RSVP - Matthew 22:1-14

As a Pastor, I have had the privilege to attend a couple of hundred weddings. I don’t always stay for the reception. I do try to return the RSVP card because I have also hosted a couple of weddings. I know it is important for people to know how many people plan to be present so the food can be prepared (and money can be saved).

What is true for weddings would be even more true for State dinners. The guest list is carefully prepared for a dinner in the White House. Imagine the clamor for an invitation when the daughter of the President is getting married in the Rose Garden. It would be a premium invitation.

That is the situation in the scenario that Jesus sets up. This is the third of three parables that all seem to teach the same thing: those who do not follow through on their profession of faith will end up in eternal punishment.

Let’s look at the text.

Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2“The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

4“So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

7“The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

11“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet 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.”

So, here is the situation: A King prepared for the wedding of His Son. They planned a big reception which may have been planned to last for days Invitations were sent out and perhaps some of the people even RSVP’d. When everything was in place and the big event was about to happen, the King sent out his servants to bring the guests to the reception. (Think about sending a limo to your house to pick you up for the wedding.)

The invited guests decline the invitation at the last minute. The king sends the servants again. Some of the invited guests react harshly. Some of the messengers are killed! The King is furious and sent the army to destroy them. Then he sent the cars out to the streets to round up guests for the wedding and the celebration takes place as planned.

It is easy to decode the parable

God is the King

The Son is Jesus

The Banquet is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb . . . in other words Heaven when all is said and done.

The messengers are preachers and prophets.

The first to receive the invitation was the upright Jews

The outcasts are the Gentiles.

Once again Jesus is telling the Jewish leaders and teachers of the law their obstinate refusal to embrace Him as Messiah; their unwillingness to see their own sinful state; and their hostile response to those who proclaim the truth will lead them to be cast aside as God’s leaders. The leaders knew exactly what Jesus was saying and they even more furious than they had been.

However, we are concerned about what this passage teaches us. Some of the lessons should be quite familiar.

God Invites us to His Table

If you are invited to a wedding, or if you were invited to a State Dinner at the White House it is a great honor. It is an expression of respect and often of affection. The same is true in the summons to salvation.

The Lord did not have to make a way for us to be forgiven and make us a part of God’s family. But He did. He has said, “Come to me all who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” He said He gave His life as a ransom for us. The message is profound: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

When your boss “invites” you to a meeting, you better show up. Likewise, when a King or the President invites you to a meal, you ought to cancel everything else on your schedule and go to the meal.

The Lord commands us to repent and believe. However, that command is given graciously and lovingly. He calls us to return to a healthy and loving relationship with Him through Jesus. It is God’s lifeline to us. The wise person receives the lifeline and holds on for dear life. We are drowning and He gives us a way to be saved. What we do with the lifeline will determine where we will spend eternity.

Many People will not Accept the Invitation

Our parable affirms that many (most) people will not accept the invitation. Some will simply ignore it and others will be actively opposed to the invitation. They will be angry at even the notion that they need someone to rescue them. Some of them believe they deserve Heaven. They will not admit their sin and see themselves as “good people.”

It seems that the many people today are indifferent to the message of the gospel. They dismiss it as irrelevant to their lives. They believe the Bible has been shown to be “full of errors” and “contradictions”. I have yet to see one of the errors or contradictions. Others just don’t see it as a priority in their lives at present. Some of these people declare they are going to address their relationship with God “someday.” There is no urgency.

Some attack anyone who 1) implies we need to be made right with God (either because they don’t believe in God or because they believe they are fine with God). 2) says there is only one way to be right with God. We’ve talked about this before: the latter group will call you names: you are intolerant, close-minded, speaking words of hate.

They, of course, do not see their own intolerance. Randy Newman in his book Questioning Evangelism shares some of his conversations with such people.

NON-CHRISTIAN: How can you believe that your way is the only way?

CHRISTIAN: Well, you believe that your way is the only way, don’t you—the way that says that exclusive ways are wrong?

To the person who says, “Christians are arrogant” Newman says he believes Christianity is a voice of humility in tan age of arrogance. He askes a series of questions: Do you think you are going to heaven? . . . Do you think everyone is going to heaven? (even Hitler, Osama bin Laden?) Why do you think you are likely to go to Heaven?

NON-CHRISTIAN: Well, I’m a pretty good person. I’ve never killed anyone. CHRISTIAN: So, you’ll get to heaven because you’ve been pretty good, but some people will go to hell because they’ve been pretty bad?

NON-CHRISTIAN: Yes. I think so.

CHRISTIAN: So, you think that you’re better than the people who go to hell? NON-CHRISTIAN: Hmm. I guess.

CHRISTIAN: You see? That’s why I say that Christianity is a voice of humility in an age of arrogance. I think that your belief is pretty much what most people think. But Christianity says that no one is good enough to get to heaven.

NON-CHRISTIAN: No one?

CHRISTIAN: No one. The only way people get to heaven is by accepting a gift—not by earning a reward. That’s humble. Thinking that you deserve to go to heaven is arrogant.

It is important to keep in mind that many of the people you talk to about the gospel will reject what you are saying. They are not rejecting you . . . they are rejecting the Lord!

Many Who End up at the Banquet will be Surprising

Since the people who were invited to the banquet chose not to attend, the King told the servants to go out to the street corners and invite everyone you can see. The obvious meaning of this command is: since the Jewish leaders were not faithful to the faith; since they were unwilling to respond to God’s invitation of salvation through Jesus, the Promised Messiah, the message of the gospel as directed to the Gentiles (people like us).

From a contemporary perspective, we are reminded that not everyone in Heaven will be people we expect to see there. Heaven is not for the religious, or those considered “good” by the world. Heaven is for those who have been transformed by the love of God extended to us through Christ. Some of these people will be poor, broken, rejected by the world. When we get to Heaven I suspect we will see people

Of different ethnic backgrounds

Those raised in different religions but found Jesus

Those who have been convicted of major crimes

Those who were bullies

People with various sexual preferences

Liberals and Conservatives. . . there might even be a politician or two . . . or even a lawyer!

The point is that we are not part of the final banquet because of our goodness or status. We are part of the final banquet because of the grace and mercy of the King. You don’t need to bring your résumé. All that is required is you bring a contrite heart and a desire to enter a relationship with Christ as your Savior and Lord. A contrite heart is one that is truly sorry for wrong that was committed. This is not a sorrow at being “caught,” It is a deep regret for the offense we committed against God with a desire to be forgiven and made right with God.

Have you come to God humbly and with your heart open to Him?

You Must Come through Christ

The strangest part of the parable is the part about the man who is not wearing the proper clothes at the wedding reception.

Suppose you walked into a State dinner at the White House. Everyone is wearing tuxes and gowns. And then one guy is there in blue jeans and a t-shirt. He would be out of place. He would appear to be mocking the festivities. He would be quickly removed from the premises.

We understand this but that the servants went out and brought people in from the streets to attend the reception. Of course, people were not going to be dressed appropriately – they were not expected to attend the festivities!

Some suggest that everyone else ran home and donned their dress clothes before coming to the wedding. That is unlikely. What is likely is: the King provided proper wedding clothes for the reception. If that is the case, this man apparently refused the clothes provided for him. It may be that he thought his clothes were just fine as they were. This was an insult to the King and showed a disregard for his gift.

Max Lucado tells the story of Danny Decent. He is a pillar of the community. He is well respected wherever he goes. He pays his taxes, loves his wife, is the model dad and a trusted and valuable employee. Max writes,

But heaven sees Danny differently. God sees what you and I miss. For as Mr. Decent walks through life, he makes mistakes. And every time he sins, a stain appears on his clothing. For example, he stretched the truth when he spoke to his boss yesterday. He was stained. He fudged, ever so slightly, on his expense report. Another stain. The other guys were gossiping about the new employee and, rather than walk away, he chimed in. Still another. From our perspective, these aren’t big deals. But our perspective doesn’t matter. God’s does. And what God sees is a man wrapped in mistakes.

Unless something happens, Danny will be the man in the parable, the one without the wedding garment. The wedding garment, you see, is the righteousness of Christ. And if Danny faces Christ wearing his own decency instead of Christ’s goodness, he will hear what the man in the parable heard. “‘You are not dressed for a wedding.’ . . . So the king told some servants, ‘Tie this man’s hands and feet. Throw him out into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain’” (Matt. 22:12–13). (When Christ Comes p. 60 -1999)

The Bible tells us we must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. When Jesus died for us two things happened: first, our sin was put on Him and He paid for it in full. Second, His righteousness was provided for us. When we become a true follower of Jesus we become a new person. We stand before God dressed in the righteousness or perfection of Christ. As a result, we begin to live more in line with the character of God. It is a staggering blessing.

In order to receive His righteousness, we have to acknowledge our own unworthiness. We must, in other words, admit that we are broken, sinful and dirty people. We must acknowledge that we have taken the wrong course. Even if the whole world applauds us, we are still sinners before a Holy God. Those who refuse to humble themselves and take the righteousness of Christ will stand out in Heaven like the guy in blue jean and t-shirt at the State dinner.

Those Who Refuse Will Face Dire Consequences

The people who said they were coming to the wedding and then changed their mind are like the son who said he would do something and then did not. They are like the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law who claimed to serve the Lord but would not listen and surrender to the Lord of Life. They are like those who today will walk an aisle, raise a hand, say a prayer, but refuse to alter their life and submit to the Lordship and control of the Lord Jesus.

Our text tells us that they will be destroyed. History shows us that Israel was destroyed. These leaders watched as the Temple was burned down by the Romans. They two will be sent to Hell by the Lord who wanted to save them but they refused.

As for the man who was in the wrong clothes, we read,

Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet 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.”

The point is this: if you refuse the forgiveness and life of Christ, you will get what you desired . . . to live life without the Lord. His blessings will be removed and you will be in outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

That’s not the picture many people paint of hell. Some say they don’t want to go to Heaven; they want to party with their friends in Hell. Boy, do they have the wrong picture! There will be no laughter, no parties, no singing, no joy, no friendship or companionship.

Conclusion

Once more the message is: pretenders will be exposed in the end. God will allow you to play at discipleship for a while, but someday, that superficial faith will be exposed. This parable is a call to be a genuine follower. He calls us to surrender to Him, to admit our desperate need and follow him resolutely.

We should ask some questions: Are we more interested in what we own rather than where we will spend eternity? Are you more interested in being happy than being faithful to the Lord? Do you read the paper and watch TV more than you read your Bible? Do you make decisions based on feeling or the advice of friends, or by the teaching of God’s Word? Are you indifferent to those around you or involved in helping them? Are you living for Him or for yourself?

You are invited to a banquet with the Lord of Life. Forgiveness is ready. His Spirit is eager to lead and guide your life. The next move is yours. It is not enough to RSVP . . . you actually have to show up!