Jgs 11:29-39a
The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and through Mizpah-Gilead as well, and from there he went on to the Ammonites. Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. “If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,” he said, “whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall belong to the LORD. I shall offer him up as a burnt offering.”
Jephthah then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his power, so that he inflicted a severe defeat on them, from Aroer to the approach of Minnith (twenty cities in all) and as far as Abel-keramim. Thus were the Ammonites brought into subjection by the children of Israel.
When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came forth, playing the tambourines and dancing. She was an only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her. When he saw her, he rent his garments and said, “Alas, daughter, you have struck me down and brought calamity upon me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and I cannot retract.” She replied, “Father, you have made a vow to the LORD. Do with me as you have vowed, because the LORD has wrought vengeance for youon your enemies the Ammonites.”
Then she said to her father, “Let me have this favor. Spare me for two months, that I may go off down the mountains to mourn my virginity with my companions.” “Go,” he replied, and sent her away for two months. So she departed with her companions and mourned her virginity on the mountains. At the end of the two months she returned to her father, who did to her as he had vowed.
Ps 40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;
who turns not to idolatry
or to those who stray after falsehood.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me.
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Mt 22:1-14
Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a kin who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’
The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Some days the readings are full of optimism and happy endings—but not today. But I’ll try my best to find some optimism in them anyway.
From the book of Judges we have the story about how Jephthah killed his own daughter, his only child, as a “burnt offering” to God. In Matthew’s Gospel we read about how guests invited to a prince’s wedding feast actually “laid hold of [the king’s] servants, mistreated them and killed them.” Next, as might be expected, the king “was enraged…destroyed those murderers and burnt their city.” Finally, this harsh king rejects a guest who is wearing the wrong clothes – in fact, tells his servants to “Bind his hands and feet and cast him into the darkness outside.” And this difficult Gospel ends, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
It’s taken me the better part of the day to try and understand the grief, violence, judgment and punishment in these selections. I’ll try to be succinct.
I found my optimism in the Psalm’s refrain “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will”.
Right after we hear Jephthah’s story, the Psalm sings, “Sacrifice or oblation you wished not…Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not.” Instead, “To do your will, O my God, is my delight.”
So I reflected on how I tend to take God’s love for granted. Don’t we all sometimes tend to think that nothing more can be asked of us beyond what we’re already doing quite comfortably? We have smug and ready excuses for not feeding the hungry, tending the sick, etc – in other words, for not truly living the Christian faith: “I do enough already,” or “I can’t be expected to be more than I am.”
Today’s readings hauled me back – not to the ancient practice of human sacrifice or to an obsessive concern with proper attire, but to faith, fidelity and commitment. Jephthah is no ordinary man but a mighty warrior, a figure to represent power and success. The daughter is no ordinary child bouncing out the front door to greet Daddy, but rather a princess giving a ceremonial welcome, signifying, again, power and success. Together, father and daughter represent something greater still -- about not taking the Lord for granted, and about sacrifice beyond human reason, for love. To accept her role in fulfilling her father’s vow, the daughter must have loved God, and her father, very much!
And what about the man “not dressed in a wedding garment” in the Gospel? It reminds me that the Kingdom of Heaven is not to be taken for granted. When the king noticed him, the lazy guest “was reduced to silence.” So it’s not like he didn’t have or couldn’t get the proper clothing. After all, the other last-minute invitees managed to dress appropriately! This guest complacently preferred the comfort of his old jeans and t-shirt (or the first-century equivalent) instead of sacrificing a bit of convenience to do the right thing for his particular situation.
So basically the optimism in the readings today can be found in the fact that all God does wants is all of our love—nothing more. The fact that giving him all of our love may require that we sacrifice some “thing” is incidental. Things can be replaced. Love can’t. “Dear God, keep me from offering sacrifices that cost me nothing.”
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