How many of you, in your youth, played the game “King of the Castle” or “King of the Hill”? King of the Castle was a game in which one child would stand on a mound or hill and shout, “I’m the king of the castle and you’re the dirty rascal.” And then the other kids would storm up the hill and try to remove the “king” from his position atop the “castle.” Whoever managed to knock the king off of the top of the hill would then take the king’s place. Everyone wanted to be the king of the castle because the king had all the power. They were on top of the world. Yet being at the top is always a precarious place to be. One shove at just the right moment, in just the right way, can send you toppling before you know what hit you. And suddenly your power is gone and someone else has taken your place. This is the power we are accustomed to in the world. A power that takes what it wants and has to push other people out of the way to get it. A power that wants to be on the top of the mountain.

Have you ever done a “trust fall”? If you aren’t sure what that is, it is an exercise that groups do to try to promote teamwork. A trust fall is when one person in a group stands up on a chair. And then they lean backward and let themselves fall into the waiting arms of the rest of the group. My youth group liked to do these on occasion and I always thought that the point of them was trust, trusting that the other people there will catch you. They have your back…quite literally in this case. But the part that I often overlooked even though it was perhaps the hardest part of the whole thing was what the person on the chair had to do. They had to give up control and release themselves to be caught by others. It can be really challenging, even if you trust those who are catching you, to let go of control and to relinquish your power in the situation. It’s scary. But I would argue that Jesus’ life shows us many times that power doesn’t come through might and domination, it comes through letting go. Through trusting in God.

In our passage from the gospel of Matthew for this morning, Jesus tells another parable. In this one, he compares the kingdom of heaven to an earthly king who is having a wedding banquet for his son. He has invited what I can only assume is the elite of the community. He’s king, so he’s likely to have invited the best and most powerful in the region to this celebration. And being as this is the king, all who he invites are certain to come. However, as the day draws near, the king sends his servants out to each of the invitees to tell them that the feast is nearly ready. Now, you may wonder why the king was sending out invites at the last minute rather than sending them a save the date card or something. The reason is that, in Jesus’ day, the wedding did not commence until the groom had built a home for him and his bride that was satisfactory to the groom’s father. So save-the-date cards wouldn’t work very well since no one knew for sure when the date would come.

But the day has finally arrived, so the king sends out personal invites to those he wants to attend. But those the king invited wouldn’t come. The king sent his servants out again and this time he had them really talk up how great this banquet was going to be, trying to really promote this event. But still the invitees showed no interest in coming to the banquet. Many simply went right back to what they were doing and ignored the servants. While others seized the servants, abused them, and then killed them. The king could not believe it. He was completely outraged and, in response, sent his troops to seek and kill those who had murdered his servants. And then they burned down the city. Yikes! That seems a bit extreme. And what now for the feast? Is it just canceled? He couldn’t very well throw his son a big wedding banquet with no guests. But who was left to invite?

Then an idea struck him. He sent out some servants to just walk through the still smoldering streets of the town and invite anyone they encountered. And that was what they did until the wedding hall was full of guests. The feast commenced. Everything was going great so the king took a walk through the hall to see how the guests were doing. As the host, it was his task to keep the guests well fed, happy, and a wee bit sloshed. As he did so, he noticed a man not wearing a wedding robe, which was a traditional Jewish wedding garb that each guest would wear, provided for them by the host. Not wearing one was a symbol of disrespect for it signified an unwillingness to celebrate the joy of the occasion with everyone else. And so the king had the man bound and cast out.

This parable really sounds kind of ridiculous. It feels WAY over the top. And I think that is intentional. Parables are stories that are told to make a point. The characters and actions correlate to a lesson that the listeners need to hear. In this case, Jesus gives us insight into what the meaning of this story might be. First, Jesus begins this parable with the words, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” So we know right from the start that the story has some sort of parallel to the kingdom of heaven. Let’s explore that in just a minute. But the other clue Jesus gives us to the meaning of this parable is what he says once he has finished the story. He says, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” I’ll be honest that this verse kind of bothered me when I first read it. But after spending some time looking a little deeper at it, I found a bit of a different perspective on it.

But let’s go back to Jesus’ connection between this parable and the kingdom of heaven. Reading this parable with all the violence and judgmentalism, I find it challenging to compare it to God’s kingdom. But I think maybe it’s not meant to be a direct correlation. I think Jesus may be using some exaggeration and appealing to the audience’s worldview. Based upon Some of the other parables Jesus told in before this in Matthew’s gospel, it seems logical that the king represents God, the original invitees are the scribes and Pharisees, and the secondary invitees are the Jews who are following Jesus, and most likely the Gentiles as well. This parable then is really about the history of salvation. God first called the Hebrews. At that time, they were slaves in Israel. But God led them out of slavery, through the desert, and into the Promised Land. It was sort of a rags to riches story. The Hebrew people went from slaves to possessing their own land and forming an entire kingdom.

But that’s when the trouble for Israel began. God had poured out great blessings on God’s chosen people. He invited them into a closer relationship with him. But they cared more about their newfound power and riches. So like the original invitees to the banquet, the people of Israel rejected God’s invitation. But God did not give up. Through his Son Jesus, God sent out more servants, not only to invite them again, but to encourage them to attend by sharing with people how great it will be. But even when God appeared to them in the flesh, they rejected him, abused him, and killed him. Jesus came to show the world that God’s banquet feast is for everyone. Jesus came to show God’s generous and welcoming love. But people rejected it and continue to reject it today.

When my sister turned 13, it was on Friday the 13th. So, she decided to invite 13 people to her party. No one showed up. It is disappointing when people don’t show up to your party. And God feels the same way. God wants everyone to come to the party, yet so many people reject the invitation.

Which brings us to that line that Jesus says right after the parable has ended. He says, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” This sounds to me like bad predestination theology. Only a select few are chosen to go to heaven. It sounds like God’s love and salvation is big enough that all people could have it. But God has only chosen a select few. Looking at the Greek text of this passage, the words for called and chosen stood out to me. The word translated ‘called’ also means ‘invited.’ Many are invited, like in the parable. And Strong’s Concordance says that the word translated as ‘chosen’ “describes people who choose to follow the Lord, i.e. become God’s choice by freely receiving faith from Him.” So perhaps an alternative rendering of this saying would be: For many are invited, but few accept that invitation. But those who do, get to feast on the hope, peace, joy, and love that comes from God’s hand.

Earthly power is stingy and self-serving. Earthly power hoards more stuff than it needs. Earthly power crushes any invitations to leave our comfort and feast with God. But God’s power is nothing like that. God’s power is generous and welcoming. Saint Augustine said this: “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” Just like the original invitees, we refuse to accept the gracious invitation of God to a life of generosity and self-giving love. We’d rather hang on to what we have and keep everything the way we want it. And so we reject God’s invitation. But God’s generosity and welcome does not just disappear when we reject it. It simply finds a different host body…often to those on the margins of society: the poor and needy, the refugee and the immigrant, the oppressed and abused, those in prison and those who society rejects.

The power of God is not a power so insecure that it refuses to share with others. Instead, the power of God lays down its own needs for the needs of others. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Power comes from releasing our own selfish desires on behalf of someone else. The Apostle Paul describes the power of Jesus this way: “Though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.” God shows God’s power in generously welcoming all of us. The question is: How will we respond? I pray that we all respond with humility and love in our hearts. Amen.