It's Time to Party

It’s Party Time!
Someone once told me that if you want to make something more fun, you always call it a party…So, we used to have cleaning parties, laundry parties, washing dishes parties…Because if it was a party, it was always guaranteed to be more fun right? Of course, there’s always the traditional: birthday parties, anniversary parties, wedding parties, I didn’t-fail-my-math-test-at-school parties…There’s something to these parties, I think. And if you think about the parties that you host, it’s usually filled with the people that you really want to have there, right? You’ve usually got family that you may not have seen for a while and friends both old and new. Usually your parties are filled with people that you really want to see and hang out with. And of course, we can’t forget the party food! I know someone who used to go around to different graduation parties just to eat the different kinds of cakes…But, we look at those other parties to see what we can use in our own, be it food, entertainment, or people…Parties are good times!
In these two stories, we start out with two very different parties…We have the party in Exodus. Which, seemed like a great party in the beginning. There was cheering and celebrating! They were free from Pharaoh! So, they had to do something to celebrate! Now, they did take it a little too far by melting the gold and creating a golden calf…And then a little bit further by worshiping this golden calf…so, this party got a little bit out of hand. No big deal as long as they clean up after themselves, right? Yeah, well…If God wasn’t just chatting it up with Moses at the same time and then God just casually happens to mention to Moses… “Umm…So, you know what those Israelites are doing down there? Cause I do…”
And there’s nothing quite like that “busted” feeling. Oh, don’t deny that you haven’t felt it. Maybe when you were a child and you got caught sneaking cookies before dinner…Or you didn’t want your parents to see that “F” on the test…Or when that police officer pulled you over for speeding. The moment when you realize that you can’t deny something unless you come up with a brilliant excuse… “No, mom! These cookies are for my friend…um…Brent Manigantinger…” “Why, officer! I did not even see the sign that said I should be going 35, I was thinking this was a 65 mile zone!” “Aliens must have taken me away during the test and took it for me while they conducted tests on me…” All of which are very brilliant, but you still know that you’re busted…And after that moment of panic, you start to realize “Oh, great…Now, I’m in for it.” But there’s really nothing else to do, so you decide to tell the truth and fess up and take what you’ve got coming to you.
And God was ready to give it to the Israelites. But, even though Moses was shocked at the way that the Israelites were repaying God for bringing them out of Egypt, he bargained with God to convince God not to do anything to the Israelites. Moses was kind of like the Israelites’ lawyer in the courtroom on top of the mountain. You can almost hear the echoes of Moses telling God, “I object! Remember when you talked with Abraham?” And Moses’ argument works, because God changes God’s mind.
Then, there’s the party in the parable in Matthew…The wedding feast. The king in this parable had planned a wedding feast for his son and nobody came. Oh, he sent out invitations all right, but nobody showed up to his party. And that’s a sad feeling too…When you go to all kinds of work to plan a party and nobody shows up…You’ve put all this work into something and you’ve spent all kinds of money—you’ve hired the musicians and you’ve put out the drinks…And nobody’s there. So, the king, although upset that those he invited didn’t come, didn’t grieve for too long, but he did say… “Fine, go out and invite everybody off of the streets!” Instead of pouting and packing up his party and going on his bitter way, he invites everybody into the party!
But there was this one guest at the party, who didn’t come prepared and this guest got thrown out…Now, why exactly he got thrown out, we don’t know for sure. The text says it was because he was not wearing a wedding robe, but if they were pulling people in off the streets, it wouldn’t really matter if they were wearing a wedding robe or not…Maybe this guy double-dipped his chip and offended the host…He could have been one of the guests who refused to come the first time the invitation went out…or maybe he was a spy for those other parties…But the servants of the host did go out and find people in the streets, both good and bad…Maybe he was a bad guy. Which didn’t mean that he couldn’t come to the party, but if he didn’t behave himself, he couldn’t stay.
So, two different parties…One that was riddled with good intentions, but got a little bit carried away…One that was open to all people as long as the behaved themselves…So what? What can we learn from these two parties?
What parties are we throwing around the church? Is there something that we’re trying that just doesn’t seem to get results? The people that we’re inviting just aren’t coming…We’ve put up signs, sent out fliers, called people, made announcements, and they’re just not here…So, what do we do? Well, according to the parable in Matthew, we go out in the street and start bringing people in—both good and bad…Yes, that means that they might not be wearing the same kinds of clothes, but they’re welcome in any kind of a “party” that we throw, but they have to realize that they need to behave appropriately—no double-dipping here folks! But, the point is that they are all welcome! That’s what Open hearts, open doors, open minds means…
And the party in Exodus? What parties are we throwing in the church that are riddled with great intentions and are meant to serve God, but end up serving only our own selfs? The ones that everybody may love and have a great time, but just aren’t the ones that just have gotten carried away from the original intent…
I can’t answer these questions for you…But in the coming year as we are visioning toward the future with Community, these questions will be asked. And just because the questions are asked, that doesn’t mean that the parties have to stop and we have to change everything that we do! Because, there’s one thing that I know and have experienced from Community and that’s the hospitality that is warm and receiving. The hospitality that you extend to a seminary student who is far from home and needs a family to adopt her in…The grace that you share with a family who is new to the area and needs to feel at home…The love that you give to one of your family members here when times are tough…You have the gifts to throw these parties—to spread the love of God through your actions! You have the gifts to use and the party is waiting...