Putting Off/putting On

Jesus is not teaching social etiquette here. He is getting at something much deeper. The “wedding party” symbolizes the Kingdom of God into which we all are invited. The suggested protocol symbolizes one necessary precondition of entry into the Kingdom: to acknowledge God’s absolute preeminence. We are dependent upon God, absolutely, for life itself and for the means of bringing life to fulfillment. “Not my will, but Thy will be done, Lord.” Until we are prepared to say that and mean it, we cannot possibly accept for ourselves the life-fulfilling Grace God is offering us constantly. For many of us, this is the point at which the whole religious enterprise breaks down. When it comes down to the point of really getting serious about making that one hundred-eighty degree turn, and putting our lives into position for a resounding “Yes!” response to Jesus’ call to radical obedience, we back off and we backslide. We tell ourselves that the protocol in God’s Kingdom is unacceptable–and we…