Unexpected Invitation

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."

Introduction:

Wedding invitation, Big Gala… Governor’s ball…

Outline:

· Invitation by the King

· Invitations sent out early… It was to be a feast of feasts. It was a wedding feast for his son.

· Invitations by the king were a great honor and to reject one would be an insult to the king.

· Much had been planned and many were expected to attend.

· Culture would dictate that on the day of the feast everything would be prepared in anticipation of the guests arrival.

· And then the call went out… Wedding feasts in those days didn’t last just one day…They lasted a week and on the wedding day a banquet.

· No expense was spared for the wedding.

The feast is ready and kings sends his servants/slaves out to call everyone who received an invitation to come.

· Like last week we find those who are of noble authority treat the slaves poorly, beating them, mistreated them, and killed them.

· They took the kings invitation lightly.

· Judgment comes. Troops are sent and the cities are destroyed.

o In AD 70 because of the Jewish insurrection the city and the temple were destroyed.

· Those whom he had entrusted in watching over his kingdom were not worthy. They had little regard for what the king had entrusted them with. They went to do their own works rather than the king’s works.

· They did not honor the king rather they honored themselves.

o One went to his own farm…

§ Luke’s gospel illuminates this a little more… But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.' 19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.'

o Another attended to his business.

· Each one made an excuse why they could not come to the banquet even though they had received the invitation.

· Again like the prophets (the servants of God) that had come before and warned Israel to turn back… they too were killed or ignored.

Those who were outcast were now invited.

· The priest, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Sanhedrin would not have allowed certain individual to enter the temple. They would not have approved of them they would have been outcasts.

o What separated them from the others was their pride. The pride in who they were and their status. They did not care about the poor and outcast. They did not care what the outcast thought. They were only concerned with themselves and what they thought.

o Pride is what separates us from God. It is the root of all the other vices because it doesn’t care about anyone but itself.

· But here we find that those who are on the fringe, the outcast, and the Gentiles are now being invited to the feast. The king reaches out and sends his servants to them and invites them and gathers them.

o What an amazing thing to do to gather. Actually the Greek word used here is “synegagon” which literally means they synagogued. In other words God tabernacle – He was present in their midst.

· These are the ones who recognize the kings favor. They had nothing to offer. They were not the righteous pious ones.

o What they did have a heart that did not reject but one that accepted what the king had to offer.

o The joy they must have experienced. Knowing that it wasn’t just a select few who had the appearance of righteousness but them who were offered a place at the banquet table.

o It was their heart and their transformation that made them welcome at the banquet.

· What a gift to be offered.

· Yet there was one who did not receive the gift. One who was still in his old clothes and not the wedding clothes offered.

o 18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

· God transforms us when we come to him and receive his grace – His invitation. It is an invitation that He sends out to all.

· In Jesus sends his disciples out to the village to heal the sick, the cast out demons and proclaim the kingdom of God is near. but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'

· This is the same message that we find in our gospel reading this morning in that God sends out His servants to tell those that kingdom of God is near… The wedding feast is ready-come and partake.

· But even then not all did and the one who didn’t was cast out. And so the message is not just to the Pharisees and rulers who rejected Jesus as the Messiah, it is also to us in church that do not receive Jesus as the Messiah. As it was warning the Israelites about the fall of Jerusalem it is also a warning to us of the judgment to come if we choose not follow Jesus and become sanctified. If we choose to go our own way or we chose to decide for Jesus what He should have done.

· It will separate us from God in the end. It will keep us from the kingdom.

o Not fair you say… not His doing – our doing. We have a choice to receive His invitation and to come or not to come to the feast.

§ Movie the Wedding Crasher

o We have a choice of trying to party crash only to be thrown out or to be a part of His kingdom.

God’s grace is not to be taken lightly. It is costly. Like the wedding banquet that was set by the king – the grace extended comes only through Jesus Christ’s dead on the cross for the forgiveness of sin. It is through faith in what God did through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we can come to Him.

· Martin defines it our garment coming our faith It is through our faith that we receive the wedding garment. Augustine it about our faith and works. But John Calvin probably puts it best:

o “There is no point in arguing about the marriage ferment, whether it is faith or a holy and godly life; for faith cannot be separated from good works and good works proceed only from faith. All Christ wants to say here is that we are called by the Lord under the condition that we be renewed in our spirits into His image and therefore, if we are to remain always in His house, the old man with all his blemishes is to be cast off and we are to proctive the new life so that our appearance may correspond to our honorable calling.”

For us today:

· The warning given is to us too and we too have a choice to follow God and become more like Him…to be more in His image. As Paul said to continue to work out our salvation…to strive for the higher call. As our Epistle points us:

o Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, of there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

· God invites us to the wedding banquet. The invitation has been sent out to you. You have received it. You have a chose to choice to come and you have a choice to make excuses for why you can’t… My friends will think that I am weak for relying on my faith. You don’t need organized religion. Or you are labeled as being too religious…

· The separation and what keeps us from receiving is God’s gift of grace is Pride. We become like the Pharisee and the other leaders. I am good, I can worship God how I see fit. And when we do we become like the man who did not have a wedding garment… a garment that God gives those who receive Him…

· Like invitation today – you have to RSVP – Yes I will or No I won’t because I have something more important. How will you respond today…

· AMEN

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. 9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."