Many Are Called Sunday, October 15, 2017 - 9 AM

“Many Are Called… - Matthew 22:1-14 Bascomb UMC / October 15, 2017 / 9:00 & 11 AM Focus: The great challenge of this double parable: come to the banquet and wear the righteousness of Christ! Function: To challenge believers to live out on the inside the same righteousness symbolized by the wedding garment they wear on the outside. 5 Purpose Outcomes of the Church: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Service Matthew 22:1–14 (NRSV) - Parables of the wedding party 1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so 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 a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.” Phillip Yancy tells a modern-day version of this parable. A well-to-do, well connected couple in NY book an elaborate wedding reception at a fine venue and pay ½ the tab up front - $20,000 to reserve the locale and the food. But in this story, the groom backs out at the last minute and a refund is impossible. So, the bride extends invitations to all the homeless shelters and food kitchens to come and enjoy the banquet! How delightful to see the Least, the Last, and the Lost of NY city come into such a fancy hall and enjoy a feast beyond anything most of us could dream of in our lifetimes! Was it THAT big a deal to not make it to a wedding? They had one good reason or another. How does this work? We send out an invitation by mail and they send back a card with their regrets. However, the excuses being made in the parable aren't in response to a “save-the-date;” they had apparently responded “we’ll be there!” Now everything is ready; “come inside and eat!" “Come and get it!” (Pause) And they don’t come…. and the reasons given for backing out are weak! They’ve had plenty of time to plan. They promised to come and now they had reneged. This is a fierce double parable that is hard to preach! Jesus is identifying his mission with that of the prophets: messengers who were rejected. This parable rebukes those who obstruct the Kingdom of God and assume special status for themselves. Chapter 21 ends with, “the chief priests and the Pharisees … realized that he was speaking about them” and Rome was about to bring God’s judgement on Jerusalem - the king in the parable was NOT angry with the little guys - your everyday Jewish citizen, but with the leadership, the shepherds, the priests and Pharisees! Sadly, the consequences fall on them all. TEOTWAWKI – you know what that means? The End of the World as we know it. One day there will be a final end to this creation – I believe that. But church people love to get lost in the END TIMES – the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation and the “Left Behind” series. The more likely truth is that most of us will face an individual “End of the World as We Know It” before the end of time itself. In our text today, it was “The End of the World As They Knew It” for Jerusalem. It ended at Masada – a fortress Herod built as an escape from his paranoid fears. Those fears had become real for the Jewish rebellion against Rome. The Maccabees had defeated the Greek armies, so why shouldn’t Rome be defeated as well? Well….the Romans learned a few new tricks over countless battles. They overthrew this little Jewish rebellion and the temple in Jerusalem was burned. While the gilded temple chairs, tables, and poles burned, the gold covering melted into the stone floor. To get at the gold between the cracks, the soldiers dug out every stone. Jesus knew this was coming…. Now Jesus left the temple and was going away. His disciples came to point out to him the temple buildings. He responded, “Do you see all these things? I assure that no stone will be left on another. Everything will be demolished.” Matthew 24:1-2 (CEB) Here was the temple’s complete destruction (except that lone western wall). It slammed the door on the Jew’s sacrificial system of worship. They had to adjust to new rituals - at home and in the synagogue. The Sanhedrin were dissolved and the Chief priests were no more. The Christian Jews were already out of town, for the most part. Many had been driven out of Jerusalem by persecution decades before. The historian Eusebius recorded that some of the remaining Jewish Christians fled to Pella, a city across the Jordan River when the revolt began. These events threw the young Christian church toward the Gentiles and the revolt drove a wedge between Christian Jews (who did not support the revolt) the Zealot Jews who revolted. This is the context for Matthew’s gospel. Most scholars agree it was written around 70 A.D. so the passage today made perfect sense to those who first read this text: “The king was angry. He sent his soldiers to destroy those murderers and set their city on fire. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding party is prepared, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. Therefore, go to the roads on the edge of town and invite everyone you find to the wedding party.’ ” Matthew 22: 7-9 (CEB) A deep division had formed between the Jewish faith of Jesus and the Christian communities (with Jewish leadership like James, Peter, and Paul) were more and more including Gentile converts. Rome was God’s judgement on the Jerusalem leaders! The Jewish faith paid the consequences and the Jewish Christians (along with a lot of Gentiles) took up the mission. After A.D. 70, Christian-Jews were not permitted in the synagogues. That’s what they read into this text. But what do WE do with it? (PAUSE – look around) If you’re sitting in this sanctuary, you might be a little nervous because WE are now the insiders, WE (well, most of us) have RSVP’d to God’s invitation. Jesus' is inviting humanity to the kingdom of God. We get our invitation to this banquet NOW while we are HERE on earth. We hear the invitation in scripture and through the church: confirmation classes, Sunday School, in fellowship with Christians that God sent to invite all humanity to join us at the Lord's table. And many of those outside the church apparently feel they have more important things to do. “Maybe someday," they think, “we’ll make time for this religion thing, but, come on – the date hasn’t arrived yet and it’s more fun doing what WE want to do - when WE want to do it – let us build our own little kingdoms first, let it wait!” But in this text I hear something: there is a limit to God's patience. Do you hear in this story that those who decline a first chance to come -- at least for the present – will be passed over to invite others until the halls are full? OH, I don’t want to preach THAT! The good news is….there are really TWO parables in this text and we understand the first meaning: we offer that invitation outside these walls, YES. TURN or BURN! Today is the day! Now is salvation offered to all. TEOTWAWKI comes for each one of us! So, answer the invitation! (aside – in a whisper) But I’m more concerned in THIS text with the insiders, the RSVPs in the room. One Elder I served under would move communion around rather than on first Sunday because he noticed that attendance dropped when we had communion. WHY? Was communion not as entertaining as regular worship? The tradition I was raised in only observed the Lord’s Supper once or twice a year. According to today’s text, there are good and bad people invited to this banquet. They are not all wonderful people like us Saints! And that brings me to the second parable. 11 Now when the king came in and saw the guests, he spotted a man who wasn’t wearing wedding clothes. 12 He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet and throw him out into the farthest darkness. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.’ Matthew 22:11-13 OH, I don’t want to preach THAT either! This fierce double parable is concerned for the mission of the church and for the faithfulness of those in the church. When we DO come to the Table, our only garment should be the one Christ gave us when he forgave all our sins on the cross. We can't make our own garment and we can't come to the feast without the garment he gave us. Jews are not rejected, and Gentiles do not have to become Jews, but all of us have to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ and that means being willing to leave immorality and idolatry behind. So, if you RSVP-ed the invitation, GREAT! Welcome to the party, but we are saved TO perform a mission. Our job is to tell everyone about the beautiful banquet promised us. Our job is to tell others that God wants the hall to be filled even if the Holy Spirit must drag in ALL US bums and criminals - just as long as we come wearing the free gift of that white robe. The way into the Table goes through the waters of baptism and those who accept the invitation must not reject the new and holy identity that God offers them. Accept discipleship and wear the wedding garment. Jesus alluded to this in many parables: the sheep and the goats, the wheat and the tares, the saint and the sinner – is inside of each of us. Come as you are, YES – but you can’t stay that way. The invitation is generous and it is broad, but it does not pretend that “you are just fine the way you are.” You and I are NOT — we are troubled, confused, sinful, mortal, and perhaps sick or in deep distress. BELIEVE, BELONG, BEHAVE! God loves us so much that we will not be left unchanged. One of my counseling classes in seminary happened at the time a famous golfer was caught cheating on his family. He claimed he “was addicted to sex.” I asked my professor what she would say to this man’s excuse. She said, “I want to know what he was doing now to ensure that he would NEVER cheat on his family again.” Gut check! How do you measure your progress as a disciple of Christ? You can sit in worship and feel pretty good about your prayers (we did that right?) and your presence (you’re here right?). But I ask you to look hard at your gifts (how close are you to a tithe), your service (that happens outside these walls), and your witness (how could people tell you are a Christian?). WE are saved TO something. We carry the invitation, WE RSVP-ed and WE are at the party – do you have your robe on? – does it fit? TEOTWAWKI comes for us all! Make sure you recognize the price paid for that robe you’re wearing -- just in case you get called sooner than you think. “Many are called…” now you decide how Jesus will finish that sentence “are you chosen?”….let us pray. BENEDICTION: Therefore, as God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other. And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Colossians 3:12-14 (CEB) Page 7 of 7