by Pat Lee
(Based on Matt 22:1-14; Ex 32:1-14; Phil 4:1-9)
When I read these readings, a word which seemed to link them was fickle, which probably is not a word usually associated with them.
I used my Chambers Crossword dictionary to look it up fickle, and this is what I found. Fickle: flighty, disloyal, unstable, unsteady, inconsistent and changeable, to mention just a few. That is exactly what the people in the Exodus passage were.
Let’s start with Exodus. A few chapters before today’s reading, Moses was called by God to go up Mount Sinai – where he received the Ten Commandments, amongst other things. He had left his brother, Aaron, who was a Priest, in charge.
While Moses was away the Israelites became restless and complaining, because he had been gone for such a long time. They gathered around Aaron and asked him to make ‘gods’ for them, who would go before them. Aaron got them to bring all their gold jewellery to him, which he melted down and cast an image of a calf! To make matters worse, he built an altar so that they could make sacrifices to it, and engage in pagan revelry, as one version put it.
God was not pleased, of course. He told Moses to go back down the mountain at once. The people had been so quick to turn aside from his commandments and worship an idol, God said, and he was angry. He was going to destroy them. Moses pleaded with him and bravely reminded God of some of the promises he had made to Abraham and Isaac, and the Lord changed his mind.
This was not the only time the Israelites had turned away from God. There are numerous more examples in the Bible of turning from him. They wanted what they wanted and not what God wanted. They seemed to think that their way was better than God’s way, and moaned and grumbled until God gave them what they asked for. He was, and is, a very patient and persevering God. Read Psalm 78 to find out about the changes of mind the Israelite had.
They were fickle. They changed their minds as often as our weather changes. They were happy when everything was going well, and then became unhappy because they didn’t have what they thought they should have, and wanted. They trusted God for short periods of time, but then, when everything seemed too hard again, they demanded something else.
Now to skip over to the Gospel reading. In Bible times, concerning weddings, it was the bridegroom’s father (and in this case the king) who was responsible for the invitations and the wedding feast – which could go on for several days. No land lines, no mobile phones and emails, so he would send his servants out to those he wished to invite, with a preliminary invitation to save-the-date, which may have been quite some time before the actual wedding and feast began. When all the preparations had been made, the servants would then announce that the feast was ready for all those who had previously been invited, to come.
It is interesting to note, that backing out and not attending at this stage was regarded as a severe insult and a direct challenge to the host’s honour. I also discovered that those who had received invitations were expected at some future date to reciprocate, or risk further insult to the original host.
Just pausing to take a look at some more of those synonyms for the word fickle. They are: variable, unfaithful, unreliable, unpredictable and vacillating.
Back to the gospel. Once all the preparations had been done, it was time for the king to send out his servants to those who had been invited to say that all was ready. But they did not come. So he sent the servants out again. Some invitees made feeble excuses, while others seized the servants, treated them badly and even killed some. This made the king very angry. He then sent out more servants to invite whoever they could find in the “highways and byways” to come to the wedding feast.
I don’t know about you, but some of those synonyms sprang to my mind. They certainly seem to apply to the original invitees to the wedding. They were disloyal, unfaithful and unreliable.
But, what does all this have to do with us today?
Well, are you fickle?
While you think about that for a moment, consider … Do you always do what God wants you to do? Do you consult God before you do whatever it is, to see if it is in his will? Do you decide to do something and then change your mind because something else has come up? Do you pray about what it is that you want to do?
I think that if we’re honest, each one of us, to a greater or lesser degree, is fickle. I am from time to time, leaving God out of my decisions. We get caught up with thinking that something sounds like a good idea so let’s do it, but is it?
The Philippians reading is the other side of the coin, so to speak. It is a complete contrast to the other two. Paul is urging the Philippians not to be fickle, to stand firm in the Lord. It was Timothy he was talking to when he asked him to help Euodia and Syntyche, who had been struggling. He also tells them to “rejoice always, and not to worry about anything” … “but in everything make prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to God”.
Good advice for us too. When we do these things, we will have that “peace which passes all understanding and will guard our hearts and minds”.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
