God’s Arbitrary Nature

Traditionally theologians have used this parable to explain the “arbitrary nature” of God. Some will get into heaven/celebrate eternally at The Big Party, and some will be shown the door. The king noticed something about that guy at the wedding reception — apparently his lack of fancy dress clothing — and had him tossed “into the outer darkness.” That is the royal prerogative, and when our time comes, the King of Creation can — and will! — pick and choose the same way.

It’s just how God operates. There’s no explaining it.

Or so they say. But I wonder.....

What, exactly, is going on here? Is the Exiled Wedding Guest a victim of inexplicable divine dislike? is he bad guy? is God a fashion snob? or is it something else all together?

Special

“Many are called but few are chosen.”

The phrase apparently resonates with our collective consciousness, as it has become a standard of the English language; used, often ironically, to mean somebody got “the short end of the stick.” We say it to the friend whose company has branches in New York, San Diego and Honolulu — who is “chosen” to attend a meeting in Milwaukee. In November.

“You’re special: just not the way you’d like to be.”

“Tag. You’re it!”

That’s how we think of the fellow in Jesus’ parable, isn’t it? I have always felt sorry for the guy. He’s Mr. Unlucky: picked out of a crowd and flung out the door, just because he didn’t wear his tux to the wedding reception. He’s not a bad person, he came to the party when asked, he wasn’t raising a ruckus; wasn’t dancing on the tables or pinching the waitstaff. Just a regular guy, standing there with a glass of champagne in his hand.

Then the king saw him.

Oh-oh.

We don’t even know if this guy was the only one who wasn’t dressed up. But he was the one who came to the attention of the king.

Being noticed by higher-ups isn’t always a good thing.

The Chosen Few

"Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward...
    from The Charge of the Light Brigade

The expression is often used to describe those selected for a hazardous mission: troops sent into a sniper-infested region, a negotiator assigned to a hostage situation, the fire battalion responding to a chemical factory explosion.... when someone else puts another in “the line of fire,” so to speak. Those “few are chosen” by a boss, a commander, a king — Somebody — who decides to send them out on a dangerous assignment.

It may seem quite arbitrary, but somehow they were chosen. And now they must do their very best.

The Exiled Hero?

Maybe that’s what Jesus was telling us in this parable. Perhaps the Exiled Guest is not an object of regal scorn, but one divinely chosen: maybe he’s not the villain of the peace, but the hero.

He has has tasted the holy joy — he’s been to the Party, he knows it’s real — and now he is sent out into the cold harsh world; called to live among those who are filled with sorrow, rage, and despair; forced to deal with all of the difficulties, deviousness and deviltry that goes on “outside” the community of the blessed.

And he feels as if he has to do all this “with his hands and feet tied” (Mt 22:13). It isn’t easy, living as a Christ-follower in the world.

Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.

How do we tell a people “who live in darkness” about the Light of the World? How do we show starving souls that there is a King who invites Everyone to the Table? How do we encourage those whose hearts are broken, whose spirits are weary, whose hope has crumbled? And how do we resist the temptation to fall into despair or cynicism out here “where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth”?

Why Me, Lord?

The guest wasn’t chosen because he was the smartest, or richest, or the most persuasive public speaker; he didn’t have the deepest faith or the sweetest face or the greatest patience. He was just one of the crowd of everyday people who were rounded up for the wedding reception: a regular guy, dressed in his everyday clothes. His only “qualification” was that he came to the party. The guest was chosen because he said “yes” to the king.

When he responded to the King’s invitation, the guest probably didn’t realize that there would be consequences. But being a Christian does come with strings attached, as I warn all those I baptize and bless: when you say “yes” to God, the Beloved takes you at your word. And you have no idea what you may be called to do. God has an amazing imagination: anything — and I mean anything — is possible.

Following the Lord isn’t always a party. Sometimes it is challenging. Sometimes the tasks seem far beyond our abilities, the difficulties overwhelming, the distance too far, the darkness just too dark.

It may seem quite arbitrary, but somehow we were chosen. And now we must do our very best.

Virtual hugs and real-time blessings,

Deborah +

This Week's Suggested Spiritual Exercise

Meditate on this passage from the Psalms:

“Even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is bright as the day, for darkness and the light are the same to You.
      ~ Psalm 139:12