Let's Party: An Invitation to God's Feast
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[00:00:00] May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Good morning, St. Peter's. I would like to just start by expressing my gratitude to Mother Paige and the Outreach Committee for graciously inviting me to speak with you today. Like Mother Paige already mentioned, my name is Angel Ibarra, and I am the Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships and Government Affairs with Episcopal Community Services, or ECS.
As you may already know, ECS is the social services arm of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, and we share a long and close relationship with St. Peter's Parish and people. So I'm really excited to be here with you today and celebrate our faith and our shared history.
The parables that Jesus has been sharing with the crowds over the past few weeks have been, have not been the easiest to grasp, like Mother Paige was saying. And I might have been a little [00:01:00] too hasty before I, uh, when I agreed to speak today, so. We'll see how I do. Um, This is quite the departure, today's reading was quite a departure from the usual cheerful and welcoming image we often associate with the Christian way of life.
It starts easily enough, right? We were set ready for this big wedding celebration. Then something strange happens. The invited guests, rather than joyfully accepting, turn down the invitation and return to their everyday routines. Some of them even go to the extreme of harming the king's messengers who are merely doing their job by delivering invitations.
Can you believe it? It's like the complete opposite of don't shoot the messenger, right? I think Matthew gives us this parable today for a couple reasons. First, to encourage us to place ourselves in the shoes of the guests who rejected the King's [00:02:00] invitation. We all have our own stories of knowing what is right and wrong and choosing the wrong path.
I have plenty of stories myself, but I'm sure Mother Paige wouldn't appreciate it if I spent the rest of this sermon sharing them with you all. But what I can say is that when we recognize the invitation to join the King at this joyous feast. We are called to break free from our old ways of thinking and boldly say yes, yes to a new way of living and thinking, embracing the joy of being in the presence of the Lord at his celebration.
This is a choice that each of us has to make on our own. We are also called to view ourselves in this parable as a guest who were initially left uninvited. Guests who might have been perceived as less significant, less esteemed, perhaps even less worthy.When we look at, when we look at it through this perspective, we're [00:03:00] invited to confront the profound truth that much of what we've received in life is not due to our own actions, but solely as a result of who God is, that is, love itself.
We don't earn our place at God's banquet. We don't deserve the invitation. Yet God in his unlimited mercy and love, that invitation is continuously extended to us. A testament to God's unending welcome and grace. I can still remember my first visit to the Episcopal Church at St. Paul's Cathedral, which has now become my home parish.
That first experience at St. Paul's happened during a profoundly confusing and challenging phase of my life. A period in which I grappled with my faith and the direction of my life. You see, up until that point, my journey had been deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition. I attended Catholic schools throughout my [00:04:00] education, and even began my career as a Catholic school teacher in Philadelphia.
Later, I did ministry work at the University of San Diego, and in Catholic parishes in Hillcrest and Oceanside. Yet for a variety of personal reasons, I found myself questioning my faith, my connection with God, and my relationship with the church. Then one Sunday, I decided to explore St. Paul's, and that's when I experienced the warm embrace of the Episcopal Church.
While I may not recall every detail of the service (please don't tell Dean Penny that), one memory does stand out clearly. And it's a beautiful invitation to receive Communion, which I know we'll hear later on, but I also want to share with you right now.
"This is a table, not of the Church, but of Jesus Christ. It is made ready for those who love Him, and who want to love Him more. So come, you who have [00:05:00] much faith, and you who have little. You who have been here often, and you who have not been for a long time or ever before. You who have tried to follow and you who have failed Come not because the church invites you it is christ and he invites you to meet him here."
My encounter with god and that invitation changed my trajectory of my life Shortly after my first service there I was hired at ecs and now get to work throughout the diocese with parishes and communities of faith like yours Sharing my faith and my story and my passion for social justice.
This is, this one experience brought the truth home to me, that here, every person is personally invited and all are welcome to God's table, to this amazing party that God has prepared for us. Matthew doesn't end there, though. While we're lucky to be [00:06:00] part of God's joyous celebration, today's parable carries somewhat of a warning for us.
It reminds us that how we show up to this banquet matters. The parable mentions someone being asked to leave due to being ill prepared or underdressed. So what's the dress code for this party we're all invited to? I believe it means arriving with open hearts and open minds, ready to live out Jesus most important commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
When we come to this feast, we do so humbly, recognizing the honor of the invitation and understanding that there are expectations for our behavior. Our attire at this celebration is the clothing of love, compassion, and justice toward our fellow guests, mirroring the love and grace we've received from our gracious host.
Today's parable offers guidance for our personal lives, [00:07:00] but it also encourages us to consider its relevance within the context of our church community. As a community of faith, we're constantly extended the invitation to connect with God, even as we acknowledge our church's imperfections and the harm it may have caused in the past and in many ways continues to.
We're called to be a church that embraces the broken and the imperfect, and a church dressed in the attire of love, compassion, and justice. Our mission is to be a place of celebration and the voice of love in a world that often falls short in these areas. Now you might be wondering how this presents itself in our parish community.
Well there are countless examples of how St. Peter's lives this mission. From the incredible work of your Helping Hands ministry and Showers of Blessing program, to the tremendous support and awareness generated by the Thrift Shop, as it partners [00:08:00] with numerous non profits throughout the year. Likewise, as part of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, our church extends its love ECS.
At ECS, we provide essential services to more than 7, 000 individuals battling homelessness, poverty, addiction, mental health challenges, and limited access to education. We are committed to clothing ourselves in love, compassion, and justice, meeting clients where they are, and welcoming them to live lives transformed by our work.
We invite you to be part of the ECS community, and I'll be available after the service with more information and volunteer opportunities. As we go forth, let's carry the sense of gratitude with us into the week. We all have a personal invitation to God's feast, and we know we're not flawless. All we're asked to [00:09:00] do is show up with open hearts, open minds, and a heart dressed in love for our neighbors.
Now, as the king in today's parable would say, let's party.
