Sermon by the Rt Revd Joseph Wandera for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, October 11, 2026

Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, bring them to the marriage feast.

In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, I bring you greetings from my country, Kenya, my family, my wife and children who are not here with me, but who are aware that I am with this community this morning, and the Christians of the diocese of Mummias, Kenya, where I serve as bishop.

And thank you for having me in this wonderful community of the Advent Church.

Our liturgy this Sunday presents to us a parable about a wedding, a wedding party.

And the parable states that many were invited to this wedding.

However, something very disappointing happens.

Those invited turn down the invitation.

Some said they were busy, busy with farm work.

Others said they were busy with merchandise.

And yet others were openly contemptuous of the invitation.

Kenneth Bailey, in his book Jesus Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern thought, states that in that context, you'd only prepare food, the guests having confirmed that they would indeed turn up.

And so not turning up at the last moment was insulting.

It was quite contemptuous.

But the master is generous.

He offers his friendship.

Even the more the master is not discouraged.

He sends out his servants to invite many other people, even the poorest, those abandoned, those disinherited.

I would like us to reflect on this parable in the light of our own vocations as messengers, as servants of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because that is who we are.

Servants of Jesus.

Firstly, the master sends the servants.

In biblical terms, the banquet is an image which points to the joy in fellowship and communion in the abundance of the Lord's gifts that you and I are called to tirelessly step out of this sanctuary.

Step out of ourselves and invite others to the Lord's banquet.

Go out and invite.

Go therefore into the highways, the limits of the roads.

And the Greek phrase therein conveys a sense of those points at which the city street ends and the path begins, that leads to the area of the countryside, outside the comfort of residential areas.

Those places where life is fragile, life is precarious.

Invite them, bring them along.

It is precisely the people on the peripheries who are excluded from society.

Those are the ones that the king calls forth to his table.

Perhaps the tragic story of our Christian communities today is that Jesus keeps knocking on the door from within.

And Jesus wants you and I, his servants, to let him out that he may through you encounter his people at the gross at the crossroads.

But we won't let him out because of our inward-looking postures.

And this sendedness is at the heart of your Christian vocation and mine.

Indeed, it is at the heart of God's mission.

John says in John chapter 3, verse 16, for God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son.

John 3:16

That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

God loved.

And the Greek linear meaning of that word loved, something that goes on and on and on.

It is not dependent on one's social status.

There is a sense of egalitarianism in this invitation.

For God so loved the world.

Whosoever believes is the only condition.

Whosoever believes.

And that is your vocation and mine.

Indeed, there will be some, perhaps many, who will turn down this act of hospitality.

And to you, we would offer a word of encouragement.

Do not be afraid, do not be terrified to live and to witness to faith in your varied contexts, in your families, at your workplaces, during your travels, even when you would encounter opposition or outright rejection from those around you.

May you make the words of Saint Paul read to us in the epistles, in Philippians, your words.

I can do all things in him who strengthens me.

And indeed, this is how the apostles behaved.

They embraced faith which blossomed down through the ages, and faith which we have inherited, you and I.

Now let's get back to our parable.

The master does not simply say, Go.

He tells them, invite, invite them, bring them, tell them to come to the wedding.

As Christians, we seek to invite not through pressure and coercion or proselytizing, but with closeness, compassion, and tenderness.

And in this way, we by our invitation of others reflect God's own way of being and acting.

In this invitation, we also find the eschatological and eucharyctic sense of the mission of Christ and his church.

The king asked the servants to bring those invited to the son's wedding banquet.

And here we have an image of our ultimate salvation in God's kingdom.

God who accords us a burden life, symbolized by the table set before us, bread and wine.

Today, as we draw near to the Lord's table, let us do so with this eschatological perspective.

And this enables us to witness with joy and hope as those pressing forward towards God's eternal presence.

There we shall all gather at the ultimate wedding feast in the very presence of God.

You know, the world sets before us various banquets, the banquets of consumerism and self-absorption and individualism.

However, today the gospel invites us to a much higher banquet, one which is embodied in much joy and sharing and fraternity with God and with one another.

As we join in this Holy Eucharist, may we all be reminded that it is the gift of God to his people, and that this gift is intrinsically linked to the ultimate banquet in heaven.

And may we experience more devotedly every Eucharist in its full dimension, its mission dimension that we are being sent out to invite others to the table, grounded in the very heart and being of God.

Everyone is invited.

Everyone, and this is the heart of mission.

All are invited, excluding no one.

In our world today, which is torn apart by divisions and conflict and war, Christ's gospel remains relevant.

A gentle yet firm voice, calling individuals to encounter one another, and recognizing each other as sisters and brothers to rejoice in harmony and diversity, and inviting all to the Lord's delicious banquet.

The servants gathered all that they could find.

Both good and bad were invited.

And this invitation is your invitation and my invitation that we seek to emerge from our frameworks, perhaps our narrow views, and proclaim to everyone the grace of the Lord.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.

This mission of God requires our commitment, close commitment.

And that is why I come to you from Kenya to learn from you, but also to share our stories with you.

Let us now step forward to the banquet set before us, and may it be re-energizing to each one of us.

Bring forth everyone who is invited to the Lord's table.

And as we participate at the Lord's table, may we not remain the same.

Genuine reception at the Lord's table must change the guests.

It must change our garments.

May it truly be a divine gift transforming you and I into lives of repentance and works of mercy and the fullness of joy of declaring the saving grace of our Lord Jesus.

In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.