A sermon on Matthew 22:1-14
Fr. Mike Paraniuk
By Fr. Mike Paraniuk
HCP columnist
Matthew 22:12-13 reads, "He (the King) asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness.'"
In the parable of the King who threw a wedding banquet for his son, the guests better wear the wedding garment or out you go into the night. What is this wedding garment and why is it so important? I'll explain it using a powerful experience from my life.
I attended fourth grade at the Conway Elementary School in Pennsylvania where I was raised. Our class presented the play "Rumpelstiltskin" about a father who brags to the King that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The King threatens to execute the daughter if he is lying. A small devilish imp changes straw into gold for her and saves her life.
Invitations went out to the people of Conway to attend the play. I got a part playing an interpreter for the King. Truly an Oscar-winning performance. The real Oscar moment happened on opening night that taught me a powerful lesson about the beauty of compassion. The girls in my class were chosen to be ushers for the many guests. They were told to dress in their finest clothes for this gala event.
There was this one girl whose finest wasn't good enough. Her dress was worn and torn. She wore the school uniform of white stockings that had tears in them. She had to walk from her home to the school because her single mom didn't have the money to get the car fixed. On top of all this it started to rain. She arrived at the school with wet hair. Her ripped stockings and scuffed shoes were covered with splashes of mud.
My teacher took one look at her. She had a look of disgust on her face. I clearly remember her chiding the poor girl. "I cannot allow you to usher looking like that." The girl's dejected face showed the shame she felt as she walked away.
I was not the only one who witnessed this rejection. There was a lady there who arrived in a beautiful expensive car. She looked furious as to what went down with the poor little girl. I remember her going up to the teacher and confronting her for her cruelty. The rich lady told the teacher that she would dress the girl in such fine clothes that she will be the best looking usher of them all.
True to her word the lady picked up the girl and took her somewhere, probably to her home. When they came back, the girl was transformed into a thing of beauty. She wore new shoes and a shiny dress that looked like silk. The lady presented the girl to the teacher who accepted her without hesitation. I found out later the rich lady had a young daughter who died at the same age as the girl. The new clothes fit her perfectly. The poor girl's mother died shortly afterward. With no mother or father to care for her, the lady petitioned the court to adopt the girl as her own. The girl was poor no longer.
The wedding garment in the parable is the righteousness from God offered to you by accepting His Son Jesus into your life. God chooses you to accept the "righteousness" Jesus won for you by the gift of His life sacrificed on the Cross. Righteousness means to be in a right relationship with God. Righteousness becomes both a gift received and a life to be lived. God calls you to live righteous deeds. What are the most important righteous deeds God wants you to live? Be compassionate. Be loving. Be kind. Be caring. Be forgiving. Be faithful. God says in Matthew 5:6, "God blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied."
The Bible teaches that God will judge the actions of every individual. Good works do not earn you salvation, but they show you are in a right relationship with God. The righteous pour forth kindness to others as an outflow of their love for God. I witness this outflow in a most beautiful way at Children's Hospital. There are babies and little kids who need more love and attention when mommy or daddy are gone to tend to their other children. A nurse will take a child into their arms and bring the little kid to the nurse's station. Other nurses will gather around the baby and attentively "love bomb" the kid. I call these babies "floor babies" where every nurse on the floor becomes a surrogate parent. God is present in this outpouring of love.
When you accept Jesus, God will shower you with the gifts of His Kingdom. Throw away the old garments of sin so God can dress you with the finest clothes of Heaven. “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness…” (Is. 61:10). Blessings...Fr. Mike.
Fr. Mike Paraniuk is a Priest Chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. His sermons can be heard live over WLRU Radio 106.9 FM on Wednesdays at 7 p.m.