Witness to the powerful love of God

A sermon by Bishop Don Philips on Philippians 4:1-9 and Matthew 22:1-14

Let us bow our heads in prayer. Almighty God, we give you thanks for your presence in this time and place, and within each one of us gathered here and gathered. In our homes. Help us now to open our minds. Our hearts, our whole lives, to receive the gift of your living word for us this day. And may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight? O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.

So this evening I want to concentrate primarily on the first reading, Paul's letter to the Philippians. But first I want to make a few comments about the gospel reading because I think it needs a bit of an explanation.

First of all, this particular passage from Matthew is an allegorical parable. And the original story illustration by Jesus probably didn't have the strong allegorical elements. In it. But that's the way that Matthew is using it and what we mean by that is then each character in the allegory corresponds to a person or group of persons in real life. But Matthew presents this as an allegory in order to say something to us about Jesus and about the Kingdom of heaven.

The passage starts with the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to, and then the story comes about. The king, who is throwing a wedding banquet. For his son. Now at this point in the story, we can be relatively certain that the king represents God. The son represents his son Jesus Christ, and the wedding banquet is the final celebration of God's salvation. A banquet. A wedding. With Christ and all God's people.

Now, in the parable that we hear, many are invited, but many ignore or are indifferent towards the invitation. Some even become hostile and they abuse the messengers that have been sent. So the king is enraged about this wants to have this full banquet. And so he tells them to invite everyone in the neighborhood, in the community, good and bad, come to the wedding banquet until the banquet. Hall is full.

But then in the final four verses, there's an encounter between the king and a wedding guest not wearing proper clothing for the event. And the guest gets thrown out. And it it seems strange.

Can you imagine coming here, say, on a Sunday evening and suddenly the priest, noting that you are not suitably attired and catch the attention of one of the greeters at the back who comes and grabs you and turfs you out onto the steps leading to Broadway Ave.

And then if you. Think about it for a minute. How would someone who had just been pulled in off the street come to the banquet suddenly having a wedding robe? Doesn't quite add up.

Biblical scholars tell us that these originally were two separate parables. That they they weren't actually connected, but that they're joined in sequence by Matthew because it it works for the flow of his God. And the reference to a wedding robe probably refers to being clothed in Christ, as Saint Paul talks about it. A common metaphor in the New Testament for those who have have dedicated their life to Christ and taken on new clothing. The life of a disciple.

So fear not God or the priest is not going to throw you out of the Eucharistic banquet here tonight, noticing that you are not properly attired. Now that we've sort of covered the the wardrobe fears, let's move on to Paul's letter to the church in Philippi.

Paul founded the church in Philippi. He had a special affection for that community, and we hear that tonight at the beginning of the reading, where he refers to them as my joy and my crown really has that kind of fatherly or parental sort of sense toward them. And our passage tonight from the concluding section.

Paul summarizes his thoughts for the whole. Letter he says these words. Rejoice in the Lord always again, I will say rejoice, and in fact the word joy is really the principal theme of the whole letter. And if you count the word for joy in the original Greek as well as words like rejoice or be, be glad there are 16 times that one of those words is used in a relatively short letter.

And in fact, the phrases in verses 5 and six sum up the primary message to Paul's readers. I'll read those to you. Rejoice, let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything.

That would be a good sort of summary of what Paul's trying to get across in this letter. For us sitting here, this is all well and good. But I don't think it's easy for us to hear and accept. Especially right now. While we're still. Reeling from 9 days into the conflict between Hamas and Israel. We're continually burdened by Russia's war with Ukraine and increasingly plagued by reports of increasing violence and in political instability in various parts. Of our world.

Paul's words can seem to be from another world. Spoken by an idealistic, if not naive, leader. They reverberate in our heads and hearts like phrases we've heard before from preachers. Who conveniently deny the darkness around them and try to construct a a more exclusive, happy world.

Not grounded in the reality that we know. And some of those preachers have used these very words of Paul from the letters of the Philippians to, in a sense, tell us, don't worry, be happy. But they have done Paul and I believe all Christian disciples a great disservice with that approach.

First of all you need to know Paul is in prison when he writes this letter. Much like that great 20th century theologian Dietrich Bonhoffer. Who wrote about the? Papers and letters from prison. He was imprisoned. By the state. Never knowing if today might be his last day. This is a man immersed in the world's darkness. And the church in Philippi too. It was struggling with some of its own issues. The dissension in its midst threatening its life and proclamation of the gospel.

So no, these words appall are very serious. They're strongly passionate words spoken out of and into very much real and threatening situations. And so he says. Do not worry. But in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul is what he is doing is exhorting. For the Philippians and for the for us as the Saint benedicts Tablion fans. As to how to. Respond in the middle of darkness and crisis and terror. And because of God's presence, God's nearness, God's strength in the midst of our frailty. We can be gentle. With ourselves and with each other. Our fear, our anxiety or our rage will not accomplish anything. It will only multiply the darkness. That's around us. Instead, while giving thanks to God not for the horror around us.

But for God's never ceasing love for us and for the whole world in all these circumstances, to pray intentionally without ceasing. And in that prayerful communion with God, you will receive peace. God's peace beyond understanding beyond and above the violence that threatens us. And that God-given peace is what steals our resolve. It guards our hearts and our minds and keeps us focused on God and God's love for all people. And for this world. And it is our fellow disciples. And their peace, their gentleness, their resolve that encourages us to press on as disciples of Jesus Christ.

To lean on one another, that's what the body of Christ is for. Paul closes with an exhortation for weed disciples to focus and concentrate on the virtues in life. He says these words.

Finely beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about. These things.

Let these things ignite. Our fires of. Thanksgiving in the midst of the darkness. And as Paul says, don't stop with just a mental attitude. It must also include our actions. Our speech, our behavior, the way we live as disciples of Jesus Christ.

And so he concludes with these words. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. And the God of peace will be with you. The God of peace. Will be with you. Quieting our minds, giving us courage. Does this eliminate the darkness? No.

Does it create an artificial world that denies the darkness? Certainly not.

What it does do is witness to the powerful love of God for all of humanity. And also the ultimate Lordship of Christ in the world. It witnesses it to me and to you, and equally importantly, it becomes a saving light in this darkness.

Giving hope to us and to all of humanity. Thanks be to God. Amen.