Dear Friends,

Our Gospel this Sunday moves us from the hillside Vineyards of recent weeks, inside and into the banquet hall of the King's palace. Here, preparations are complete for the wedding feast of the King's son. Unfortunately, the invited guests display extraordinarily poor manners, and not only fail to RSVP, but, when the day itself comes, some decide that they have better things to do. Others move beyond impropriety to criminality, assaulting and killing the servants who delivered the invitations. Finally, in exasperation, the King decides to invite "whomever" the servants can find! It's the King's final frustration that some of these last minute guests arrive without proper garments.

While many of us are probably all too familiar with the RSVP dilemma, it's hard to comprehend the "shooting the messenger" behavior, and the King's "casting off into the darkness" those who show up in less than fashionable garb sounds like a major overreaction.

If as it seems, the "King" is God and the 'feast' is the promise of eternal life that we gain through God's Son, then what's all this about 'dressing' appropriately? Do we really need to "dress up for God? This possibility brings to mind my childhood days when we packed "Sunday clothes" to take on our 2 week vacation to the beach. "Sunday clothes" meant a dress, with dressy socks and shoes, and of course, a hat! I wonder what God thinks of the beach wear that most vacationers wear to church these days?

We realize, of course, that the reference to clothing in this Gospel story is a metaphor for our interior self and not really a condemnation of our wardrobes. What might it mean to "dress up for God" interiorly? Perhaps it means lightness rather than heavy-heartedness, freedom rather than tightly bound, openness rather than 'buttoned up', unadorned rather than armored. As we put on our "Sunday best" this weekend, we invite you to consider what we are "showing up" in on the inside!

If you are look for to support you as you deepen your relationship with your God, we invite you to join us at the Spirit of Life. As a community, we try wholehearted to "be Christ" to one another, to tend to the needs of one another and to those in need in our world. And together, we celebrate our belief that we are being transformed by God's grace as we gather together in prayer. We warmly invite you to come, and gather with us at our Table and join in our experience of the "kin-dom" of God! We are an inclusive, open, affirming and interactive community, deeply committed to being a people of 'justice and joy.'

With prayers for you as you "dress up for God",

Find more about past weekly reflections and podcasts in our ARCHIVE PAGE.