Trinity 20 2026

Text: “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.’” (Matthew 22:1–14).

The first part of Jesus’ parable is straightforward. Like I told the children when I preached on this text in chapel two weeks ago, what these people did was turn down an invitation to a friend’s birthday party because they had to clean their rooms. It is just that absurd.

We could spend time this morning lamenting how foolish it is that so many people reject the Gospel—which really is like rejecting God’s invitation to a wedding feast. But the person in this parable who is far more important for us to consider is the man who actually showed up, only to be cast out.

He had accepted the invitation. He was right there among the other guests. But when the king came in, he found this man without a wedding garment and ordered him to be bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness, where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

He was at the feast. And he was cast out anyway.

The first thing you and I need to hear is this: That could be you. You have accepted the invitation. You have come to the feast. You belong to the Church. But simply being present among God’s people does not guarantee that you belong to His kingdom.

So what was wrong with this man? Why was he cast out?

Jesus tells us that he was not wearing a wedding garment. We tend to imagine that he showed up in dirty, ragged clothing. But Jesus does not actually tell us what he was wearing. For all we know, he might have been the best-dressed man in the room. His clothing might have been expensive, elegant, and perfectly appropriate for any other occasion.

But it was not the wedding garment.

Jesus is not establishing some arbitrary dress code for heaven. He is talking about what makes you presentable before God. What makes you righteous in His sight.

We think of Christianity as a way to make ourselves better people. We expect the Church to help us straighten our ties, so to speak. To make sure our belts match our shoes, to point out the stains on our shirts, and remind us that our shoes need polishing. Maybe even help us get our hair to lie down properly.

We expect the Church to teach us to be more patient, more generous, more forgiving. We expect it to point out the things we’re doing wrong and help us correct them. But instead of calling us to repentance and faith, we expect it to teach us how to live better lives.

When you begin to imagine that cleaning up your act, getting your life in order, is what makes you righteous—that this is what makes you presentable before God—you have a problem. A big one.

You have turned the Church into a spiritual fashion show. You come to show off how well dressed you are, figuratively speaking. How well you’ve cleaned up your life.

And you go a step further. You compare yourself to the people around you. You notice whose tie is crooked, so to speak, whose shoes are not polished, and whose clothes do not measure up to your expectations. You might even congratulate yourself because you’re so much better dressed than the people around you.

But you are performing for the wrong audience.

Because, when you look at yourself in the mirror of God’s Law, you discover something terrible. All those carefully arranged clothes, all those efforts to make yourself look respectable, cannot hide what you really are.

It does not matter how many sins you push out of your life, how honest, hard working, and generous you have become. It does not matter how good you look compared to everyone else. If you’re counting on those things to make you righteous before God, they’re nothing more than fig leaves you have strung together to try to cover the shame of your sin.

And when the King comes to you and asks, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” you will have nothing to say.

He will order you to be bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness. God’s Law will strip away your pretensions and you will stand before God with your shame fully exposed.

You and I do not simply need to become better people. You need a Savior.

And that wedding garment is exactly what we’re here to give you.

It is something far beyond anything you could ever aspire to, anything you could ever hope to accomplish for yourself. It is the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God.

Throughout His earthly life, Jesus wove a garment of perfect righteousness. Every word He spoke, every act of love and mercy, every temptation He resisted, every commandment He kept was another thread in that garment. He loved His Father with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength. He loved His neighbor as Himself. He never sinned. Not once. Not in thought, word, or deed.

And the garment He wove was perfect. Not a single stain. Not a single flaw. Not a single thread out of place. A seamless robe of righteousness, beautiful beyond anything we could imagine.

And He completed that glorious garment of righteousness through His suffering and death.

They clothed Him in a purple robe, mocking Him as a king. They pressed a crown of thorns onto His head instead of a crown of gold. As He hung naked on the cross, the soldiers below divided His garments among themselves and cast lots for His tunic.

And when Jesus was dead, they wrapped His body in a linen shroud and laid Him in a tomb.

And on the third day, He rose again.

The One who was stripped and crucified is risen from the dead. And forty days later, He ascended into heaven, returning to His Father, having accomplished everything He had been sent to do.

He stood before His Father without shame, clothed in perfect righteousness. And the Father exalted Him in glory and majesty.

The One who had been mocked with a purple robe is now robed in majesty. The One who had worn a crown of thorns is crowned with glory and honor. The One who had been stripped naked and exposed to shame now reigns at the right hand of His Father, worthy to receive all power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!

He endured all of that to bear your sins, to suffer your judgment, to die your death.

His suffering is finished. His victory is complete. Your sins have been paid for. Death has been conquered.

And something far more precious than the garment those soldiers cast lots for has been given to you.

You have been clothed with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself.

St. Paul writes in Galatians 3:27: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

You have put on Christ. His perfect obedience is yours. His death has atoned for your sins. His resurrection is the promise of your resurrection.

That’s your wedding garment. That’s what makes you righteous before God. You stand before Him clothed in the righteousness of His Son.

Your sins are forgiven. You are righteous. You are fit to stand before God.

Because Christ has clothed you with Himself.

And now, in heaven, the great multitude cries out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 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.”

And the bride is clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. It has been granted her to wear it. And that fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

The good works that could never make you righteous before God are now the fruits of the righteousness Christ has given you. The love you show to one another, the forgiveness you extend, the mercy you demonstrate, the kindness you offer—these are the works of those who have been clothed with Christ.

Live in that righteousness now. Walk in love. Give thanks to God. Serve one another. Not to make yourselves presentable before Him, but because He has clothed you with His Son.

And one day, the wedding feast will begin. The Bridegroom will come for His bride. And the Church will stand before Him, cleansed by the washing of water with the Word, in all the splendor He has given her.

And you will be there.

When the King asks you, “Friend, where is your wedding garment?” you will not stand there, speechless, or offer excuses, or compare yourself with anyone else. You will stand before Him clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.