Rev. Mark Nieting
Matthew 22:1-14
Take one trip through your basic cable guide and you’re guaranteed to stumble over a number of (so-called) reality shows all themed around WEDDINGS. Just to name a few, there’s “Say yes to the Dress, Cake Boss, Platinum Weddings, My Big Redneck Wedding, Engaged and Underaged (on MTV, of course) and my favorite, Bridezillas! American culture seems obsessed with all things wedding, and cable is cashing in big-time!
In today’s Gospel Jesus gives us a wedding-themed parable in which people have the opposite attitude towards weddings. If WE are “wedding obsessed,” then those Jesus describes in Matthew 22 are “wedding-phobic!” The story, on the surface is simple: a wealthy king has invited his most special friends to the marriage of his son. But instead of jumping at the chance to attend what will be a fantastic feast, EVERYONE on the guest list RSVP’s with a big, fat NO!
The King sends another round of invites to the same folks and the response is an even more emphatic round of “NO!” The King is so upset that in round 3 he sends his troops out and DESTROYS those who “disrespected him.” [THAT would make for a great TV episode, wouldn’t it?] Finally, the King sends his servants to bring in ANYONE they can find, and it’s not long before the hall is filled with a huge crowd.
For most of Jesus’ first century audience and all who paid attention in Sunday School, this part of the parable has a very obvious meaning, especially when it’s connected to the last two parables which were also directed at the Pharisees who rejected Jesus’ every invitation to be a part of the Feast in the Kingdom! The entire Old Testament had been one long invitation and one long time of preparation and when the Bridegroom, in the person of Jesus, finally showed up, the “special people” could have cared LESS! In fact, they crucified Him instead.
We, beginning with the first disciples, are the “other ones.” We’re the “found ones,” the ones to whom the invitation has now been extended. We’re the ones who were pulled in from the alleys and the highways! The invitation came when the Holy Spirit introduced us to Jesus. We were “dressed for the wedding” at the moment of our baptism. Our sins are forgiven and our status is secure. We’ve RSVP’d for the resurrection at the end of the world, when the REAL party starts!!
I have a simple goal for this morning’s message. I want each one of us to get the absolute MOST out of the Invitation that we have received. It’s a wonderful thing to have received this invitation and we don’t want to lose out on any of it. The first thing….and it sounds so SIMPLE…is to ENJOY the fact that you have been invited! If the promises of God are true, and the Gifts He has given us are real: like FORGIVENESS of our SINS, like the POWER of the Holy Spirit living within us…..we ought to be the happiest, most JOY-FILLED people on earth!
Far too often there are way too many followers of Jesus who walk around looking like their invitation to heaven got lost in the mail! We get upset about all sorts of little stuff. We gripe and complain about things that in the big picture are really nothing at all. We live like the Bridezillas we love to mock on TV, We make mine-fields out of ministry opportunities and rob others of their joy at the same time. I see that happen far too often on Sunday mornings even here at Hope! That’s NOT what the Bridegroom had in mind when He invited us to HIS party! He wants us to live like we LOVE being there! In fact, the parable goes on to say that if we’re not “well dressed” for the occasion, we just might get tossed out!
Being invited to the Marriage Feast of The Jesus and His Church is the ultimate in all invitations, and we ought to be BLOWN AWAY by the fact that we are a part of it! This parable is our call to LIGHTEN UP AND ENJOY THE PARTY! Maybe that’s what David was saying when he wrote, “Restore to me the JOY of my salvation,” (Ps 51:12), don’t you think?
The second way we “maximize our invitation” is to invite others to join us at the feast. Jesus couldn’t have been clearer: no matter who you are or what you’ve done, HE wants YOU to be there. God wants the Heavenly Halls to be FILLED with people celebrating with Jesus, forever. A while back the entire world was invited to watch the “Royal Wedding” of William and Kate, and hundreds of millions tuned in. For a lot of social climbers, it was the invitation of a life-time! I really doubt that anyone who received one turned it down! God is planning a party that’s a gazillion times bigger and a bazillion times less boring, and ……..so who are YOU inviting to be there with you? Will you let them say NO, at least without an argument?
Will your kids be there? Will your spouse be there, sitting next to you? Have you invited your neighbors? When was the last time you invited ANYONE to come with you to church, so they could meet Jesus and receive His invitation? We KNOW that once the bridegroom comes and the door is shut, that’s it. It will be too late after that for ANYONE….no matter how much we love them.
I pulled this invitation out of our mail basket at home: it’s for the wedding of some friends that is scheduled for October…. FIRST! Oh, oh….there’s no way Pam and I are going to get into that one….it’s already past, and the door is closed. Do we really want any of our dear friends to have that experience, eternally? So let’s get cracking, folks…..it’s now, or it may be never!
Finally, the third way we can maximize our enjoyment of the invitation we have received is to allow GOD to be the judge of who “gets in!” It’s not up to you or to me to determine who is “worthy” of God’s grace and who is not. Our only tasks are to REJOICE in the fact that we have been invited and then, out of that joy, to INVITE, and to KEEP INVITING people around us. Amen.
