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INJ
St Matthew 22:1-14
'Your Wedding Garment'
Matins
Trinity 20 | October 22, 2006
Dear Saints,
1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like...” Jesus always seems to be talking about the kingdom of heaven. It is His favorite topic, the content of almost all of His parables, including this one, but what is it? What is Jesus talking about when He says “the kingdom of heaven”?
The answer is very simple: the kingdom of heaven in His church. It is not an earthly kingdom where men rule, but the heavenly kingdom, where Christ Jesus alone is King. The Church is were Jesus is Lord, where His word is the last word, and where His gifts are all in all, His gifts of life and salvation and the forgiveness of all of our sins. He gives out these gifts in the preaching of the Gospel and the distribution of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Where we find these things, the Gospel preached and the sacraments administered, there we find the Church, the kingdom of heaven.
And what is the kingdom of like? Jesus continues, “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,” A wedding, that's what the church is like, the most joyful occasion on earth. The Lord's church is not a place of drudgery, but of joy and rejoicing. The king in the parable is God the Father, his son is our Lord Jesus, and the bride is the Church, all the Lord's people, all who trust in His promised salvation.
The parable continues: “3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.” This is a picture of the Old Testament and the work of the prophets. The Lord continued to send prophets to His people to invited them to the feast, to call them to believe that the Messiah would be born and die for the sins of the whole world. “Believe and trust this promise, and your sins are forgiven.” But most of the Jewish people would not believe the prophets or receive their words, but rejected them, and even killed them.
4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’ 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.
This is unthinkable, to refuse the invitation of the king, and then, in an act of sheer lunacy and sinful rage, to murder the kings servants. But this, it seems, is often the mark of the prophets: they were murdered by the people they were sent to.
7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
This happened finally in AD 70 when the army of Rome marched against Jerusalem and tore up the city and threw it down, not leaving one stone upon another. Jesus had warned the people often enough about it, but repentance is the only way to escape the fury of the king, and the people did not repent.
But the obstinate refusal of the guests to come to the wedding cannot stop the king and the joy of his son. So the parable continues, and here we see how God's wrath is always outdone by His mercy:
8 Then he [the king] said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10 So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
This speaks of the apostolic mission, how Jesus' apostles were sent into every nation to call people th the Church. “Go and make disciples of every nation...” So it is today that the Lord's church is made up of mostly Gentiles, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. This invitation to the wedding is the call that the Holy Spirit has spoken and given to you, in your baptism, and in your hearing of the Gospel, the promise of the forgiveness of your sins, this is the invitation to the wedding, and you have heard that invitation.
But not all who hear the Gospel believe. Not everyone in the church is a Christian. This is how the parable continues:
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
The king comes in to see the guests, and he finds in their midst one without wedding garments. What are the wedding garments, and who do you get a hold of them? What do we need to wear to fit-in in this wedding feast?
I remember back when Keri and I were married, and I went to get fitted for my wedding garments: a tuxedo. The tuxedo is supposed to make you look good, and that's really about all. It's not very comfortable, you can't move around well, it's not built (and this is especially true of the rental shoes) they're not built for working.
This, I think, is true of the wedding garments fit for Christ's wedding, we are clothed not in our good works, but in His righteousness, in garments made clean by being dipped in His blood. In other words, we are dress appropriately when we have faith, when we trust in His promises. Then, and only then, are we worthy, fit to be His wedding guests.
It is not as if we are to avoid doing good and keeping the ten commandments, God forbid the thought. The Lord has prepared good works for us to do, and have given us His Holy Spirit for that very reason, that we might begin to keep His commandments. What is forbid here in not good works, but trusting in good works, thinking that our good works are good because of our own efforts, or that God is impressed with our goodness. We are justified and made righteous and perfect through faith alone.
There are many people who are outwardly members of the Lord church, who look as if they are Christians, and claim the same, but the do not believe. They have been baptized, they hear the Gospel, they eat the Lord's body and blood, which is given in earnest for the forgiveness of their sins, but they don't believe it's true. They are more concerned with the things of this world than with the eternal things of God, more concerned with things that are temporal than things eternal. Their God is their belly, their appetite, and their end is destruction. God will speak to them, either at their death or on judgment day, “13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” The thought is almost too terrible to imagine.
For those not clothed in Christ, not wrapped by faith in His perfection, there awaits a darkness, an eternal death, the torments of hell.
But for those who believe, nothing is lost and everything is gained, they remain in the wedding, passing from death to life. The eternal feast of the Lamb and His bride. We are in the kingdom of heaven, of eternal life, all that remains is for the Lord to tear down the wall that separates us from our inheritance, that is, for us to die. May God grant us all to remain in this true faith, trusting His promises, until we enter into life everlasting. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO
