearful longing. As ruler over all: love us into action; fire us with your zeal; enrich us with your grace to make us willing subjects of your rule. Janet Nightingale, Christian Aid, from Acts 1-2
Lord Jesus Christ, you said, ‘May they all be one, just as, Father, You are in me and I am in You,
so that the world might believe it was You who sent me.’ Dear Lord, bring together in love and peace all who believe in You. Amen Cardinal Basil Hume OSB (1923-99)
Additional Material
Opening Verse of Scripture—Isaiah 9:1,2
The people living in darkness have seen a great light: on those living in
the in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
Collect Prayer for the Day—before we read, we pray
Almighty and everlasting God, we offer you our grateful thanks for your fatherly
goodness and care in giving us your gifts and the fruits of the earth in through
the seasons. Give us grace to use them rightly, to your glory, for our own well
being, and for the relief of those in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
First Bible Reading Isaiah 25:1-10
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in
perfect faithfulness you have done marvellous things, things planned long ago.
You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the
foreigners' stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore
strong peoples will honour you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a
shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. You
silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all
peoples, a banquet of aged wine-- the best of meats and the finest of wines. On
this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet
that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD
will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his
people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he
saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his
salvation." The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be
trampled under him as straw is trampled down in the manure. (This is the word of
the Lord—Thanks be to God)
Commentary: R.S.V.P.
In this week’s passage from the Gospel according to St Matthew, Jesus told a
story about a king who had ordered a great banquet. The feast was to celebrate
the joyous occasion of a marriage, and would normally have extended over many
days and involve the whole community.
Jesus’ hearers must have been flabbergasted by the response of those invited.
Why ever would people turn down such a wonderful invitation? Why would anyone
refuse to attend an event which meant joy, warmth, music, laughter and plenty?
Jesus was using the banquet as a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven. His story
describes the baffling indifference and hostility with which the king’s servants
were greeted. His messengers were beaten, abused and ignored. This is certainly
an accurate picture of the way in which the Christian message has been treated
by a careless, indifferent or hostile world. Everyone is invited into God’s
Kingdom and we are welcome despite our imperfections and faults.
The prophet Isaiah paints a vivid image of God’s mighty power over the elements
and over the whole world, and contrasts this power with His tender mercy. Again
we hear of the “feast of rich food for all peoples” to which we are invited,
when God will extend His welcoming generosity to us and to all who respond to
His invitation. But it is not an invitation which we can afford to put on the
shelf and ignore for ever.
Now is the time to be thankful for the our chance to be a guest at the feast and
to consider how we can ensure that others know that they too are welcome. Joan
Crossley
Meditation
In times when you are sad and troubled, do not give up the good works of
prayer and penance which you have been in the habit of doing. For the devil will
try to persuade you to abandon them, and unsettle you. Rather, practice them
more than before, and you will see how quickly the Lord will come to your aid.
Theresa of Avila in A Life of Prayer
Hymns (Mission Praise)
16 All my hope on God is founded.
31 Amazing Grace
575 Rejoice the Lord in King
683 There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
449 Love divine, all love’s excelling.
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
O God, from whom to be turned is to fall, to whom to be turned is to rise,
and in whom to stand is to abide for ever: grant us in all our duties your help,
in all our perplexities your guidance, in all our dangers your protection, and
in all our sorrows your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen St Augustine,
354-430
Almighty God, source of every blessing, your generous goodness comes to
us anew every day. By the work of your Spirit lead us to acknowledge your
goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience.
Indeed we pray you to pour out your Holy Spirit upon us - your Spirit of joy and
laughter - of comfort and of strength - that we might celebrate with you and you
with us, as we offer our worship and ourselves to you this day; through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Dear God. Fill us with those things that are good: things that are
true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honourable. Help us to put into practice
what we have learned from your Word. Loving God, you have invited us to feast in
your promised Kingdom. May we never be so busy that we cannot turn to you, and
thankfully celebrate the power of Your Son. Amen