All Saints Cygnet 15 b THE BANQUET GOD HAS PREPARED FOR US J.M

THE BANQUET GOD HAS PREPARED FOR US

Who has been invited to a garden party with the queen? Who has been invited to dine with the governor general? Not many neither have I, not very common occurrences. Yet in  Isaiah, we hear that God has prepared a banquet on Mt. Zion for all peoples. Not just an ordinary banquet but with the best meat and aged wine, clear wine at that. .

To be invited to such a lavish banquet in the presence of the ultimate royalty is a once in a lifetime event if you are lucky. Yet the Lord has thrown the invitation out to all peoples..

The psalm changes mood half way through and it is like a continuation of the   invitation with a rsvp condition.  The rsvp is not a written reply, it is follow this process and you will be welcome. It says,  Lift up your heads gates and be lifted up, you ancient doors.

Beautiful language in English and I suspect it was even better in the original tongue.

I have heard those lines each year when that psalm come up and assumed it was referring to the community. Drawbridges, city gates and heavy doors  were the order of the day to keep out marauders and other unwelcome visitors.

Solid barriers, so much so not even a peephole so when someone comes knocking the gatekeeper has to yell out “who is it” identify yourself.

The reality is that the writer is most likely using gates and ancient doors as symbols representing our hearts and souls. Maybe communities maybe nations. But most likely individuals.

Very apt when we consider those who have not accepted Christ, the barriers are formidable and the metaphor indicates that it is much more significant than just opening up the front door of the house or an internal door. It needs winches and pulleys and maybe a number of strong men to open these doors.

He who knocks identifies himself as the King of Glory. The apprehensive doorkeeper asks, “Who is the king of glory” The Lord of Hosts is the reply.

People in the days of David and most of the psalm writers had a god or sometimes many gods so it might be a normal question to ask if someone gave themselves the rather auspicious title of King of glory. Today many claim to have no god but may be bound to their alcohol or football or money making. If they had a knock on the door and were told it is the King of Glory knocking, then there might be some quick re appraisal of their spirituality.

We are celebrating all saints today Most of the Christian church  accept that all Christians are saints. Catholics hold beatified saints in particularly high esteem whilst Anglicans tend to make a fuss over patron saints on their festival days. There are various memorials to members of the congregation past who have been significant in this Church life.  I know that some of our members from the past have had a profound influence upon me. When I recall the humility of Jack Iles. Kathy’s dad, who was basically railroaded into being deaconed at one particularly lean time in the past. Jack faithfully preached and led services into his eighties. I recall that the then bishop ruled that communion by extension no longer be practiced. I asked Jack how he felt about that, given his long years of service. That’s ok he said, I will do whatever the bishop wants. He is running the show, not me.

Many people comment upon the good feeling associated with worship in this church. I am sure, that is partly due to the ongoing influence of those saints who have gone before us. We believe in the presence of the holy Spirit and without getting into detail which is beyond our understanding, I am pretty sure that those saints are a part of that heavenly presence here.

The words of Isaiah would suggest  that invitation into the Kingdom of heaven is open house because God has prepared a banquet for all peoples on Mt. Zion.  in each communion service we pray with all the company of heaven and sometimes stated, with all the saints and angels.  As we celebrate all Saints day here,. what is plain is that the kingdom of God is open to everyone and it is individual choice which determines whether one is in or out.

The bidding of the psalm is not, open the doors or gates, it is lift up your heads, o Ye Gates and ancient doors. Which gives more credence to the words being addressed to individuals, That implies that  the gate, the door has a choice, stay closed or open up lift your head and look who is coming.

These words then have relevance to Christians as well as non Christians.

Whilst we have accepted an invitation to the banquet and we look forward to the fullness of God’s kingdom when the time comes, there is an implication that we also could or should re open our gates and doors to the Lord.

It is interesting that the first two readings mention lack of tears or wiping of tears and the gospel is about tears. Tears of Mary and Martha, Jesus and the assembled mourners.

We know that those other than Jesus were weeping in grief at the loss of Lazarus, Jesus however was not weeping from grief, he was weeping through compassion for the people and at least in part because they did not believe what he had told them. Jesus response to Thomas and Philip was similar, frustration that after so long together they still did not grasp the import of who he was .

I suspect that Jesus would weep today at the mediocracy of much of the Church. The body of Christ which seems not to have head his promise that his followers would do all that he had and more as we meekly ask that God’s will be done and hope for the best.

There is certainly plenty to weep about in the world today, no question of that,

, there is enough on the news every night to make one weep and all of this is in contrast with the banquet that God has prepared on the mount for all who would attend, where there is no weeping or if there is then God is there to wipe the tears away .

Brothers and sisters, the challenge we are faced with is helping people know of the blessings, the banquet, the dried eyes the new Jerusalem the kingdom of God.

The revelation speaks of the vision of perfection, no death, no suffering, and it harmonises with the passage from Isaiah about the banquet that God has prepared. The beauty of the revelation is that whilst it purports to be a vision of the future, it is in fact a picture of the here and now as well. We know that at Jesus next coming the transformation to God’s kingdom will be complete, but in the meantime we live in the here but not quite, the victory is won but not fully realized.

It is part of our challenge and our joy to engage with the sharing of our taste of the Kingdom with the world about us.

I believe that our challenge now is to believe and live into the promise that is contained in Isaiah and the psalm today.  We pray for miracles and rejoice when there is an anser to prayer. In the meantime the pressures of life weigh us down, Some of that is physical, joints, mortgages, disputes and so on. I don’t personally believe that a table of fine food and wine is going to appear outside my door. But I do believe that there are many Christians, many saints some who have gone before and some still around who face trials far more extreme that we are likely to face, yet their eyes are full of love for the Lord, they can genuinely praise the Lord for all God has done for them and for the world in spite of their trials.

I am not suggesting that we need extra faith but I am suggesting that we can raise our belief of the joys and delights of God’s kingdom  and share that with the world about us. The challenge is to live in the midst of that banquet whilst we don’t fully see it but do in part, knowing that it can be realized in its fullness.

 as we do so, to know that we are doing it in conjunction with a band of saints who have gone before us who are still being active for God in the building of his Church.  That the saints of today join hands with the saints past connected with our Lord Jesus and empowered by his Spirit to the glory of God in Heaven. Amen

PS having lived with attempting to practice what I preached, I find it much easier to affirm that “the Lord is with me” rather than envisage being in the midst of a banquet or whatever that is the metaphor for.  The presence of the Lord encompasses the banquet. Upon practicing that affirmation an extra dimension is added to  life, Nature seems to spring out at you saying “look at me, I am part of God’s creation too. I rejoice with you also”.