Ephphatha

tim and erik are on to something there. now remember, i only made it through middler preaching and acc. to our new dean i preached too much law (i had the gospel there, people chose not to hear it) so i'm going to encourage you to struggle with this text - don't go the easy route with Phil or Isaiah even.

Here are some of my quick thoughts:

•"don't look a gift horse in the mouth"
•"don't kill the messenger"
•"always RSVP"
•perhaps the original invitees just didn't like the son, or perhaps they thought all the pomp and circumstance was too much for one person. When asked AGAIN to come, they retaliated - ignoring the message, engaging themselves elsewhere, and some got so upset they took it out on the messenger's for 'bothering' them again.
•It's interesting that those who were identified as being worthy to attend the feast turned their nose up at it, and those who originally weren't are now the chosen ones - both good AND bad - so much so that someone tries to get in without the invitation (though I've always wondered if he was trying to sneak in or if he was just banished b/c he didn't dress right).
•It came down to ‘filling the hall with guests’ for the king. He didn’t seem to care who they were…until…
•"For many are called, but few are chosen" This part is disturbing. The whole grace and faith thing seems to shoot right out the window with this line.
•The dressing the part that E is going with is good…it’s like “you have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk” thing. It’s an acting thing: dress the part. Make your outside look like your inside or at least dress for the gift you have been given.
•Also – we are dressed in Christ – we’re marked with the sign of the cross. We have been dressed in the clothes of Christ. So ARE we dressed the part to attend the wedding feast?
•Why did the king change his mind? He invites anyone and everyone so the hall is filled with guests, but suddenly they have to be dressed correctly – and when he sees one who isn’t he tortures him and kicks him out.
•I liked tim’s thoughts about turning your back on God…this happens even though the persons were called. But what about turning to God? Isn’t that what the man w/o the robe did?

there are many things that come to mind for me:

1-in many wealthy areas, in this country and in others, there is definetly a sense that people cannot be bothered by an invitation to the wedding feast. how often do people ignore, chose the opposite, or rough up the messenger when approached with the good news of jc?

2-regardless of who we are, shouldn't the gift make us want to 'dress to impress?' in our country of wealth we try to be as casual as possible these days when we go to church. in other countries where poverty is the norm church is when you put on all the finery you own. even here the swahili service i went to on sunday was a place where people dressed up. maybe americans feel that in god's presence is where we can truly be ourselves and not need to dress up because we don't need to dress to impress. isn't putting on the coat dressing because we have been impressed?

3-many called but few are chosen. god calls each of us to be reconciled with our creator. maybe the few that are chosen are those who chose to turn away. so in this sense the chosen is a negative term? i don't know where i am at on this part of the text.

I agree this is awesome- I would be for a pericope blog- thanks for the thoughts, it has helped me at least begin!

I can't actually get anywhere on this text..so I know it is what I should preach on this week.

I do want to think of wedding and huge parties and the energy that is around them. There is no mistaking it if you have been there before. I am also cosidering writing a short story as another allegory to illustrate. No idea where that will go, but there has to be something so obvious about this text and that person found without the robe. AND...Tim, etc...I think there is a definite focus on discipleship in Matthew that we can't avoid. I have been drawn to The Cost of Discipleship this week. Paz.

great book!-- yeah, i don't think there is any way we can avoid preaching about discipleship here- that is where I am heading- buck up soldiers!

very good tim- I took a similar route here. our "clothes" represent all that we are- our being, our love, our life....


thanks all for the help- this was fun

SO now that Sunday has come and gone...what theme did you go with? Our pastor avoided the last line completely and went with a whole "Keep Your Fork" statement - the best is yet to come thing. Interesting. Curious what you went with. :)