Many wedding invitations will indicate a process and date for replying to the invitation alongside the appropriate attire which is expected of guests. This information is invaluable and essential for the avoidance of embarrassment or difficulties.

In today’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel there is an invitation and expectation about the implications of acceptance and correct clothing. It is a situation which we can all understand to be awkward for anyone caught out. This, however, is a parable. It is a complicated distinctive version of a parable told differently by Luke. The commentators argue that Matthew makes several additions, including violent complicating features, and presents much of the parable’s content as if it were allegorical.

The background of the parable, in the previous chapter, is the rejection of the message of John the Baptist, Jesus and his ministry, and the way the Jewish authorities have rejected the Christian missionaries who proclaim the risen Jesus.

Matthew was writing to a mainly Jewish congregation of Christians, which included some Gentiles. The Gospel was written after the Fall of Jerusalem and its cataclysmic impact on the nation of Israel and Matthew’s church. Matthew was speaking to a community which had to expect changes in behaviour and attitudes from their past.
It is a two-part parable, describing first the inclusive nature of the invitation and then the expectations demanded of the guests who accept it.
The interpretation of this story may be debated, but it might be argued that the details included were to ensure that the members of the church realised that it was by grace, not by right, or merit, that they were welcomed.
Similarly, it also indicates that the church includes both good and bad. In reminding them of their good fortune to be included in God’s community, Matthew stresses the need for those who have been called, and have accepted the invitation, to act and behave properly.

If we focus attention on the individual condemned for his lack of a wedding garment (which logically is odd, but this is a parable, not a narrative of actual events), we might grasp Matthew’s key point. Membership grants privileges and those privileges lead to immense responsibilities in the way we live and conduct ourselves. It is not a case of ‘works’ righteousness’, but a clear message that being part of God’s community of faith means living according to the standards of behaviour expected. All invited and included have obligations to act in a way congruent with the teaching of Jesus.

God wants everyone to be at the party, but not everyone wants to come, or knows how to behave once they get there. Being part of the Christian community should make a discernible difference to who we are and how we live.
Presence at the feast of Jesus is not the only criterion for Christians. How we act (‘dress’) is important. This is a call to action through demonstration of compassion and creative care of others. There is no room for complacency, nor smug self-satisfaction. The point is to be applied not to others, but to ourselves.

The intention of this parable is to encourage self-criticism, analysis, and living without pretence, taking the grace of God seriously. Acceptance of the invitation to the wedding means we respect its implications for our lives. One way of understanding the message is that to accept the invitation means we must clean up our act, dress up and rejoice in a new identity. Being present at the party means adopting the discipline of discipleship, with all the implications for daily life. Matthew wanted Christians to never forget who we are and what that means for the way we live.
The danger that every Church faces is that it can become a pleasant fellowship of the like-minded, or a vaguely spiritual club for people who are culturally comfortable with each other. A church is always liable to lapse into a weekly liturgical cult, enjoying fine music, relishing a short oration, and becoming an exercise in escapism from the world.

The challenge for every person who accepts the invitation of Jesus is to guard and strengthen the connection, the continuity, the integrity between what we believe and what we do. The invitation comes with a wish for us not only to reply, and accept, but to dress and act accordingly. Here we are reminded to do what we believe. Are we ready and willing to follow this instruction? Will we RSVP and dress accordingly?