Good morning: This morning our Gospel reading is another parable. Why parables you may ask? Well Jesus wants us to use our minds. We are not called to check our brain at the door.

This is the third parable against the “Chief Priest and Pharisees”. The king in this parable is so disliked that his invitation is all but spat upon. I would bet his kingdom was run on violence, and the proof is no one wanted to have dinner with him. The violence at the end of this parable points to the absurdity of the host’s, in that an invited guest is not worthy of the banquet. This is where we have to think.

We are asked to see the violence and injustice in this reading and our world. Jesus is asking us to think about the world around us.

The Chief Priest and Pharisees were called out by Christ because they were putting their political ambitions ahead of their obligation to God. The Scribes and Pharisees had become spokespersons for the Empire. An empire that was oppressing the poor, politically dividing the trades workers and merchants. They were laying on heavy taxes that were impossible to pay, so that many lost their lands and homes. Homelessness was a problem in the cities of the Roman Empire. Hunger and death were a part of daily life, as it is in our time.

This was the world that Jesus called the people to think about and think hard. Rulers-both ancient and contemporary-have shown the world that they can be oppressive and solely focused on their own interests at the expense of others. We must think and think critically. We as a people of God must be beacons of love and compassion in our communities
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Any leader that abuses their power, Christ will call out. Christ wants us to be able to see the evil around us and be his loving followers.

Christ stood up and asked the hard questions of the leaders of his time and entered into the political debate with compassion and love.

Now I think it is a good time for us to think about taking love and compassion into our communities. In Philippians we are called to be known as gentleness to everyone. For we should be a very presence of compassion, love, and reason. So, beloved pray that our lives will lead others to the peace of Christ. That our communities will know us by our love.

Amen