RSVP

Image credit: Jenn Ashton


I want you to think back for a moment, oh, 12 years or so. It’s 2011. Lady Gaga has just won a grammy for her hit song, “Bad Romance.” The Boston Bruins have won 4-3 against the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup (sad). Try and remember where you were in 2011, what you were doing, who you were with. 

Now, imagine that, at that time, you come home one day and find a certified letter, sent by royal mail, and it’s addressed to you. And, you, you have just been invited to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton!

It’s not a joke. It’s not some elaborate prank. You fly first class to London. You get all gussied up. You’re given the traditional kilt and colours that are normally reserved for the royal family! Following the ceremony, part way through the reception, they’re just about to serve dessert when someone stumbles in to the banquet hall. They are wearing gym shorts, a ratty old t-shirt, and a baseball cap. You can’t quite make out who they are, but then the person next to you leans over and says, “I’m pretty sure that’s [insert name of celebrity/politician/member of the royal family].”

Now, here’s what happens next: imagine that the Queen, God rest her soul, comes down from her seat at the head of the table and says to this person, “What on earth are you wearing?”

The person stands there and says nothing, but nevertheless makes their point: if all of these commoners here attending this wedding are wearing the family gowns, the family jewellery, then it is no longer good enough for the elite. It is as though the monarchy itself has been tarnished! What were once expensive silks are now worth nothing more than an old t-shirt! They, the true wedding guest, will certainly not be seen in the same attire—nevermind seated at the same table!

Now, imagine that the Queen—doing what our late Queen did at her best—imagine that the Queen says to the person: “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Meaning, it’s those who accept the invitation to the banquet who get a place at the table, not those who assume a permanent seat by virtue of birth, or status, or privilege.

The uninvited wedding guest from our gospel reading today refuses to wear a wedding robe because he doesn’t want to be seen as one of them — one of the commoners from the town who were invited to the banquet by the king after the usual A-list turned their nose up at the invitation. 

Jesus tells this story to his followers as a way of urging them to get busy flinging wide the doors to the kingdom of heaven. If there’s some area in your life, some corner of your heart where you’ve been saying, “yes, you, but, no, certainly not you,” then now is the time to shred that list. Because, in God’s kingdom, the many, not the few, are invited to the wedding banquet. Jesus’ table is not just for the rich, but for the poor also, not just for those the world has called wise, but for the foolish, too, not just for blood relatives or the nuclear family, but for the half siblings and the blended families, as well, not just for those the world has deemed royal, but thanks be to God for the so-called commoner, too.

I thank God for you, the people of St Clement’s, that you have flung wide your doors for all who come seeking a place at God’s table—at whatever time, in whatever fashion. According to Jesus, the invitation to God’s banquet has been sent out far and wide—reaching even Australia! Our job is simply to lay the table and welcome all who have RSVP’d. 

Today it is Parker, who has come to the table, who will take part in a banquet of sorts: one we call the sacrament of baptism. Parker, who covered the whole of this church with her footsteps and handprints when we met on Thursday of last week. Parker, who is curious, fiercely independent, and loved dearly by her mum Jayme, her dad Erik, her brother Nate, her grandmother, and her godparents, all who are here today to present her for baptism. 

Our prayer for you today, Parker, is that through baptism you will forever be reminded that God has clothed you with the Holy Spirit. You might think of the Holy Spirit as a kind of wedding robe that marks you as God’s own forever, that signifies your worth as a child of God not by virtue of your birthright, or whatever status or privilege you may or may not attain throughout your life, but by virtue of the invitation you and your family have said ‘yes’ to today. The invitation to take part in God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, is an invitation that God sends out to many, to all, actually. It will be your choice, guided by your parents and godparents, to decide throughout your life how you wish to respond. 

Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? Will you persevere in resisting evil and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbour as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of God’ creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the earth?

We pray that God’s Spirit will give you the courage to say ‘yes’ to these invitations that come with baptism, invitations that, human that we are, sometimes get tossed in a drawer, invitations that we might not always feel up to; but, thankfully, invitations that God sends out anew each day, so that we are never short of an opportunity to dine with the King. Amen.