Matthew 22:1-14.                                            So what????                                                      12/10/14

 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

⁴ “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
⁵ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

 Here in this reading today we have a message that is simple and straight- forward; and which we have heard many times, but I wonder if we have every really applied it to ourselves. What’s it really got to do with me? Who cares, anyway? I know I have passed over it many times without it actually shaking me to the core.

 These words of Jesus are really very shocking to our world today; me included.  It should really stop us in our tracks and make us take stock of our attitude with regard to where we are at and where we are heading. There is a real danger that we are like the people in Jesus’ parable who couldn’t care less about attending the feast of a life-time, with the One who is truly important in life: So finding ourselves being discarded and destroyed by God himself.

 The Bible is full of account after account of where God reminds us that if we turn our backs on him, he will turn his back on us. If we refuse to come to be with him can we really expect him to accept us into heaven? Be sure, he has invited us all and made it possible for us to all be there, but he clearly tells us that many will not be there, because they are too busy thinking of themselves and their own lives here and now.

 They paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.

Work, sport, pleasure and all kinds of things so easily take precedence in our lives that we neglect that which is of ultimate importance.  Much of it all is important, but not at the expense of that which has eternal consequences.

 Living for the moment is the basic philosophy of our present day society, and we are reaping the rewards of this already in this life without taking into account the eternal consequences. The loneliness, depression and lack of purpose are just the beginning of what we are seeing as the results. That is without thinking of the breakdown in our relationships with the people around us.

 But even more significantly what we are seeing all around us and in our own lives as well, is that we are giving less and less thought to what God himself has to say: This not just the case with this issue but with regard to many, many things. We are making up our own rules and are paying dearly for it.

 We are also trying to convince ourselves that God is no big deal: if he is there at all. But the reality is that we all know that he is there. Deep down we know, but if ignore him and pretend that he doesn’t really care, then somehow we seem to think that it lets us off the hook. But even there we know, without being told.

 But just so that we cannot let ourselves off the hook, God here and in many other places reminds us again and again; that to refuse to take him seriously has dire consequences. To not pay any attention and go off and do our own thing is even worse.

 But why would we want to anyway? Here again, as well as in many other places, we are reminded that to be with God is likened to a wedding feast without end: the very best laid down for us to enjoy. Knowing that with him everything will work out for good: even our troubles and tragedies here, will only be fleeting, and turned to good in the end. So we have every good reason to accept his invitation.

 So often we think that Christianity is a kill-joy, and boring and lacking any real life. Yet here again we are reminded that it is just the opposite. By being with God and living in accord with what he has to say to us enables us to live happily with God and the people around. By following his way we will be treating and being treated in ways that are good and helpful: rather than selfishly and to the detriment of good relationships.

 Now of course that is not happening because we are being selfish and making up our own rules and all of that and so we find that this good life here in this world is far from being there. But the more we stay away from God and what he has to say to us, the worse it gets.

 At the same time we have his assurance that as we come to him he does clear away the guilt and the hurts of all that has happened in our lives because of sin. Jesus came into this corrupt world of ours and took on himself the punishment that we deserve so that God can wipe our slate clean.

 So we can know that even though things are still far from perfect in this world, because we human beings continue to do evil to one another, by taking up his invite we will eventually be freed from it consequences and be able to fully enjoy this great feast that he has prepared for us.  The time is coming that those who are connected to him will have no more, sickness, crying, pain or death; only the very best of everything. This ‘pie in the sky’ is there courtesy of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.

 But even here and now we have glimpses of it as we live in his presence. Here this morning we have two young people being connected to Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us. They have the assurance that they are a part of God’s family, now and for all eternity.

 But it doesn’t stop there, for as they are raised up knowing and being taught all that is of God they will be given assurances and a hope that will keep them going no matter what they face in this life. The will be enabled to face life with confidence and certainty. They will be given a way to live that will be good for them and for their relationships with God and the people around them.

 Even when they fail along the way, as they surely will, they have the assurance that they can come into God’s presence and receive his assurance that they are forgiven for their sin. They can come to Holy Communion and receive the very body and blood that Jesus shed on the cross for them and us all so that they can be absolutely sure of this fact.

 There as they receive Jesus they will also be given the assurance that Jesus himself is with them as they live out their lives each and every day. They will be assured that no matter what happens in their lives God will use it for good: both their good and for the good of others.

 So, week by week as they and we all enter here into God’s house we are given a foretaste of this great feast that is to come. So we can have a peace and a joy that is beyond what could ever be expected. Already now, we can know that as we come near to God, he does have the very best in mind for us and that we will enjoy eternal life with him, sharing in the very best of everything. We have every good reason to accept his invitation.

 However, we here also need to remember what Jesus said in this parable; that all from the highways and byways of life are invited. Both the bad as well as the good have the invite to join him for all of this. He wants and has made it possible for all to enjoy the feast.  Many are invited, even if many of them choose not to take it up. But he tells those who do not take up the offer that they will instead of a feast, be thrown into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 Also let us not be like the man who thought he could enter in without dressing appropriately and having an attitude that is fitting for such a host and feast. If you are only there for what we can get out of it without any respect and appreciation for the host and what he is providing, we shouldn’t be surprised if we get ‘turfed out’.

 No, the host, God Almighty himself, it just too great and important to ignore and walk away from. What he has done for us through Jesus Christ and his death on the cross is so amazing that we cannot help but take up his invite. The feast is just too grand and extensive that we surely do not want to miss it. It is the invite of invites

  I pray that you will all join me there in give all glory and honour to him who has made it all possible, our great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish