10-25-20 Grace - Benson & Vail Sermon

October 25, 2020 Matthew 22:1-14 Sermon Grace-Vail, Grace-Benson When you receive a wedding invitation, how do you decide whether to accept or decline?

First of all, who is it from? A very close family member or friend, and you’ll most likely clear your schedule if at all possible. If it’s a distant cousin or a fringe friend, and you already have other plans, you may decline. This year a new consideration has been added - will covid allow me to go, will the event even happen, or will it be canceled.

When people receive a wedding invitation from God, how do they decide whether to accept or decline? Who is it from? A God who is worth paying attention to, or not? What else is on the schedule, do I find more value in my own plans, or God’s party invitation? And will the party even happen, or will it end up like a covid canceled wedding party?

Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a wedding party. He described why though all are invited, few end up in the kingdom of heaven, few end up enjoying the wedding party. He tells us because he wants us there, and we have much to learn about this wedding celebration.

Jesus told this story first to the Jewsish leaders on the Tuesday before he died. He knew they were going to kill him, and he wanted to give a clear explanation of exactly what they were doing. So he told them, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out his servants to summon those invited to the wedding feast.” Just like so many leaders of the nation of Israel before them, these leaders were rejecting the plan of God in favor of their own plans and priorities. They did not want to come when they were first invited.

It still happens today that when many first hear that God wants them to come close to him, to enjoy his wedding party; they have no interest in coming. They have their own plans and priorities.

What does God do when his invitation gets ignored?

The response of the king is so patient and gracious. He prepared the feast and re-invited the same people who ignored his first invitation. As if the first invitation was a save the date; and the second invitation was a “come today, everything is ready.” The fattened calf and delicious oxen meat has been prepared. Come and enjoy.

Think of how God called out to the Old Testament people of Israel patiently and persistently, telling them to wait for the wedding party. When Jesus came, it’s as if God was saying, the main event is here. The feast is now. Come and enjoy his presence. The best meats and fine food and drink are all prepared.

Imagine you are invited to a prince’s wedding party. You know that cost is not an issue; that only the best food and drink will be there; it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. You would clear your schedule and make sure you’re there for a party like that. The response of the invited in the story is so surprising. They refused. Some to their field and some to their business.

How do you explain that? Especially considering what the parable was about: Jesus is the feast. He’s better than any fine feast. With him around, everyday was incredible. But some found better things to do than to spend time with Jesus and pay attention to him.

It still is the case. Jesus invites you any day and every day to seek him and experience life as a feast, even when difficult things are happening; and often we find “better” things to spend our time on. Business, land improvement. Jesus stands by with his hands open inviting and watches as we often refuse to come. How can we explain it?

If something is important to you, and valuable to you, you’ll find a way to make time for it.

What you find most valuable, you will find ways to invest in. We often just don’t find Jesus all that valuable. We think money investments, land and property pursuits will make us more satisfied, more happy with our lives. We are capable of ignoring him. We have times when we find other pursuits more compelling. We put ourselves in a position of missing out on the great feast available to us, because we think our own parties are better. How foolish would it be to turn down a prince’s wedding party to go eat hotdogs from a greasy old grill?

But the danger is not only of missing out on such a great party. We’re told that others mistreated and killed the servants. They went beyond neutral dismissal, and got actively hostile to the servants of the king. They went beyond ignorant distraction, and took offense at these servants who would imply they should come to the king’s wedding party. The violence in their hearts spilled out in their actions; and they murdered the bringers of good news.

This goes beyond shocking, to downright cruel and diabolically evil. Yet this was exactly what those ultra-religious leaders listening to Jesus on that Tuesday in the temple were preparing in their hearts and minds to do. They’d heard enough from Jesus. They did not believe that he had the right to invite people to God’s wedding feast. They hated the invitation, because it came from Jesus of Nazareth, and because he continued to confront them, and insist that his invitation was valid. So they wanted him dead, and were plotting how to do the terrible crime.

What about us today? How easy it would be to condemn the leaders who killed Jesus; but fail to apply this part of the story to ourselves. Have you ever had a friend, parent, pastor, or teacher confront you with a part of God’s Word that you did not want to hear? Have you ever grown so annoyed with a Bible quoting Christian so much that in your mind, you wished violence on them?

Have you ever wished God’s Word would just shut up and leave you alone to do whatever your own heart wanted to do? The honest answer is yes, I have, yes, you have. We are capable of not only dismissing and ignoring God’s invitation in his Word, but of getting hostile against it. We’re capable of killing the Word of God with fine sounding arguments and personal rationalizations.

The result of this violence against God is not a patient response from him. Instead the king was very angry. He sent his army and killed those murderers and burned their town. Jesus knew that in 70 AD, about 40 years after his death and resurrection, his Father would allow the Roman army to attack the city of Jerusalem, where some of those Jewish leaders who killed Jesus may still have been living. The Romans killed the Jews who fought against them, and burned the city to the ground.

Jesus knew that the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was only a glimpse of the eternal destruction that will come on any and all who refuse his gracious invitation to his wedding feast.

We need to take this seriously for ourselves and the people we care about. We all are capable of growing so violent internally against God’s Word, that we would bring on ourselves an eternal destruction which will be total and deserved and eternal. Jesus sums up what happened to those wedding party invitees by saying, “they were not worthy.” The unworthiness does not come from some moral defect or lack of religious performances.

Remember, he was telling this story to the experts in the law and ultra religious chief priests.

They dedicated their lives to doing God’s will. Their unworthiness came simply from their refusal to accept the gracious invitation from Jesus. They hated Jesus, and in hating him, they were walking a path of destruction. We are all capable of preferring our religious performances, our own Bible interpretations and despising the invitation which a humble Jesus offers to us. We are all capable of remaining unworthy to experience the wedding party as long as we refuse the invitation.

That could be the end of the story. They refused, he re-invited, they refused again and beat and murdered the servants, he sent an army to destroy them. Jesus would be in his rights to end the story there. But he went on. The king told his servants to go to the major intersections, and invite anyone they saw to the wedding party. The servants went out and invited anyone, both the good and the bad, so that the wedding party was filled.

Jesus knew that soon after his death and resurrection; his followers would go mostly to the Gentiles, the non-Jews, and invite them into his group of people on earth. There would be all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds, some good, some bad. He wanted them to know they were welcome to his wedding party.

Today Jesus still extends the invitation to anyone breathing to come to him, just as they are.

No need to clean up their life first, no need to make themselves worthy first. Just come to the party with him. Jesus does not find worthiness in people who are not close to him. Instead he creates the worthiness he desires in them as he draws them to his wedding party.

Let this be a lesson for you whenever you go out as a servant of God extending invitations to others to come to Jesus. Invite anyone you find. Don’t go looking for the perfect wedding guest candidate who is worthy of such an invitation, you’ll never find a person like that. Instead, invite whoever you find; the good and the bad. Let Jesus worry about sorting them out later. He wants all kinds of people from all kinds of background to simply come to him. He wants you to be an inviter on his behalf.

People are invited to come as they are, but they should not expect to stay as they are. People are welcomed to come in groups, but they should expect that a time will come when they will be individually evaluated by the master himself. The king found one at the feast who was not wearing wedding clothes. And he asked him, “Why aren’t you wearing wedding clothes.” That man had no answer, and so the master gave the command that he be tied hand and foot, and thrown to the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

People are invited into the visible church of God wearing any set of clothes. But there should be a time when their spiritual clothes are changed from the ragged dirty self made clothing which is stained with inner selfishness and sin and arrogance and pride. Those clothes should be eventually removed and exchanged for Jesus’ perfection, his spotlessness and purity which he desires to give freely to any and to all. So if a person comes into the visible church, and enjoys certain parts of the wedding party, but wants to hold on to their own clothing, there will come a time when the master himself confronts them and says, “Why have you not changed your clothes yet?”

If a person thinks they can have the feast without a changed life, they are wrong. If you think that you can still wear your winful habits and behaviors, and still get the feast you’re wrong. If you still want to run your own life your own way, and think that your group membership in a visible church will keep you safe from the scrutinizing eye of the master, you will be proven wrong one day.

The man was speechless. There is no good excuse or reason to be wearing any other clothes than the wedding clothes Jesus provides. Just think of what would happen if a real guest at a real wedding showed up in the wrong clothes. I actually did have a wedding crasher show up at my wedding, he was a distant cousin who was not on the original list, my dad invited him, and he showed up in cut off jean shorts while everyone else had the typical dress up clothes on. It was not a huge deal, we didn’t throw him out. But what if everyone wore cut off jean shorts at a wedding? Wouldn’t the bride and groom feel disrespected? All the preparations, the joy of the day would seem discredited if no one dressed up.

In a similar way, if Jesus let any kind of behavior exist forever in the kingdom of heaven, it wouldn’t be the kingdom of heaven anymore. He invites people to come to him as they are, nut not to expect to stay as they are, instead he wants you to be open to him changing you as the grand fulfilment of his feast draws near. To cling to your own way of life is to set yourself up to be tied up and thrown into darkness where all there will be left to do is to weep and gnash teeth, disappointed and even angry at the one who threw you out. That reality is coming, and unless something changes, unless the spiritual clothing we are born with is exchanged, we will end up in darkness, weeping and grinding teeth.

So, how can you and I be not only invited, but also actually enjoy the wedding feast? How can you be not only in the visible church, but be a part of the eternal group of Jesus’ wedding guests? The only way is for him to provide a new set of clothes for you. Here’s how it happened. Jesus had to first deal with your filthy clothes. He has no interest in layering pure clothes on top of dirty clothes. At a wedding, you shouldn’t wear dress up clothes over jean shorts, get rid of the jean shorts.

The hard part is, we can’t get rid of the clothing of our rebellion against God. It clings to us, and sticks to us, and refuses to go away no matter how many layers of our own religious-ness we try to put on over the top. Only Jesus could take the stained, disgusting clothing of our rebellion away in a way that it won’t come back. He took it to the cross. When he died, he was stripped down to nearly naked, humiliated by not even being given the decency of wearing proper clothes, they didn’t care

when they crucified someone. The humiliation was part of the point. For Jesus it wasn’t just embarrassment of being mis-dressed in a crowd. It was having his Father treat him as unworthy, as disgusting, as undesirable. Jesus was not tied hand and foot, he was nailed hand and foot, because that’s where the clothing of sin and selfishness leads. He died in darkness, weeping, having every reason to gnash his teeth in anguish.

But in enduring all that, and then rising again; he has provided the new clothing you need.

His right-ness and whole-ness is given to you so that you can be clothed and not naked before God, so that you can have the dazzling appearance before his Father that he has accomplished. So that you can enjoy your place at the wedding party with no fear of being found out or discovered, with every bit of confidence that you belong there, that the master will look at you and say, I like your clothes, you look great, thanks for dressing to the occasion. Enjoy the party of the wedding feast of Jesus as his people. Jesus accomplished all that, and he just gives the exquisite clothes away free of charge.

We’re told in Galatians 3, “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Did you notice, that’s past tense, it’s already happened. When you were baptized, Jesus gave you these clothes. And every time you go back to your old rotten clothes, he promises that the clothing of your baptism is still yours to have and to wear and to cover you entirely. Now that we already have been clothed with Christ, we are invited to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” Romans 13:14. In Colossians 3 we’re encouraged, “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Now that you have the clothing of Christ, he invites you to keep putting it on, keep coming to him so he can make you worthy of this great feast, the kingdom of heaven. It’s a wedding party unlike any other. No virus can threaten cancellation. Cost and space is no issue. A place of extreme joy, the joy of a prince and princess being joined together as one. Where Christ and his bride will spend eternity unified as they were always meant to be. Where his joy is yours and is complete. See the value, see the beauty of this invitation. Leave your fields and business to the side for now, lay down your hostility against him. This is the master who died for you and now lives. This is Jesus inviting you. There is nothing worth your time and attention as much as him. Not everyone who is called also is chosen. So get busy paying attention to the call. Let Jesus be your confidence: you are chosen to experience this eternal wedding feast. Then pay attention to the people around you. Make them aware of the call and the choosing of God. Let Jesus be their confidence that they belong at the party.

Some decisions don’t need to be hard. The king of the universe has invited you to his wedding feast. It’s not a place of outer darkness, but a place of inner light. Not a place of weeping, but a place of laughter and joy. Not a place where teeth gnash and grind together, but where smiles and conversation are shared, where singing and dancing are natural and frequent occurrences. All of this is yours by the determination of Jesus to make a place for you. All is prepared, just come. You don’t need to bring a dish, or make preparations. Just come and enjoy. Come to Jesus. Amen.