Sermon (15-Oct): "God Beckons" Matthew 22:1-14

Bible Passage:

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Objective: (SLIDE)

The objective of this message is to be among the few and not the many when offered God’s invitation

Introduction: The Power of a Parable (SLIDE)

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables…

-- The Gospel of Mark agrees with this passage in that Mark 4:34,

“He did not say anything to them without using a parable.”

“You cannot tell people what to do, you can only tell them parables; and that is what art really is, particular stories of particular people and experiences”. - W. H. Auden, Leadership, Vol. 8, no. 1.

-- About 35 times in the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus spoke and taught in parables

-- Jesus throughout all the Gospels is always the Master Teacher

-- Along with John the Baptizer, He’s one of the few that get away with criticizing the religious hierarchy of His day by calling them a “brood of vipers” and not flinch

-- Jesus was never one to bite His tongue for the sake of religion—the chief priests and Pharisees

-- He used parables to reveal truth or conceal truth;

- those who genuinely sought Him had the truth revealed;

- those who were apathetic and indifferent…the truth was concealed from

-- Parables are those “earthly stories that have a heavenly meaning” or “extended analogies/inspired comparisons”

Transition: This passage has normally been titled, the “Parable of the Wedding Banquet” so I want to look at it in that sense; there’s a few areas that I want to touch on

-- The Many (SLIDE)

-- The Few

-- The One

1) The Many

- I’m always amazed with the grace, mercy and patience of God

- From my brief research, this parable speaks to God’s patience

- In traditional, cultural times, wedding banquets were extremely popular

-- Neighbors, relatives (near and far), friends and other guests went out of their way to attend

-- Invitations were sent out not once but usually twice (the initial announcement and dinner bell call (“everything’s ready”))

- We can see easily see God as king here, Jesus as the Son and Bridegroom

- Jesus already announced that this is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like

- But, we can also easily overlook the response of the invited guests

- Each of us Christian and non-Christian alike is one of the invited guests

- We, as a whole, are not too far out from these invited guests…the many

- In that day and time and in our day and time—look at the response (SLIDE)

3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

- In the Old Testament, God had prophets to speak to the people to heed the Word of the Lord—as His mouthpiece to invite people in

- Time and time again, the nation and the people ridiculed and/or rejected the prophets

- Eventually, we see the nation taken into exile though God was hopeful and promising

- He was and is patient—in those days and now

- In our New Testament times, God is using the church—His people—high and low to be His hands and feet

- Sad to say, as His hands and feet, it doesn’t always add up to acceptance of God’s invitation

-- Some have refused to come; others have ignored and paid no attention

- Matthew’s original intent and context was the Jewish leaders

-- Yet, today, it stretches to generations that exist today

- God’s “many” invitations that have gone out today have been slighted and ignored

Transition: But, then you have the few

2) The Few (SLIDE)

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests… 14“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

- Thankfully, God doesn’t see things that way that you and I see things

- God says it this way (SLIDE),

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8

- God’s original salvation plan was for Israel but in His grace; He extended it to Gentiles (meaning you and me)—"the bad as well as the good”

- Where at times, we may think that is was up to us; it was the “exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us”

- The Apostle Paul writes (SLIDE),

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

- It doesn’t mean that it will be…but God has always intended for Heaven to be full

- Luke gives his version—another version—of this parable in Luke 14:16-24 and he includes this,

23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

- God is tasking us to go out—the “few” is a relative number

- None of us can quantify the “few”

- He sent out invitations again and again to me

- And, I would guess that the same happened to you any many others

- If He would have given up on me on the first try, I would have been lost…for all eternity

- Initially, none of us would have imagined the eternal outcome attached to God’s salvation call

- Some imagined God getting them out of bad situations and predicaments

- But, what God did was so, so much more—not a temporal, temporary deliverance—an eternal deliverance

- God envisions salvation that reaches the multitudes; that alone is further than our imagination can reach

- It’s not just about our local chapel, the church down the street or the nearest megachurch

- It’s about enlarging His kingdom

Transition: So what about you, are you about enlarging His kingdom or even a part of His kingdom?

3) The One

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. 13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

- Then, we have the one

- Somehow, he finds himself at the banquet; yet, he doesn’t have the right garments on

- Traditionally, the invited guests would have been given the attire that would have been worn at the banquet

- I imagine the color and fabrics would have been set so everyone was all on one accord

- The bride and bridegroom and the wedding party are all enjoying themselves

- You can look around and there’s enough food and drink for everyone

- Then, the host of the party—the king who is footing the bill—comes across something that should not be

- He’s gone to the extent of furnishing everything for everyone there

- Still, something’s out of place…somebody has decided to do their own thing; he dared to be different

- The king wonders, how did he even make it in?

- After having gone to great lengths to secure a spot for each one there, it shouldn’t make sense that I come in clothed any way I want

- But not to this one; this one believes that it doesn’t matter how they got in the door

-Now, this is not a dress etiquette for the local church today

- The principle is that we can come dressed in our own righteousness and way of doing things

- That our own righteousness should be enough in God’s eyes

- That’s outside of what the Bible says in every way

- In the letter to the Galatians, Paul writes (Gal 3:27),

“for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” – NIV

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ [into a spiritual union with the Christ, the Anointed] have clothed yourselves with Christ [that is, you have taken on His characteristics and values].” – Amplified

- God realized that we can never come in on our own righteousness

- There’s not enough right we could ever do and all that we could ever do amounts to nothing

- It will never compare or equal up to what Christ did (2 Cor 5:21)

21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

- It’s about Christ’s righteousness not our righteousness

CLOSING: As I begin to close, God has given out invitations to this grand banquet for His Son

- He’s reached out time and time again; only to be ignored, disregarded, and in some ways belittled

- The Old Testament points to those who have done it

- The New Testament even to our present day points to those who have done the same

- The question remains what will we do? Will we side with the many or be chosen with the few?

- We should learn from the lesson of the one when we consider the kingdom of heaven and God’s invitations

- Three invitations go out here in this parable

FAITHpoint: (SLIDE)

God beckons us to come to Him—to cast aside our righteousness for the only righteousness that matters—that of Jesus Christ

- Will you pray with me…