Between Sundays for the Week of October 12, 2026
Who are you wearing? If you’ve ever watched televised red carpet coverage, you’ve heard this question. Once asked, it becomes the opportunity for the star of the moment to begin listing the designer of the gown, the maker of the shoes, the provider of the jewels, and so on.
In Matthew 22:1-14, the question isn’t so much who are you wearing as what are you wearing, or more accurately, “how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” That’s one question that emerges when reading the parable, but there’s a lot in the parable that seems strange to our ears – a marriage feast where none of the invited guests want to attend; unprovoked and repeated violence; and then an unexpected invitation for all.
We’ve been trained to think that the powerful one in any story must represent God, but a careful reading reveals that the king in Jesus’ parable more closely represents Herod, than the God who sends Jesus to be with us. On top of that, the prophets of Israel give us a picture of God as a generous host who feeds us with abundance, serves as a refuge to the poor and needy in times of distress, and shelters us from danger (Isaiah 25:1-9). The king in Jesus’ parable, looks nothing like this.
What if Jesus tells his followers this parable not to provide a picture of God, but to remind us of who and whose we are?
We are invited to all kinds of feast in this world, and most of them are spread by people who feed us a lie that whatever it is that they offer us will satisfy our hunger, and fill us up. In order to feel like we belong at the party, we twist and turn ourselves into people who dress in garments that don’t really fit and that fail to reveal the love of Christ for others. All the while forgetting the ways of mercy and justice that mark God’s eternal feast. All the while forgetting that through our baptism into Christ, we have been clothed in his death and resurrection.
When we are baptized, we are clothed with Christ and in Christ, and from that moment on we receive all that we need to claim a seat at God’s eternal feast. And so, when we are asked – who are you wearing? We can respond with confidence, I have put on Christ, that’s the only garment I need!
Who are you wearing? Beloved of God, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, we have been clothed in Christ. And we reveal this garment to the world when we show forth compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and love. In Christ, we wear the saving grace we need to take our seat God’s table of mercy today and always!
Thanks be to God.
P.S. Listen to the full worship service (including Pastor Amy’s sermon that starts with the gospel reading at 18:30) here. As always, share your presence with us or prayer concerns by completing a contact form on our website! Links to previous worship videos are available on our website.
Faith Connection at Home
Ponderings
October 12 is both Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Columbus Day, a chance to honor and mourn the brokenness and beauty of the world. On one hand, we can honor the courage and hope that led Europeans to cross the Atlantic — even as we mourn, condemn, and/or repent of the genocide and enslavement that followed. And on the other hand, we can honor indigenous peoples in North American and all over the world, renewing our collective commitment to justice and dignity — even as we celebrate the ways in which indigenous peoples continue to thrive today, and in many respects are helping show the world the way forward into the twenty-first century. (Salt Project, Theologian’s Almanac for the Week of October 11, 2026)