A Kingdom of Mercy

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

22 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

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.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

Introduction

One of my favorite questions during spiritual conversations is what do you think you would say to God when you die if He ask why should let you into heaven?

The answer that someone gives tells us what they are ultimately trusting in … what are they staking their eternity on … most folks offer some version of I’ve been a pretty good person, and I hope that it’s enough … I hope I measure up … most treat heaven, God’s eternal rest, our whole eternity like a bell curve grade in college … we just want to be in the top 50% … we figure that as long as I’ve got enough folks around me that I know are “worse” that I’ll be ok … but we dont’ really know …

The other thing I’ve found is that those who recognize their need … their actual need for forgiveness … for God to not grade on a curve but to simply extend mercy to us, are often those have become those who need it least … while those who don’t believe they need mercy, often those who need it most … those who have experienced mercy, been shown mercy … become those who show mercy, become gracious

Let’s see in our text this morning … 1st - we want to see 3 stages/ways that God’s mercy comes to us … then I want us to see one very specific application… how should those who have experienced God’s mercy respond to government’s authority

A Call

A Covering

A Celebration

A Call

Let’s set our stage … v1-5 … King sends his servants to call folks to a banquet … a party … this isn’t just any party … this is a once in a lifetime party, can’t miss it, this is the gala … and He sends His servants to invite … who … who is being invited … the already invited

so they’ve already been invited … already rsvped … told the king they were coming … and now the king has been preparing … weeks … weeks in advance, invitations, acceptance and preparation .... the servants are going to those who said they were coming and saying get dressed, clean up, put on that fancy dress … and get here … walk, ride, car pool .... here is the date, be ready and get here

Now let’s think about who this is … we need to think about ourselves … these are the religious insiders … Jesus has been talking to the religious leaders, pharisees, the moral, those who know how to do this God thing … the regular church attenders, the leaders … folks who have publicly said … I’m coming, I’m a part of that … maybe you got baptized, maybe you taught a class, maybe you raise your hands, or you play an instrument, maybe you’ve got the fish sticker on your bumper, or the t-shirt, or the checks that have a cute verse printed on them … it isn’t wrong to do any of those things … but they aren’t actually coming to the party, the are rsvp’s, they are public yeses … but Jesus is teaching, showing, saying to them and us … it’s possible to have done all of those things and when/where it actually counts … you never come to the feast

v5,6 - 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them

these folks decided that the other stuff was more important … business, life, family, responsibilities … not bad stuff, moral stuff, good stuff, honorable stuff … just more important, held their hearts

and do you see how v6 shows us that it wasn’t just indifference, it wasn’t just priority … but that the choosing ultimately reveals a hostility

And v7 - 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. … the king … he doesn’t take this lightly, killing his servants was an act of war, it was an act of aggression … the choosing of the other … the prioritizing the good over the godly … the honorable over the highest … it’s actually a polite way of saying … Nobody tells me what to do, nobody can make me come to the party, nobody gets to tell me what I should prioritize

Next in our story we see that a 2nd group of people, are invited and do show up … I want us to see this point first … those who rejected and those who show up … nobody knows about the party without the call … without the invitation … the King invites

Lots of folks have religious/spiritual experiences … they have moments … they see the sunset … they see the beauty and the majesty, they may even feel small … someone may experience profound forgiveness, or even show profound forgiveness … a spiritual thing happens … they may even tell folks about it, they might show up to church on a Sunday for a while … but the authentic Christian experience, the one that has received the very mercy of God … knows it is because God has called them, knows it wasn’t their idea

When you experience the mercy of God in a transforming way, you discover that as much as you might think, I was searching, I was asking … He had been pursuing the whole time, it was actually His idea

If there is a God, he created the universe that is filled with billions of stars and solar systems and Milky Ways and galaxies. He holds it all together with the word of his power, his pinky. If he is calling you, you don’t say to somebody like that, “Wait.” You come when I call you. How dare you! I’m not proving there is a God. I’m just trying to say if there is a God, you must come when he calls.

One of the reasons why we aren’t more aware of how much he loves us is we actually give ourselves too much credit. We forget this doctrine of the call. We think, “Here I am scared that maybe I’ll lose God’s love,” but it’s only by God’s love you would be scared. You’re not getting his mercy by keeping up. You’re keeping up only by his mercy.

What I’m trying to say to some of you is if the doctrine of the call is true, some of you need to rejoice for a change. Some of you need to strive to enter into his rest. Isn’t that weird? Strive to enter into his rest. That’s in the Bible. How can that be? Yes, you have to work to stop working. You have to be worried about only one thing, that you’re too worried. It’s his mercy which called you. The great things in your life are not there either through luck or by performance, and therefore, you can stop your worry. Mercy comes through a call. You have to respond.

A Covering

We see throughout the Gospels that Jesus was really good something … irritating peole, and challenging them everytime they thought they had him figured out … right … the religious think he’s one of them, then they watch him interact with the commoners … with the tax collectors and sinners, with the whores and prostitutes … with the rebellious and licentious. And the we’ll see him feed the masses, the rabble and they want to make him king, they want free food and the “man” overthrown … they want to eliminate the responsibilities and the obligations of life … they want it handed to them … and He rejects that idea just as well … he isn’t a progressive or a conservative … pro-populism or pro-power … he isn’t a socialist or a capitalist … he doesn’t fit the human categories … He confronts all the categories … and somehow calls each of them to himself …

in the first verses those he calls are landowners … the priviledged, the powerful, the beautiful … the wealthy … he tells them to get ready, this would have meant wear your finest, maybe have something new made, expensive and lavish, for the wedding feast of the Prince, (son of the King) … but then they refuse to come … to busy, their hearts have other priorities …

So the King sends his servants to the crossroads … the intersections … one main road from the country into the city, in the city it would branch off and spread out … so those intersections were the spots of diversity, culturally, racially, socio-economically, even morally

So the King has thrown a wide net … everyone is now welcome … everyone is invited … now at first glance it appears that the standards have changed … at first you had to be someone to be invited … and now the gate is wide, everyone is included … but there is this weird little interaction that shows us something amazing

the King comes into the room … sees someone without a wedding garment on … approaches and asks Him … how did you get in here without a wedding garment … why are you still wearing your everyday, street corner intersection clothing? … guy is speechless … this is the key to understanding this

See he could have said, I didn’t have time to go home and grab my best clothes … but he doesn’t

He could have also said, even if I did have time to go home, I don’t have any clothes worthy of this kind of party … but he doesn’t say that either

So follow this … original guests, had time to prepare get their wedding clothes ready … they didn’t come … the 2nd group was ask on the street, came immediately, the party was ready … so none of them would have had their wedding clothes on …

Now this parable has proven troublesome to some through the years … because it appears that the standards have changed, that the first guests were being held to a standard that the 2nd weren’t

it seems like Jesus was saying to the pharisees and the religious … you were invited, you were special and good and knew the rules … but you rejected … now it’s alli alli oxen free … everyone gets in

But this little addition our guy without the wedding clothes changes the whole story … if you earn your way in, land owner, person of means, good and moral … how can the street walker be in there, how can the tax collector and the poor be in the feast?

And if everyone is just accepted as they are, how come this guy is getting tossed out and thrown into hell … Jesus is apparently saying you can’t just come in exactly as you are … what kind of needle threading is happening here?

Unlike the traditional religion, Jesus says, “You do not earn your place in the kingdom of God.” But unlike the modern idea, “God just accepts everybody,” God does not love people unconditionally; he loves people counter-conditionally and at infinite cost to himself. Therefore, do you see unless you believe that if you go right in to God just as you are, you’ll be thrown into the outer darkness? Unless you believe in that, there’ll be no joy in your life.

See the only solution is the King has provided the clothing at the door for everyone who enters … no one in the party had time to go home, many wouldn’t have had the clothes at home or the means to purchase … so everyone in the party has been clothed by the king … and this guy, this guy has rejected the clothing, the covering of the King … He has said I don’t want what you have offered … it doens’t tell us if he thought he was too dirty or too clean … and frankly it doesn’t really matter does it … doesn’t matter why he has rejected the King’s offer … just that he did … just that he tried to be at the feast in his own clothes

Those who come into the feast are those who see that the only way in … is through the free offer of the King … an offer to be covered, to be clothed not in whatever we bring, but in what only He can provide … Only beggars get in the door … only those who know they are in need

It’s when we see God’s offer for what it is … we figure out that we show up in our own clothes, covered in sin, death, disease … and he says … you’ve got to be willing to be stripped naked, you have to be willing to set everything you bring to the side … your sin and your righteousness … both your good and your bad aren’t enough … not enough to get you in and not enough to keep you out

His mercy is our covering

A Celebration

Let’s drill down just a little further … I mentioned it almost in passing but … think about the guy standing speechless in front of the King …

See what I think is happening is that the guy thought his clothes were fine and good and pretty … maybe he had them on, maybe he carried them around, maybe his house is on the way and he ran in and changed … but he has come to the party believing that what he has is good, better than what the rabble was wearing for sure .... and then he gets to the door … and the servants offer him, suggest to him, maybe even demand of him … no the only way in to wear what the king has provided … but he rejects it … he doesn’t want what the king is offering …

the only guest rejected by the king … it isn’t the evil one, or the dirty one, not the one with the past that would make their moms blush … it’s the person who thinks they are just fine as they are

The meaning of this parable is it’s not your sins that really keep you from God. It’s not your badness that keeps you from God; it’s your goodness, your good deeds. It’s not your sins that really keep you from God; it’s your damnable good works. It’s the things you think make you good enough.

So many are bitter because they see those around them … those who are dirtier, more sinful, not as good as we are … and their lives are going better … their theology isn’t as good, their sacrifice hasn’t been as great

It’s when we realize that the only way in to the party is wearing his clothes … we have to be willing to be stripped naked, not considered for what we have done, we set all of our best stuff, not just our worst stuff aside …

Jesus Christ is not saying, “Here’s some good advice. Live according to the Ten Commandments, and you will find God.” No. He says, “Here’s the news. I have done something that has already saved you.” Not, “Here’s how you can be saved,” but, “I’ve done it.”

One of the great things at Journey is many of you will find as we celebrate communion in just a few minutes that the offer of the bread and cu you have to ask yourself, “Am I a Christian?” Hopefully, on the basis of what you’re hearing, maybe even today, you’re going to say, “I might actually be. I may have gone through religious phases, but I’ve never been a Christian. I don’t know what this is. I’ve never experienced this.” All right. When the bread and the cup comes, don’t take the bread and the cup. It’s for people who are Christians and who know they’re Christians.

Instead take Jesus and say, “You’re calling; I finally answer.” Maybe you could even say, “I was baptized at the age of 13 at a church back in Louisiana. That’s when I signed up, but today I’m coming.” For those of us, we’ve heard the call and answered the call, the reason we’re not walking around smiling and cheering for every plate that comes in, even prison food, is because by the Holy Spirit, these things aren’t real to us.

Ask the Holy Spirit, as the bread and the cup come by, “This little simulated feast … Let my life be characterized by feastingness, by celebration. Let me taste that the Lord is good, not just know it. Let me see what God has done, not just have some kind of conceptual understanding of it.” Do that and he’ll come. What’s so interesting is because he has invited us, now we can actually say, “Lord, come to me,” and he never delays. He never holds back.

A Quick Application:

If we keep reading our passage we read how the religious are mad … they plot, they scheme … and they want to entangle Jesus

-they have gotten the implications of the parables of thes last couple of weeks … they know that Jesus is calling them out, telling them that the things they have been trusting in aren’t enough … and further that the Jesus seems to be willing to accept almost anyone … even if they don’t look qualified … even if they haven’t been keeping the law … so they try to set a trap … it is a very contemporary trap … I’m wathcing this trap play out on at least a daility basis, sometimes it’s coming faster and trickier than this even

what is the trap … Is it lawful to pay taxes to Ceasar or not?

See the trap:

- if He says yes … pay the taxes then he’s a traitor to his people the Jews

-if He says no … don’t pay he’s a revolutionary that the romans will have to crush

So Jesus answers … and I don’t think like some that Jesus is just avoiding the question or deftly using his own trickery … I think He gives us the answer that helps us even today … even in these politically charged times … when doing what you think is good and right still leaves us feeling like we’ve offended half the nation, half our friends, potentially even our own spouse …

Jesus says look at the coin … who’s picture is there .. their response is Ceasar’s … correct so give to ceasar the things that are ceasars and give to God the things that are God’s

Again quickly … think with me … what things are God’s … what things aren’t God’s … it’s all God’s, everything … every nook and cranny of our life, every penny of our money, every moment of our day, every breath we take, every decision we make, masks/no masks, vaccines/no vaccines, post of on social media/every non-post on social media … it’s all his … Ceasar is under God’s authority … President/Governor/Health Department/Mayor/School Board/Parent/Teacher … all operate under God’s authority

every authority is derivative, every authority is - John 19:11 - Pilate’s authority comes because it was given from above

Cesar’s claim must be limited … if God is the actual authority then the authorities have limits - Acts 5:29 - we must obey God rather than man

Ceasar’s claim is shaped by God’s … rendering to Ceasar becomes an act of worship because owns everything even Ceasar - Ephesians 6 - submission to any human authority is done as to the Lord

I think this changes for us how to see these moments … we want to come in our righteousness … our rightness … and say … you have no call on me

But Jesus says … pay your taxes … obey the authority … not because of who they are … Ceasar is evil … but because Ceasar’s authority is derivative, limited, shaped … by God Himself … these things then become worship … we obey because of who God is … not because of who ceasar is

Unless the command of the authority is a violation of God’s authority … unless it causes us to sin … no this isn’t simple :)