Isaiah 55:1-9; Ephesians 5:15-21; St Matthew 22:1-14
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Why wouldn’t you go? The King is throwing the wedding reception to end all receptions. He is serving the choicest cuts of meat and the finest of wines. Its a royal wedding to top all others, the Prince and His Bride will be married. There will be a feast of rich food. The King is throwing open the royal cellar. Cups will be overflowing with the vintage normally drunk only in the palace. It is the opportunity of a thousand lifetimes and you are an honored guest. Why wouldn’t you go? Who turns down a invitation like that?!
Some are rebels who hate the King. Their allegiance is not to the King, but to another. A would-be prince who has deceived them that he is the world’s true king. These rebels embrace his ethic of kill or be killed, or survival of the fittest, of take what you can get and look out for yourself and maybe your family.
But most of those who refuse the invitation have simply stopped believing that the King’s word means anything. They don’t think the invitation really is for them. They don’t think the King means them well. Or maybe they no longer believe there even is a King. He hasn’t been seen in a long, long while. And others speak of the King’s name in anger when they stub their toes or get the credit card bill. Why bother with a King who seems so insignificant?
And so they make light of the King’s invitation. They don’t go because they think it’ll be better not to go. There are more important things to do. More exciting things to see. They are simply too busy.
Is there another reason not to go? Yes. One other. You see, the invitation comes with an uncomfortable word on it: “Repent.” The King’s servants have let it be known that He is not happy with the people’s greed and selfishness, with their lying and gossiping, with their failure to honor and respect their spouses and marriage, with their unwillingness to defend His little ones. His invitation includes an amnesty; but going will mean facing and fessing up to the King’s Word. It will mean coming out of the darkness into the light.
And that will mean a destruction of idols, a change of mind from cherished beliefs and values. It will mean admitting they were wrong, rejecting their past reasonings and experiences. It will mean tearing down the worldly decorations in their hearts and making room for another occupant.
So this King’s invitation doesn’t seem worth it. After all, the Son for whom the marriage feast is being held, they see Him naked and hanging on a tree, in disgrace, shame, and humiliation. Some King. He can’t even protect His own Son!
And the followers and friends of this King’s Son! Well, they’re hated, mocked, and slandered, aren't they? They’re poor and hungry and some are put to death like the King’s Son. Who wants any part of that?
So they stay with their homes and businesses. With their wives and mistresses. That’s what they know. That’s where they think they are safe. They make was seems the sensible, practical choice.
And they are destroyed. Not just the rebels, but also the indifferent. The King sent His troops and burned their city; not one stone was left atop another.
Now, this is no mere story. It is a parable. Which means, dear ones, that you’re in it. Parables are stories that tell us about something real, something that involves us. And Jesus tells us what it’s about. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a King who gave a wedding feast for His Son. The kingdom of heaven is not like a wedding feast. The kingdom of heaven is like a King who gave a wedding feast. The kingdom of heaven is like a Man.
It is like the man who came shouting, Repent, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand and pointed to that self-same kingdom in the flesh and blood of another Man. And that Man sent out the same invitation, proclaiming, “Repent and come in. All is ready.”
You see this is a story about heaven, about God’s invitation to you, which is a call to repentance and an offer of forgiveness. The invitation happened when prophets like Isaiah were sent out by the Word of the Lord to preach to His people. The invitation was sent again when John the Baptist proclaimed the coming Kingdom in the person of Jesus Christ. The invitation went again out when Jesus sent His men as the Father sent Him. The invitation still goes out when He sends His servants to you to read and proclaim His Word. The invitation goes out when you invite someone to Divine Service, when you invite someone to Bible study or catechesis, when you confess the faith before your family, friends, and neighbors.
But you don’t accept the invitation by showing up here, although you ought to. You don’t accept the invitation by contributing a percentage of your income to the Church, although you ought to. You don’t accept the invitation by loving your neighbor and obeying the Ten Commandments, although you ought to.
Rather, when the King says to you, “Come to My Son’s wedding feast,” He is calling you to repentance. When the King says to you, “Come to My Son’s wedding feast,” He is saying, “Turn away from the idols in which you trusted, the things that cannot save you, and turn away from your sins; come to Me. All is forgiven. I offer you not only mercy and amnesty and forgiveness. I also offer you Life in My kingdom, not as slaves or subjects, but as My honored and beloved Bride, My own dear Church. All that I have is yours.”
But they made light of it. Why? Why would one not accept such an invitation? Pride. Pride is the only answer. They reject and beat and kill the King’s servants because of pride.
How about you? How has pride manifested itself in your life? What are you hanging on to, not letting go of, not letting the Lord’s Word have its way with you? To what sins are you clinging, refusing to let go? What foolishness takes the place of prayer, meditation on God’s Word, and the exercise of a godly life? In what ways are you making light of the King’s invitation, neglecting the Lord’s Word read and preached? It is written, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? (Heb 2:3).
Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, writes St Paul. Repentance is needed. Those who neglected the King’s invitation were destroyed, as Jesus says, because they were not worthy. How is this so? Was not everyone invited? Why then does He say some were not worthy?
Because worthiness is not found in yourself. Consider the prodigal son. He confessed to his father that he was not worthy to be called his son. Anyone who loves father or mother more than Jesus is not worthy of Him and whoever does not take up their cross and follow Jesus is not worthy of Him (Mt 10:37-38). Even John the Baptist acknowledged that he was not worthy to do a slave’s job for Jesus - he was not worthy to loose His sandal strap.
And this is your confession. You are not worthy of the things for which you ask in prayer, nor do you deserve them. You are not worthy, in and of yourself, to be a Christian, to receive Holy Communion, the forgiveness of sins, an invitation to the Kingdom. You are not worthy to have eternal life.
Who then can be saved?! What is worthiness? Here the Small Catechism helps. Question: “Who receives this Sacrament - the Foretaste of the Wedding Feast to Come of the Lamb in His Kingdom - worthily? Answer: Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training, but he is worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words, ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.”
Worthiness, dear Christians, to come to the wedding feast consists in seeing that you are not worthy. Worthiness is believing the King, who invites you not because of your goodness, but on account of His goodness and mercy.
So in the parable the King sends out His servants to invite everyone they could find, both good and bad, for there is no distinction. The invitation to the feast does not consist of anything in us; but comes only by the grace of the Host, by the kindness of the King, that anyone has entrance to the feast.
That means the invitation is for you. If you are in the depths of despair, the invitation is for you. If you are in agony over your sins, the invitation is for you. If you know you are not worthy to attend, the invitation is for you. If you are thirsting for relief, the King invites you, “Come to the waters.” If you have no righteousness of your own, but hunger and thirst for righteousness, the King invites you, “Come and eat.” If you see that you are a sinner, the King invites you, “Come and be forgiven.” If you have been living as a rebel, the King invites you, “Come and be pardoned.”
And those who enter the wedding hall are clothed with the wedding garment, supplied by the grace of the King. What is this wedding garment? Holy Baptism. As it is written, As many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27). And this is not a garment to be worn once and then hidden away in a box in the attic. It is to be taken out every day, it is the daily garment of the Christian; it is the clothing of Christ’s own righteousness, without which you are naked in your own filthy rags.
Thus the man in today’s parable who rejects the wedding garment of the King. He is rejecting his Baptism, turning away from the righteousness of Christ, seeking a righteousness of His own. It is as if he said, “I am a good person. I have a right to be here!” instead of saying, “I am a wretched person. I am a sinner; I have no right to be at the feast, but the King is astonishingly gracious, and He has invited me here and given me clothes to wear that I could never afford.” The man without the wedding garment rejected the graciousness of the invitation. He was a sham Christian who despised the garment and so despised Christ. He may have looked pious and good and wanted to be with the guests, but the wedding garment consists of faith in the heart, not outward appearances.
The Christian faith and life is a continual, on-going, daily exercise of contrition and repentance, of receiving holy absolution and pardon and living in the full and free forgiveness of sins. It is never complete this side of heaven, but those sins you still see in yourself the King doesn’t count against you as you remain and abide in His Word. As you heard in the Epistle, Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be foolish, that is, a fool, an unbeliever, one who constructs a house, built not on stone, but on sand. When the judgment comes such a house falls.
Yet the one built on the Rock of Christ and His Atonement, when the judgment comes, shall prevail. For this is the will of the Lord: that you believe on the Son whom He has sent. As our Lord Jesus says, Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mk 16:16). For indeed, Many are called, but few are chosen.
Strive, my dear Christians, to enter by the narrow gate. Make the best use of the time, because the days are evil. And heed this day the King’s invitation: everything is ready, do not delay. Do you know your sin and desperately seek to be free from it? Then do not stay away. “Come to the feast, all is ready.” Do you have no money? Nothing good to bring or offer? Good. Come, buy and eat without money and without price. Here everything is free according to the good and gracious will of the Lord your God who invites you to the feast. Here you are not only guests, but here, at His Table, at the wedding Feast of the King for His Son, you are His beloved Bride.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Why wouldn’t you go? The King is throwing the wedding reception to end all receptions. He is serving the choicest cuts of meat and the finest of wines. Its a royal wedding to top all others, the Prince and His Bride will be married. There will be a feast of rich food. The King is throwing open the royal cellar. Cups will be overflowing with the vintage normally drunk only in the palace. It is the opportunity of a thousand lifetimes and you are an honored guest. Why wouldn’t you go? Who turns down a invitation like that?!
Some are rebels who hate the King. Their allegiance is not to the King, but to another. A would-be prince who has deceived them that he is the world’s true king. These rebels embrace his ethic of kill or be killed, or survival of the fittest, of take what you can get and look out for yourself and maybe your family.
But most of those who refuse the invitation have simply stopped believing that the King’s word means anything. They don’t think the invitation really is for them. They don’t think the King means them well. Or maybe they no longer believe there even is a King. He hasn’t been seen in a long, long while. And others speak of the King’s name in anger when they stub their toes or get the credit card bill. Why bother with a King who seems so insignificant?
And so they make light of the King’s invitation. They don’t go because they think it’ll be better not to go. There are more important things to do. More exciting things to see. They are simply too busy.
Is there another reason not to go? Yes. One other. You see, the invitation comes with an uncomfortable word on it: “Repent.” The King’s servants have let it be known that He is not happy with the people’s greed and selfishness, with their lying and gossiping, with their failure to honor and respect their spouses and marriage, with their unwillingness to defend His little ones. His invitation includes an amnesty; but going will mean facing and fessing up to the King’s Word. It will mean coming out of the darkness into the light.
And that will mean a destruction of idols, a change of mind from cherished beliefs and values. It will mean admitting they were wrong, rejecting their past reasonings and experiences. It will mean tearing down the worldly decorations in their hearts and making room for another occupant.
So this King’s invitation doesn’t seem worth it. After all, the Son for whom the marriage feast is being held, they see Him naked and hanging on a tree, in disgrace, shame, and humiliation. Some King. He can’t even protect His own Son!
And the followers and friends of this King’s Son! Well, they’re hated, mocked, and slandered, aren't they? They’re poor and hungry and some are put to death like the King’s Son. Who wants any part of that?
So they stay with their homes and businesses. With their wives and mistresses. That’s what they know. That’s where they think they are safe. They make was seems the sensible, practical choice.
And they are destroyed. Not just the rebels, but also the indifferent. The King sent His troops and burned their city; not one stone was left atop another.
Now, this is no mere story. It is a parable. Which means, dear ones, that you’re in it. Parables are stories that tell us about something real, something that involves us. And Jesus tells us what it’s about. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a King who gave a wedding feast for His Son. The kingdom of heaven is not like a wedding feast. The kingdom of heaven is like a King who gave a wedding feast. The kingdom of heaven is like a Man.
It is like the man who came shouting, Repent, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand and pointed to that self-same kingdom in the flesh and blood of another Man. And that Man sent out the same invitation, proclaiming, “Repent and come in. All is ready.”
You see this is a story about heaven, about God’s invitation to you, which is a call to repentance and an offer of forgiveness. The invitation happened when prophets like Isaiah were sent out by the Word of the Lord to preach to His people. The invitation was sent again when John the Baptist proclaimed the coming Kingdom in the person of Jesus Christ. The invitation went again out when Jesus sent His men as the Father sent Him. The invitation still goes out when He sends His servants to you to read and proclaim His Word. The invitation goes out when you invite someone to Divine Service, when you invite someone to Bible study or catechesis, when you confess the faith before your family, friends, and neighbors.
But you don’t accept the invitation by showing up here, although you ought to. You don’t accept the invitation by contributing a percentage of your income to the Church, although you ought to. You don’t accept the invitation by loving your neighbor and obeying the Ten Commandments, although you ought to.
Rather, when the King says to you, “Come to My Son’s wedding feast,” He is calling you to repentance. When the King says to you, “Come to My Son’s wedding feast,” He is saying, “Turn away from the idols in which you trusted, the things that cannot save you, and turn away from your sins; come to Me. All is forgiven. I offer you not only mercy and amnesty and forgiveness. I also offer you Life in My kingdom, not as slaves or subjects, but as My honored and beloved Bride, My own dear Church. All that I have is yours.”
But they made light of it. Why? Why would one not accept such an invitation? Pride. Pride is the only answer. They reject and beat and kill the King’s servants because of pride.
How about you? How has pride manifested itself in your life? What are you hanging on to, not letting go of, not letting the Lord’s Word have its way with you? To what sins are you clinging, refusing to let go? What foolishness takes the place of prayer, meditation on God’s Word, and the exercise of a godly life? In what ways are you making light of the King’s invitation, neglecting the Lord’s Word read and preached? It is written, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? (Heb 2:3).
Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, writes St Paul. Repentance is needed. Those who neglected the King’s invitation were destroyed, as Jesus says, because they were not worthy. How is this so? Was not everyone invited? Why then does He say some were not worthy?
Because worthiness is not found in yourself. Consider the prodigal son. He confessed to his father that he was not worthy to be called his son. Anyone who loves father or mother more than Jesus is not worthy of Him and whoever does not take up their cross and follow Jesus is not worthy of Him (Mt 10:37-38). Even John the Baptist acknowledged that he was not worthy to do a slave’s job for Jesus - he was not worthy to loose His sandal strap.
And this is your confession. You are not worthy of the things for which you ask in prayer, nor do you deserve them. You are not worthy, in and of yourself, to be a Christian, to receive Holy Communion, the forgiveness of sins, an invitation to the Kingdom. You are not worthy to have eternal life.
Who then can be saved?! What is worthiness? Here the Small Catechism helps. Question: “Who receives this Sacrament - the Foretaste of the Wedding Feast to Come of the Lamb in His Kingdom - worthily? Answer: Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training, but he is worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words, ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.”
Worthiness, dear Christians, to come to the wedding feast consists in seeing that you are not worthy. Worthiness is believing the King, who invites you not because of your goodness, but on account of His goodness and mercy.
So in the parable the King sends out His servants to invite everyone they could find, both good and bad, for there is no distinction. The invitation to the feast does not consist of anything in us; but comes only by the grace of the Host, by the kindness of the King, that anyone has entrance to the feast.
That means the invitation is for you. If you are in the depths of despair, the invitation is for you. If you are in agony over your sins, the invitation is for you. If you know you are not worthy to attend, the invitation is for you. If you are thirsting for relief, the King invites you, “Come to the waters.” If you have no righteousness of your own, but hunger and thirst for righteousness, the King invites you, “Come and eat.” If you see that you are a sinner, the King invites you, “Come and be forgiven.” If you have been living as a rebel, the King invites you, “Come and be pardoned.”
And those who enter the wedding hall are clothed with the wedding garment, supplied by the grace of the King. What is this wedding garment? Holy Baptism. As it is written, As many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27). And this is not a garment to be worn once and then hidden away in a box in the attic. It is to be taken out every day, it is the daily garment of the Christian; it is the clothing of Christ’s own righteousness, without which you are naked in your own filthy rags.
Thus the man in today’s parable who rejects the wedding garment of the King. He is rejecting his Baptism, turning away from the righteousness of Christ, seeking a righteousness of His own. It is as if he said, “I am a good person. I have a right to be here!” instead of saying, “I am a wretched person. I am a sinner; I have no right to be at the feast, but the King is astonishingly gracious, and He has invited me here and given me clothes to wear that I could never afford.” The man without the wedding garment rejected the graciousness of the invitation. He was a sham Christian who despised the garment and so despised Christ. He may have looked pious and good and wanted to be with the guests, but the wedding garment consists of faith in the heart, not outward appearances.
The Christian faith and life is a continual, on-going, daily exercise of contrition and repentance, of receiving holy absolution and pardon and living in the full and free forgiveness of sins. It is never complete this side of heaven, but those sins you still see in yourself the King doesn’t count against you as you remain and abide in His Word. As you heard in the Epistle, Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be foolish, that is, a fool, an unbeliever, one who constructs a house, built not on stone, but on sand. When the judgment comes such a house falls.
Yet the one built on the Rock of Christ and His Atonement, when the judgment comes, shall prevail. For this is the will of the Lord: that you believe on the Son whom He has sent. As our Lord Jesus says, Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mk 16:16). For indeed, Many are called, but few are chosen.
Strive, my dear Christians, to enter by the narrow gate. Make the best use of the time, because the days are evil. And heed this day the King’s invitation: everything is ready, do not delay. Do you know your sin and desperately seek to be free from it? Then do not stay away. “Come to the feast, all is ready.” Do you have no money? Nothing good to bring or offer? Good. Come, buy and eat without money and without price. Here everything is free according to the good and gracious will of the Lord your God who invites you to the feast. Here you are not only guests, but here, at His Table, at the wedding Feast of the King for His Son, you are His beloved Bride.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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