Earlier this week I gathered with friends to do some committee work at a local club that had a dress code. Just as the meeting was about to begin we got a frantic call from a board member who was phoning from the parking lot. He was told he could not come inside because he’d worn blue jeans. We scrambled to make arrangements at a casual restaurant nearby where the meeting soon convened.

When our blue-jean-clad friend arrived he was apologetic and a bit embarrassed. “I’m so sorry to inconvenience you all,” he said, “But I was rushing around and didn’t stop to think about where I was going – and that I needed to change.”

In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear one of Jesus’ parables about a king who throws a banquet, inviting everybody to attend, then abruptly tossing out an improperly dressed guest. And you and I begin to see that our gracious admission into God’s kingdom does not come without some change on our part.

Sure God loves everybody, but that doesn’t mean God wants us to stay exactly as we are. To come to the banquet we all must change. In fact, not only does God want us to change, but we want to change. Some our deepest desires are to be more loving, more patient, more understanding, calmer, carefree, and caring for our friends and our enemies.

You and I have been invited to the grandest banquet ever, and right now we’re being asked to change. Are we too busy rushing around to think about it? What, in our lives, needs adjustment? What needs transformation? If the suitable clothes of the Kingdom are justice, truth, love, mercy, and holiness, how well are we changing into them?

Reading

Matthew for Everyone – Tom Wright

Moving off the Map – Thomas Bandy

What Would Jesus Eat? – Don Colbert