Gift and Task Friday after Advent 1 " the community of God is no free lunch or cheap ride"

Lord of justice, give the courage to face the costs that belong to faith;  give the readiness to be "properly dressed" for your great festival.  In his name,  Amen.

Psalm 16

Amos 5:1-17 

Jude 1-16

Matthew 22:1-14 

The parable of Jesus is rightly familiar to us:   A feast is offered by the king to specifically qualified guests.  When they decline the invitation, others are invited at random from the streets,  those who are less clearly "qualified" for such an invitation.   The parable (also told, somewhat differently, in Luke 14:15-24) suggests inclusiveness in the company of God, even for those who are not qualified.  Matthew, more stringently, adds a surprising conclusion to the story.   When the king comes to look at the more recently invited guests,  he is appalled that some are not appropriately dressed for the occasion;  they are roughly eliminated from the party.  Even those "unqualified" who  are belatedly invited are held to certain standards in order to join the feast.  

This twist in the parable voiced by Matthew prepares us for heavy words of judgment in all these readings.  Amos grieves over failed Israel;  but then he issues a series of imperatives commending altered conduct;  "Seek me, see the LORD, seek good, hate evil, love good establish justice."   The sequence of commands culminates with the specificity of "establish justice,"  that is, economic equity and compassion,  a practice skewed in the Israel of this time.   The words of judgment are even more severe in the Epistle of Jude concerning those who distorted faith and skewed the community in its practice. 

All these readings together attest that entry into the community of God is no free lunch or cheap ride.  Advent is a time for coming to terms with the uncompromising requirements of gospel faith that are too often treated as though they do not matter for the coming celebration.