How to dress for success

Parable of the Marriage Feast

 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. 7“But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. “Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 22: 1-14

The Messiah was first offered to Israel. Salvation was the plan for the entire world but it was to start with God’s espoused people. When they rejected him the Messiah was offered for all who would believe.

So what about this guy who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for the wedding feast? Surely God doesn’t care what I wear when I come to see him. He is just happy that I came right? In actuality this isn’t about the clothes you wear in as much as it is about the disposition of your heart. Royal weddings in Jesus day were much like a high end restaurant is today. There is a proper way to dress for one. If you show up to the Chez Paul to dine without a coat and tie one will be provided for you and you will be expected to wear it. So too was it at a royal wedding. The wedding garment was provided. What angered the king wasn’t that the man wasn’t properly dressed but that he chose not to wear what he was supposed to.

How often are we like that wedding guest? How often do we choose not to robe ourselves with the proper attire proved to us by God? As Catholics we are called to be obedient to the Church’s teachings. They are the garment handed down to us from Christ for us to wear when we attend the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Yet, we live in an age where all authority is challenged whether it is proper authority or not. There is a call in this world, even by Catholics themselves, for the Church to change and get with the times. Divorced and remarried Catholics want to receive the Sacraments, same sex marriage wants to be accepted on the same level as traditional marriage, 97% of Catholics use or have used artificial birth control, and by some estimates only about 30% of Catholics still believe in the real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. These are but a few places where we have refused to wear our wedding garment.

Accepting the teachings of Christ is non-negotiable. Those who refuse will find themselves bound hand and foot and thrown into Hell at the end of this age. The devil is doing a great job at turning our focus on ourselves further hardening our hearts. We scoff at the Church and her outdated ideals. Take your wedding garment and beat it. I will wear what I choose to wear and you have to accept me.

Jesus taught his disciples who in turn taught their disciples who eventually became the Bishops we have today. When my wife and I go away one of our older children get the responsibility to watch the younger children. The younger children know that their older siblings have been given our authority and to disobey them is the same as disobeying us. God, the Father passed on through the Son his authority which was given to the Church. To disobey the Church is the same as disobeying God.

But disobeying God is something us humans have gotten very good at doing.

“Hey, I pray every night and thank Jesus for saving me and forgiving all of my sins.”

“Are you Catholic?”

“No, of course not. I am Lutheran.”

“So you belong to a church that was started out of disobedience to the Church God himself created and gave all of his authority to?”

No matter what the answer is to that question the fact remains that they have chosen not to wear the garment provided for the wedding feast. Like so many of us, they have chosen to wear what they want to the wedding. Maybe there is protection in numbers. When eternity is at stake is hoping for mercy the best bet or is trying your best to be obedient a better option?

Obedience is more pleasing to the Lord than sacrifice.