Preparing for the Wedding Feast

I love our time of worship to start the morning here. Two or three hymns from the Church of God Hymnal. Something a little more contemporary. In studying for this week’s sermon I came across something most of you may already be aware of that I was not.

https://goodnewsmag.org/celebrating-the-small-church/

The Burlington Church of God gives great promise to the influence of a small church. Through the years, it sometimes thrived and sometimes fell behind. There was always a remnant who kept the church going. Eleanor and George Funk were among those who raised their three children there, making sure they learned great truths in Sunday school and church.

So, what was the secret of this small church? After all, there was no choir loft, no pull-down screen for Power Point presentations, no band to attract the teenagers, no large rooms for Sunday school, and no color on the walls. There is nothing about this church on the outside or the inside that “grabs” you and invites you to come back. Yet, within this plain church, things happened for the kingdom. Gospel lessons were taught even if there were only a few attending that day.

When my late husband, Roy, was young, the church was pastored by the Rev. Lee Sickal (whose daughter would marry Bill Gaither and become Gloria Gaither of the Gaither Gospel Music group). It was Gloria’s mother who showed Mr. and Mrs. Funk the difference between going to church and knowing Jesus personally. She led them to the Lord, and she also taught them the skills of godly parenting. When Roy’s mother spoke of her good friend, Dorothy Sickal, it was with great gratitude. She gave Mrs. Sickal credit for helping her know how to bring up her children with Christian values. It worked. All three Funk children took what they learned and then brought their children up the same way. Now, those children’s children are being taught the gospel by their parents.

Snow-packed winters were not a reason to close church. On a particularly cold Sunday morning, with snow measuring several feet deep, Mr. Funk began clearing his driveway so the family could get to church, where Gloria’s dad was waiting. No one had shown up. However, he continued getting the small sanctuary ready for worship. When the Funks finally arrived—in fact, the only family to arrive that Sunday—Pastor Sickal greeted them and said, “I knew you’d come.” Then, the Sickals and the Funks had church.

When someone had a prayer need, the Rev. and Mrs. Sickal included their two daughters. They called the girls inside, joined hands in a circle, and the four of them started doing business with the Lord. This type of praying soon included others—it moved down the street and up the next dirt road to the Funk farm, where family prayer also included the children. Now that those children have grandchildren, the pattern continues. It is never strange to see any of our family members taking the hand next to them and stopping for prayer at various times of the day. In fact, it is normal.

The Burlington church had a vision. Ornate furniture and stained-class windows were not part of that vision. The vision was to teach Jesus! The church sponsored a missionary family, whose picture was distributed to church homes for prayer. Mr. and Mrs. Funk kept the missionaries’ picture taped to the hallway wall, a daily reminder that these friends on foreign soil counted on their prayers.

Having grown up in a large church, where Sunday night MYF programs were a Hollywood production that brought in youth from other churches, I questioned the impact a small church could make. However, Roy’s home church changed my thinking. When kingdom work goes forth, church size and impressive programs do not matter. When dedicated Christians bring the Word, powerful things are done for the cause of Christ. It is the Word of God that matters, not large choirs or impressive programs, though these measures have value too. The key is bringing the life-changing message of Jesus to the lost. (prayer)

So I expect, given this is your congregation, that you understand the significant global impact that this church and those who come before you have had. Pastor Sickal’s daughter Gloria, later Bill Gaither’s wife and ministry partner, has written or co-written over 700 worship songs, that are still used in places around the world today. That’s an incredible legacy, which can also be intimidating if we start thinking that what the Lord has done in the past through this body, is what we’re called to do today.

Last week we talked about Martha, Mary and Lazarus and specifically We talked about how Martha was a doer, if you will. Someone who sees things that need to be done right now, and begins taking over to do them. Then she got upset, when the help she believed that should have been given her wasn’t coming from Mary. Luke 10:41-42a: 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary.

That one thing, we said, was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Which isn’t something we do solely on Sunday mornings, or Wednesdays. Right?

I’ll be honest with you. I’ve got some Martha in me. For decades, while I was avoiding going into ministry full time, I was serving God the way I wanted to. Which means I was involved volunteering on Sunday mornings, whether it was teaching adult bible study, playing Jesus or Paul in drama ministry, and producing or mixing the service in the room or the online live stream. It also means that I have decades of committee and board service in nonprofit organizations, like United Way, Rotary, Arts Organizations and Chambers of Commerce. Now that’s not a prideful thing, it’s just life experiences that ties into my doctoral work in servant leadership, team building and strategic planning.

So last Saturday, when I brought some materials here and walked all around inside the building singing praise and worship songs and praying, my brain is also taking assessment of what the condition, of this beacon of hope and faith and refuge in Burlington is. Not the condition of your hearts and minds, of which I have no doubts, but the question I’m asking the Lord every day. Lord what is you want done here in this tremendous space you’ve give us? Lord what is my part in serving this congregation, this community, in serving you Lord, that will bring glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And help others to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

2 John 1:8-9 (NIV) says 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we (you) have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

When I was little my mom says if were shopping at Sears which had a two story building outside of East Lansing that I was always running ahead and hiding in the clothes racks. I still have to be careful of running ahead of where the Lord wants me. Just in case of us have those same kind of struggles. So back to last week, I, of course, while getting a longer first impression of our space than my previous Wednesday and Sunday visits, thought the typical man thing. We’ve not using this nursery. We’ve got to turn into a space for children’s ministry because we have children here, who need a space of their own, but we don’t have any babies here.

Be patient with me please. Now, I don’t tell you that because that’s actually something we will or you should do. I was sharing my thoughts with Nancy afterwards, and was assured by Nancy that there are babies coming to this congregation. In the not too distant future because she knows believers who are pregnant, and if there wasn’t a space for them to sit with crying baby, they might not come. Right? She has knowledge and a vision of what the Lord is going to be doing here, in this space and in this community. Solomon in Proverbs 29:18 writes: Where there is no prophetic vision the people are discouraged, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

It is a great blessing to us that we live under the New Covenant, through Christ’s blood shed for us for the forgiveness of sins. That we have received redemption not because of our ability to be completely obedient to the law of the old testament 24 hours a day, but by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Not that we can use grace as an excuse to go on sinning because that has consequences. But that by the power of His Holy Spirit, the Lord enables us to overcome, to be forgiven, to repent, to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ. Amen?

Our main scripture today comes from Matthew 22:1-4:

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

22 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Last week, just as a reminder, we talked about Martha preparing a meal for Jesus and whomever was with him, in her home. Sometimes the parables Jesus tells are hard for everyone to understand. Certainly for those who heard him in person but were resistant to understanding that God was doing something new among them? Their traditions got in the way of where God was leading them. The parable of the wedding feast is very straightforward.

Within the Hebrew culture at that time when banquets were given there would be two invitations given out. One told you that something was going to happen, so be ready. The second invitation told you that that everything was ready, so it was time to come and join the festivities.

So paraphrasing from Matthew. the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, sent His one and only begotten son, not to condemn the world but save the world. Throughout the Old testament we read how God sent his servants, the prophets Samuel, Miriam, Isaiah, Deborah, Jeremiah and many others, to bring us into obedience and a personal relationship with him. Israel fails to do so many times historically, and in Matthew they didn’t come to the Lord’s table, if you will, as He desired. They ignored him, or they were more concerned with their own self-interests, their career, their money, than what God wanted. And even today, around the world, there are servants of the Lord, who are abused, mistreated, and killed in service to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

For some verse 7 sounds harsh doesn’t it? 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. But we have historical records of Jericho, Sodom & Gomorrah, how many times was Israel or Judah defeated, sent into exile. The temple, where God’s presence was on earth before Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, was destroyed twice. Although we have not been physically killed, many of us have been through a time in our lives when we were so far from where God wanted us to be, that we were financially, emotionally, even to some extent, physically damaged as He sought to get our attention. To invite us back into the fold.

So finally, in verse 8, the banquet is ready. God has tried and tried to reach humanity that we might be obedient to His plans for us, to how He calls us to live. How He wants us to treat each other. And He has no choice, but to send His son Jesus Christ to redeem all of mankind to Him. The day of salvation has passed, in the parable, and the day of judgment is at hand. It is a celebration of the life that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to truly know Jesus as Lord and Savior there are some requirements aren’t there? Verse 14 of Matthew 22. He said, "Many are called, few are chosen."

In fact let’s look at those last three verses again.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Again, this might make more sense to an Israelite who followed and believed in Jesus as the Messiah in that time. It was customary for wedding guests to be given wedding clothes to wear to the banquet. Can I get that at Walmart, or Target, or some other department store? The technical answer is yes, but not in sense of, I’m a 46 long suit coat if you saw one at Goodwill or Salvation Army.

Wherever you became saved, where you gave your heart, mind and soul to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That’s where you begin to get your wedding garment. Where God started fitting you for the wedding. The Lord has invited all mankind to a wedding feast of His one and only son, Jesus Christ and we are His bride. As Paul writing to the Corinthians states: 2 Corinthians 11:2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

Let’s look at John’s vision in Revelation 19:6-8

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Or Isaiah who writes:

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

So in Matthew, when Jesus is talking about the king questioning someone at the feast who doesn’t have wedding garments, he simply means that they have not confessed Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and put on His righteousness because we have none of our own. Make no mistake. The time and day of the wedding feast is coming, and none of us know when that it is. This parable we’ve looked at in Matthew is not the only time Christ gives an example of a wedding feast or banquet. Note Luke 14:12-14

12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters, or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

So let’s wrap all this up and bring it home to where we are today, all of us together as a body of Christ in Burlington. We know that the Lord has set the table, and in His time, the resurrection for the final judgment is coming. But we, we who are mature in Christ. We who have been given the responsibility to continue the great commission. Matthew 28:16-10 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Knowing that there is banquet to come. To which the Lord our God has invited all mankind, isn’t it time for us to go about our Father’s work preparing a table, and a meal, a welcoming into His house? Has God not given us a tremendous home for His family, right here where you’re sitting. The season is upon us to begin preparing this house, to feed hungry, to witness to the lost, to heal the lame, as God has already done in over 100 years here in Burlington.

When you walk through every room in building, that can seem overwhelming. To which Jesus replies, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Last Sunday I overheard part of a conversation from someone who was worried about their ability to tithe. I had a conversation with another member of our family who was worried that I might be judgmental because a family member couldn’t attend last Sunday. So let’s make sure, that in the Unity of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ that we are all clear on something.

God has given each of us a measure of time, talent, and treasure according to His purposes that we are accountable for. Just as God does not provide us more than can bear or manage, because too much of many things just leads to sin and falling away. But whether you have time, talent, treasure or all three to give to what the Lord is doing here, is between you and the Lord. I know in my heart, and in conversations with our leadership in this congregation, that no one here or watching online, is judging anyone else about what they are giving to the Lord.

Minister and writer Edward Everett Hale wrote what is one of my life quotes, slightly paraphrased. “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do keep me from doing what I can do.”

We serve the Most High God. I pray that you are spending time with Him every day. In His word seeking wisdom. In prayer making your requests known to him. And in silence, listening to Him speak to your heart.

There is work to be done in each of our lives that only God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit can do. There is work to be done in this building, that He will provide the resources financially, materially, and physically to do. And we’re not going to fix, update, or improve everything all at once. Not that the Lord isn’t capable of that. But far more often, in His still, small, quiet voice, He leads us, together as a congregation, to work on one thing at a time, one room at a time, in preparing this space for the eternal banquet the Lord is holding. Who will you be inviting to break bread with Jesus? And will we have His home here, ready to welcome them with open arms?