Salvation as destruction: a cowboy movie perspective

Isaiah 25:1-9 Ps 23 Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14

I read once that the appeal of cowboy movies was that they have the veiled Gospel. Gospel means the Good News of salvation. Helpless townsfolk need a hero, we need someone to face down the bad guys and rescue us. There are variations, of course, but in the end, usually after a violent encounter, the bad guys are defeated. And in the best of them, the hero suffers for his faithfulness...

Israel's stories of God are ancient templates for the Cowboy movies. The People of God need saving and YHWH, the Father God, hears their cries. Salvation, however, also leaves carnage. The bad guys do not experience salvation as a joyful thing. And sometimes the bad guys are the People of God. Jesus' parable is very much influenced by the prophetic books of Israel. The message of Judges, Samuel and Kings is two fold. "I will save my people and destroy her enemies," says the Lord, "but if you act like them I will destroy you too." This message fuels the works of Isaiah, Jeremiah and all the rest. This message is at the heart of Jesus' parable--a thinly veiled summary of Israel's history.

The King is graciously honoring citizens with an invitation to the wedding feast of his son! They dishonor the King,then abuse and kill his servants. In retribution their city is burned to the ground and leveled. The reference, perhaps lost on us, was quite apparent to Matthew's original audience. It was Jerusalem, the city of God destroyed by the Roman army in their lifetime. Jesus invited them to His Feast, but as they had rejected and killed the prophets so now they rejected and killed Him. In Matthew, the sinners and outcasts, even the late arriving Gentiles, were gathering around Jesus for the feast. However, Matthew would not have us misunderstand the nature of grace. It is a free offer but it requires an appropriate response. The wedding garment, I think, is a symbol of love, repentant faith and loyal discipleship. Good guys wear white robes in the Bible after all...

Isaiah 24-27, a collection of prophecies with an apocalyptic flavor, reveals the same story of salvation. John uses some of the language and imagery in His Revelation. No surprise then, that Isaiah's song praising God's salvation, begins with an announcement that the enemy's city is laid waste: a heap, a ruin, a rubble... The adjectives to describe the people and their city mean strong, fierce, greedy and terrifying. Their oppression is compared to the relentless summer sun or the destructive winter storm. The people seek refuge in God. Refuge for the poor and needy. Refuge in the safety of His love and protection. And what do you call people who are in a refuge? Refugees. It is easy to forget in our middle class comfort and splendor, that we are all spiritual refugees, brothers and sisters of all the marginal and outcasts.

In contrast to this, Isaiah lays out the wonderful feast awaiting all those who climb the mountain of the Lord. For people who never have enough to eat, such a feast was an unimaginable blessing. Food and drink in abundance is less amazing to us, we have too much, but the Lord makes an announcement which even our affluence cannot buy. "I will destroy death." The most beautiful verse to me, one which John uses in the Apocalypse as well, "My Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces..."

In the end, death is the ultimate enemy. It separates us from all we love, from all we hold dear. The Gospel message is death is on a short leash. The one thing missing from the cowboy movies is resurrection. Resurrection, however, is not missing from the Gospel. You and I, we have an invitation to a party. The greatest party ever. And it is a party where eternal life is the main course. Life. Abundant life. Glorious life. Already His strong hand overthrows the enemies who would oppress His people, already His gentle hand wipes away the tears. Come let us sing to the Lord and rejoice in God our savior.