Dear Friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Children love to tell jokes about fabled sailing vessels. You heard about the two ships that were fond of each other. They were boat so in love. Yes, it was truly a “rowmantic” love story. Do you know what the worst vegetable is to have aboard ship? A Leek. Did you hear about the boat carrying red paint that crashed into a boat carrying blue paint?  The crew was marooned.

One of the highlights of our American Scandinavian Foundation Study Tour was rowing in a boat. And not just any boat. We rowed in a historic church boat on Lake Siljan in the heart of Sweden. Church boats have their roots in Viking-age skip designs. Ours was 60 foot- long and weighed 4000 pounds. These boats served as the primary means of transportation in 17^th and 18^th century Sweden and Finland when by royal command church attendance was required.  Dutifully dressed in their Sunday’s finest, parishioners rowed to church together in all kinds of weather across Lake Siljan. We began our own preparation for rowing with a history lesson.  We were taught that church boats required teamwork, coordination and strength- especially since they often carried many elderly parishioners to church who could no longer row.  They were all in the same boat together, sharing a common destination, joys and sorrows, and when they were no longer strong enough to pull an oar, they surely had a song worth singing.

I’d like to imagine the church boat as the “tradition bearer’ of folk music.  Certainly, there must have been news and gossip shared as they rowed.  They probably criticized each other when they weren’t rowing in unison, and were critical when the others were out of tempo. But there must have been music as well. Songs from an earlier generation were passed on as the boat glided across the waters. Sunshine, gray clouds and rain all evoked a different melody and verse.  This was how music was kept alive from one generation to the next.

It may have been a joyous song of rowing that we learned in Tobo, Vaggvisa fran Sodern Row and row.. We’re sailing the whole summer between the kitchen and our living room.

The song may have been the tune of the night watchman in Vasteras, who sang his simple song throughout the hours of night, announcing the hour and that God’s wonderful, sweet and powerful hand had protected their city from fire and flame for yet another hour. 

Maybe the song was the calling of the animals, in a special form known as kulling.

For others, it was the memory of the fabod, the summer farm where women and children from each village went from late spring to early fall.  There they sang to the flocks of sheep, and goats and herds of cattle. Sometimes even the animals had to be ferried across the water. One song we learned in Leksand from Malung had this message to the cows. “Come on now cows, let us go out to the forest for pasture. If we don’t get, we can get grass. So that we get fat and healthy.”

 Everyone in the church boat had a song to sing- even if it wasn’t particularly musical. God invites us all to “Sing a new song unto the Lord,” but it may not necessarily be as members of the choir.  My mother could make a joyful noise unto the Lord, but it was not a melody we all needed to hear.  She gave meaning to the musical phrase refrain. Her song was the gift of a well lived life.

In Jesus’ parable comparing the kingdom of heaven to a king who held a feast for his son’s wedding, all the guests who had once accepted the invitation, turned it down. They all had excuses for not sharing their song. There were those who were too busy or had their own important matters to attend to. There were others who felt that the king’s palace had no greater treasure to offer than their own.  Still others dismissed the invitation as an intrusion into their lives. Yes, they all turned down the king’s invitation to feast at his table and to sing their own song in his presence.

So the king ordered his servants to go out into the streets to fill the hall again. They went out beyond the main streets to the forgotten corners and darkened alleys to find “the good, the bad and the lonely.”  They all were welcomed into the king’s presence.  and were welcomed.  And they all sang a song- except for one. And this man was not wearing a wedding garment.

Mind you, it wasn’t the man’s clothes that startled the king.  It was the man’s attitude. In ancient times, wedding garments weren’t just about personal fashion and choice. They symbolized honor, purity, and belonging. In many cultures, the host himself would provide the guests with appropriate attire—ensuring that everyone, regardless of their background, or circumstance was dressed for the occasion. This is what waited the king’s guests. They only needed to take on the king’s garment of grace and mercy and love, and then be prepared to sing. So the king was surprised that a guest was standing before him with no wedding garment. The guest was speechless as well.  Accepting the invitation to the wedding banquet, you see, wasn’t enough. You don’t get to enter the God’s kingdom on our your terms. God freely offers you through Jesus Christ the garment of salvation to wear, but you have to put it on.

Many people want to be part of God’s kingdom, but they want to be welcomed on their own terms. They don’t want to submit, repent, or change, and be transformed—they just want to show up as they are, without surrendering to Christ. They fail to recognize that we are all in the same boat and are needy of God’s mercy

My friends, you may not know it, but God is preparing a new song for you to sing even now- or if you’re afraid of singing in the Choir- he is preparing in you to make a joyful noise.  Do not be afraid of how it will sound.  We are all in this boat together, and with God’s grace and garment of salvation he will make your song beautiful.  You need only dare to lift your voice in song.  Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.