“The Feast”

Dear church,

We might think that royal weddings are a thing of the past, and for the most part they are. Though coming from Europe I know that the memories of some royal weddings had a lasting impact on people. Once I was invited by a friend to the small city of Landshut in Bavaria where every four years people reenact the marriage of Duke George the Rich and the Polish King’s daughter Hedwig Jagiellonica in the year 1475. It was the event of a lifetime for people in those days, a spectacle, an indulgence. The memory of that event inspired people in modern Landshut to act out the medieval feast, engaging their citizenry: teachers and workers, teenagers and seniors, university professors and students, bureaucrats, plumbers, electricians and more become medieval for three long weeks, which is how long this historical wedding lasted. Between 2,000 and 3,000 citizens of Landshut, young and old, participate every four years. It has pulled the people of the city together like no other event. They dress up in tights, they greet each other with an old greeting, they train for competitions, including fire spitting, jousting, archery… and of course, they eat lots of food. It’s a wonderful experience and if you asked me whether I would rather go to the Munich Oktoberfest or the Landshut wedding, hands down I would vote for Landshut. It’s a festival by the people for the people, a lot of fun and with far less drunken people on the street.

We tend to view those royal weddings of the past primarily as indulgences of the ruling class who could afford to put on a big show for their own sons and daughters. It was an opportunity for kings and queens to show off their wealth and status. What we forget sometimes is that the people also very much enjoyed those rare events that broke up the grind and stupor of everyday life. They ate more than the proverbial scraps that fell from their master’s table. They too had a good time.

Now, you’d think that’s a thing of the past, but… not entirely! How many people attended the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011? There were about 1,900 people at the ceremony in Westminster Abbey and still 300 at the banquet, only invited guests of course. But the global audience on TV was estimated to have reached about two billion people, one quarter of the people on planet earth. If I asked you, “Would you have liked to attend the royal British wedding banquet? Would you have accepted an invitation?” I have a guess that most of you would have done your utmost to get into your best attire, get a ticket and fly to London, no matter what your budget for traveling may be. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime! 

So now you know what Jesus is saying in the parable we heard earlier. He compares the life of faith and spirituality, life in the presence of God, life in the kingdom of heaven, to a golden opportunity that is far too good to pass up. Because it feeds your soul not once in a lifetime, not every four years, not when St. Peter’s celebrates a big anniversary with a Gala at Pinecrest Country Club, but every single day. And yet, Jesus said, people refuse to come. They are busy, they are occupied with all their stuff, they don’t feel like dressing up, they are tired, they can’t be bothered. “We can’t make it!” Does that sound familiar? 

With this parable Jesus reframes the problem of religion as he sees it. Most people today think the problem of religion is too much judgmentalism, too many rigid rules, too much rote routine. And Jesus says, no that is not the core problem. It has more to do with your willingness or unwillingness to celebrate life in the presence of God, to acknowledge the blessings all around you, to enjoy the feast of being alive. Why? Because you are caught in the machinery of modern life and all the expectations that are imposed upon you or that come from deep within you. And you, who have only roughly 4,000 weeks to live on average, you spend too much time worrying, distracting yourself, getting caught up in your version of grind in the year 2026. And you say, “I can’t change that.” And Jesus says, “Yes, you can. Come to the king’s wedding party.” 

I know, this is super counter-intuitive: religion as a feast, a way of celebrating life! Faith as a mode of liberation and freedom. We know that many forms of religion require strict rules and discipline, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As long as the disciplines you embrace lead you back to life. We also know that having no discipline does not lead you to life, it usually leads to various forms of being lost. And we know that having too much discipline leads to compulsion and a lack of freedom. So, it’s not an easy dance, ever, this life. But we must always remember that ultimately, whatever we do, however we structure our lives, the gospel invites us to be free and experience joy each day. That’s why the wedding banquet and the royal invitation is a core metaphor of the gospel. Can we embrace our faith as a feast, our relationship with the Holy One as a privilege, our loving and serving the community as a way of being the chosen guests? Then we begin to understand the teachings of Christ. Amen.