“You Are What You Wear”

I have special fondness for this parable of our Lord’s, of the wedding guests. It’s got some action. It’s got some mayhem. It’s got athleticism. In the end, it has a royal banquet to enjoy. This is the stuff, for me, that makes for a good bible story. But even more than the hewing, the slaying, the bouncing, the wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the eventual partying in the end, this little story of Jesus has the key to the kingdom of heaven. And that’s what makes me enjoy it so much. Here is the Gospel laid out for you in a nutshell, in a paradoxical, cryptic little story that is not merely entertaining, but actually opens heaven itself to those who have ears to hear…

On one level though it’s an entertaining little story. A king throws a banquet for his son’s marriage. All the beautiful people are invited: the royalty, the captains of industry, nobility, celebrities, rock stars, and the paparazzi (but every silver lining has a cloud, right?). It’s all first class.

But here’s the first weird thing: here’s a bunch of people who don’t want to go to the greatest party ever! They say: “Ah, we’ve got to mow the lawn, get a haircut, do our taxes. If you’ve seen one royal wedding, you’ve seen them all…”

I mean if they’d had college football on Saturday afternoon back then, and Duke was playing Carolina, or something like that, well—then I could kind of understand skipping out. But they didn’t have college football then! They didn’t have anything to do on a Saturday afternoon. And here’s a party with the best stuff: wine for the adults, soft drinks for kids, fillet mignon, pizza, veggies, whatever you like, classical music in this hall, jazz in that one, Red Hot Chili Peppers in another, etc. Every sort of entertainment you could want, the most interesting people to mingle with, and all free. And here’s a bunch of people that doesn’t think that sounds good. What’s wrong with these people?

Well, it gets worse. It isn’t enough for them to just say “no” to the invitation. They go on to beat, abuse, and kill the king’s servants!

Now the king is furious. Not only will his son’s wedding have no guests, but his servants have been senselessly slaughtered. So he sends out the royal armies, destroys those murderers, and burns up their city. It had to be done. They pushed him to it.

But here’s where the king does a really strange thing himself. With these terrible people out of the way (even though they were the nobles and best and brightest, still I don’t think they’d have been or had much fun at the party, do you?) the king goes: “Hey, we’re having a party, but we’ve killed or dispersed all the invited guests. A problem! But here’s what we’ll do (there are no problems with this king, only opportunities): go out into the highways and byways, and as many as you find, invite them to the wedding. Good, bad, noble, or common, it doesn’t matter. Tell them all to come and have a good time at the marriage of my son. Our wedding hall will be filled, one way or the other.”

So the servants do it. They bring all the people they find, wanderers, families on vacation, folks going to grocery store, hobos, bums, hoodlums. Everyone they bring to the wedding and treat like the nobility. What a strange king!

But then, it gets stranger. All the guests assume this king doesn’t care about how they behave or what they wear. He’s laid out wonderful wedding garments for everyone, Italian hand-made tuxes for the guys, satin, lace, and velvet evening gowns and jewels for the ladies. But if he doesn’t care about the character of his guests, surely it doesn’t matter whether you wear the provided clothing or not right?

So here’s a guy at the wedding who just goes with his favorite old t-shirt and jeans that he had on when he was invited. He’s not a tux sort of guy okay? He hates to dress up. So he’s strutting around in his t-shirt and Levi’s when the king comes up and goes “Where is your wedding suit? How did you get in dressed like that?” And the king calls the bouncers and tells them to tie the guy up, and throw him into the outer darkness (a scary sounding place) where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the t-shirt wearing dude is speechless and shocked. And cast out. But at the lull, the king goes, “Many are called but few are chosen.” And then the party cranks up again…

Now, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like this! And we go, huh? So heaven is party where God invites anyone and everyone, regardless of character or conduct, and yet, if they don’t appear at the party as He expects, He kicks them out?

Yes. I think you’ve got it. This is why I love this story. It’s a paradox. It poses the either/or question: “Are good works and character necessary for heaven, or not?” and answers “Yes!”. Good works and character both are and are not necessary for heaven.

You’re confused… But here, I think is the key to this paradox: It’s all in the clothing. You are what you wear. On the one hand, your sin and loutishness doesn’t matter. God has clothes that will cover all of that. When St. Paul writes the Romans to walk properly, not in lewdness, lust, strife, or envy, he doesn’t exhort them to do this by their good works or character. No, he simply tells them: put on the Lord Jesus Christ. And he writes the Galatians that we put on Christ in Holy Baptism. Christianity isn’t subscribing to philosophical theories; it’s putting on Christ Jesus. And clothed with Christ, you blend right into the heavenly feast as the noble and heroic sort yourself. That’s how it’s done.

But, on the other hand: if you refuse to put on Christ, if you go as you are, that will matter. Your sins, bad character, and rotten works won’t be covered, but displayed to all. And that will get you embarrassed, judged, condemned, and cast out of the bright palace, into the outer darkness, where the music is only wailing and teeth gnashing. Because at God’s Feast, all must appear as Christ…

That’s why I say that the answer to the question: “are good works and character necessary for heaven or not?” is yes. Our works and character are the filthy street clothes we all wear all the time. We think we look great. We think because we get an invitation to the palace, we must be great in and of ourselves. But the King invites us despite our filthiness. In that sense, our works don’t work or matter. He invites us because He has wonderful, rich, royal robes which cover all sins, and not only make us appear Kings and Queens, but actually change us inwardly into what we appear outwardly.

The royal clothing is the life and righteousness of Christ Jesus; and the Church is a divine dressing room. Heaven is a Feast where only those who appear as royal and majestic as the King Himself may attend. In this sense, good character and works are absolutely necessary for heaven. Go as you are, with all your sins and character displayed, and you’ll be tossed out…

But cover up with Jesus, and you’ll look and be perfect in God’s sight. By the apostolic word in your ear, the holy water over your head, the true body and blood in your mouth, you put on Christ Jesus. Just so, all your sins are covered. Just like that, all His majesty is yours. What He is, you become; what He has, you enjoy. And you’ll have a ball, for the Peace that surpasses all understanding guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.