Jesus told a story one time about an expansive, extravagant and exceptional welcome. It was the story of a wedding banquet, a great banquet indeed. Weddings these days can be quite exceptional. One commentator on this story says this: “The cost of an average American wedding is officially out of control, running about $95 per guest. But this pales in comparison to the extravagance of God’s love for us, and the generosity God shows when God invites us into the Kingdom.” 

Another report says the average total cost of a wedding is approaching $20,000. You can even buy insurance for unforeseen glitches. You can buy insurance to protect you from weather patterns or for unexpected delays. You can buy insurance in case the reception hall burns down or the church gets flooded. One thing you cannot buy insurance against is what might be called a “change of heart.” 

Apparently those invited to the wedding in Jesus’ story had a change of heart. The invited guests to this banquet did not come. In fact, they made all kinds of excuses as to why they could not come. So Jesus says that the king (who was the host) puts out an extravagant welcome. He says to his servants, “Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you can find to the banquet.” 

BRING EVERYBODY YOU CAN FIND 

First of all, Jesus says bring in everybody you can find. No exceptions, no exclusions. Because, says Jesus, that is the way God is with you and me. 

Come to the banquet! Come to the feast! Come one and all! No matter who you are or where you’ve been! No matter how many mistakes you’ve made along the way! No matter how many bad decisions you have made in your life, no matter how many wrong turns you may have taken. No matter what you’ve done, or perhaps what you’ve left undone. 

There are no metal detectors here for this banquet. No credit checks here. 

Whether you are a person of means, or someone who has to live from paycheck to paycheck. Even if you’re someone who has no paycheck at all right now, welcome to the banquet! Welcome to the worship and celebration of God. 

In the earliest years of Christianity there was a great pagan philosopher by the name of Celsus. He once observed the Christian community and made this comment:

Those who summon people to other mystery religions make this proclamation: “let the one who has pure hands and a wise tongue come into the community.” But the Christians say, “Whoever is a sinner, whoever is unwise, whoever is a child, and in a word, whoever is a wretch will be received into the Kingdom of God.” 

You are welcome simply because you are a child of God. Nothing less! 

Emperor Franz Josef died in 1916. He was the last of the great Hapsburg rulers. He lay in state in a magnificent palace in Vienna. His body was surrounded by exquisite floral arrangements, by fine fabrics, along with jewels and much gold. On the day of his funeral his casket was escorted to the church in a magnificent coach drawn by four carefully matched horses.  

When they arrived at the church, the pallbearers took the casket to the doors of the church. The lead pallbearer knocked on the door three times. “Who goes there?” came a voice from the inside. 

Came this response: “His majesty Franz Josef Emmanuel Hans, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Head of the Hapsburgs.” The voice came back: “We do not know him.” 

A second time, the pallbearer knocked on the door. “Who goes there?” again came the question. The pallbearer gave the same reply: “His majesty Franz Josef Emmanuel Hans, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Head of the Hapsburgs.” Again the reply came from the inside: “We do not know him.” 

For a third time the pallbearer knocked. For a third time the voice inside asked, “Who goes there?” This time, in a softer and simpler voice, the pallbearer responded, “It is Franz, a child of God.” 

Immediately there was a loud noise. The massive bolts of the doors were drawn back. The doors opened wide. The interior of the magnificent church became visible. The voice from the inside spoke and said, “The Lord welcomes Franz, a child of God. Him we know.” 

God’s outstretched hand of extravagant welcome is extended toward you. God, the true king of Heaven, invites us—the good and the bad and the in between—to this celebration of grace and hope. We are all called. We are all invited. 

WE ARE ALSO TO MODEL 

But we are also called to model extravagant hospitality in our Christian walk. You and I are created in the image of God. We model God’s way. This parable that Jesus told is not just a nice story. This is a way of living. 

I remember a small detail from the 23^rd Psalm, one I read many years ago. It has to do with the part of the Psalm that says, “He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” The image is a level feeding area, full of thorns. Before the shepherd allows the sheep to feed on the grass in this feeding area, he moves through with a mattock and digs out all the thorny plants. That way the table is cleaned and prepared. The shepherd does far more than is expected. His is extravagant hospitality for the sheep. 

We have seen images of extravagant hospitality in the news recently, some right here in Pittsburgh. One of the most fascinating was in the news about 4 or 5 days ago. A man apparently rented an airplane and brought the plane loaded with supplies to the site of the flooding in New Orleans. He then carried 20 or 30 people out to safety and to a much more hospitable environment. 

Extravagant welcome means not only welcoming these people; it also means understanding what it may mean to be displaced. Someone has commented that the Katrina flooding has caused the greatest human dislocation since the Civil War. I think I understand why people are refusing to leave the flood area—refusing to leave their homes. 

We need to ask ourselves, what does it mean to be dislocated? All of us require a certain degree of community in order to survive. To be snatched away from that community is a definite human difficulty. That part of hospitality needs a deep compassion and patience. It’s part of the extravagant welcome to which we are called. 

MODELED IN THE CHURCH 

And all of this needs to be modeled in the church. The church becomes a place of extravagant welcome. Recently there was a sign in a store window which read, “1/2 price welcome mats.” There must be no cheapening of the welcome in this church. One half price welcome mats must not be true among us. 

Illustrations abound about church hospitality as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The First Methodist Church of Dumas, Arkansas prepared for evacuees to show up at their door. Indeed they did show up. Seventy evacuating persons arrived. One of the evacuees commented, “We stumbled into the care of a band of angels.” There were cots prepared. There was food. There was water. Televisions were plugged in and working so that they could keep track of the news. 

In the last 6 or 7 days, 11 of those who began to live in the Dumas church have found jobs through the members there. Members have donated phone cards so that families can try to get in touch with loved ones. They provided gift cards to Wal-Mart and gifts cards for gasoline. 

It has been suggested that there be a new vision phrase for the United Methodist Church. That phrase is this: “Be the hope!” We are to be an extravagant welcome. 

And what about right here in Bethel Park? Somewhere I read about a bulletin misprint that said that at a certain point in the service, “Usher will swat latecomers.” Not very hospitable. Not here. This is a place of extravagant welcome.  

We heard about IHN today—the Interfaith Hospitality Network. That is a small but significant welcoming ministry here in this place. And a part of the welcome means we have to remember as a church how guilty and awkward guests may feel at being put up in a church for a week at a time. 

There’s a story from a Wednesday night a number of years ago here in this congregation. It happened just before the Wednesday night communion and healing service. As I was going in to lead the service, a father and two small children showed up at the door of the church. They had been living out of their car for the past three days. They had very little food, only the clothes on their backs, and no place to stay. He asked if I could help. 

I told him that I had a service to lead, but I would be back in about 20 minutes if they would wait in the lounge. During the service I explained the situation of the family that had a need. I said anybody who would like to leave an offering could put it in the offering plate on the baptismal font in the back at the center aisle. When the service was ended I went back to see what was there and found $83 in the offering plate, including a $50 bill. As I began to walk out of the sanctuary another member of the congregation came up to me and handed me their credit card and said, “Here, go get them a room at the hotel across the way for the night.” And just as I reached the lounge area to talk to the family again, somebody else came in and said, “Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. I will be here to take the children to get some clothing at a local store.” 

That is a story of extravagant welcome. We say to people like this, “We are not sure where you have been. We are not sure why you were in this mess. But you are children of God, and we will do our best to take care of you.” 

This fall the United Methodist Church has again sent out the official word: we are a church of open hearts, open minds, and open doors. Some say that’s purely a political statement—some phrase invented by liberals. I say it is the way of Jesus, given to the church. Jesus said, “Go, find everyone you can, bring them to the banquet.” 

In the closing words of the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer gives counsel that I think blesses us right now. He says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (13:16) 

YOU NEED TO HEAR THE WORD AS WELL 

All of us need to hear this word of welcome as well. We need to hear the message for ourselves, and then live it for others. This is not an easy time for any of us. The war continues in Iraq, with no clear or certain outcome. Terrorists plant bombs in a London subway and on a London bus, and threaten to do so elsewhere. Katrina strikes, and then strikes again in massive flooding. Energy prices soar out of control. Where can I find a place of welcome in an uncertain time and in an uncertain world? 

“Come to the banquet,” says Jesus. Jesus reminds us that this world offers minimum security, but God offers maximum support. 

“Come,” says Jesus. “Everyone come. In me—and in the God I show you—there is an extravagant welcome.”