Hugh Downs of 20/20 fame tells the story of attending a function in Washington with his wife. When the time came for them to return home they found that their flight had been cancelled due to bad weather. Downs called the front desk and learned that they could catch a train but it left in 45 minutes. Mrs. Downs was showering and new nothing of the new plans. To save time Hugh packed all their belongings and called for a bellhop and them rushed over to the train station.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Downs stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. “Dear,” she asked, “Would you hand me my green dress?”
We’re not told how Hugh solved the problem, but it reminds me of our lesson this morning as we continue our series, “Principles from Parables.” Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.” It was a proud moment for the king. People from everywhere were invited. Who would ever refuse such an invitation?
Have you ever been invited to a party of some sort and you found four letters: RSVP? The letters are an abbreviation for a French term, respondez sil vou plait. It means please reply. Whoever invited you to the special event doesn’t want you to just show up. Before you come they want you to let them know you are coming. After all, there is food and beverages to buy and preparations to make. They need to know you are coming.
I hear that sometimes those invitations will say “formal attire required. That means the folks inviting you want you to come dressed to the nines. They want you in your best clothes or even better. That means it is time for ladies in evening gowns and men to dress in a tux.
Now, if you let them know you are coming and you put on the fancy clothes, you can go to the party.
Well, God is planning a little shindig and He is inviting everyone on the planet to come. The address where the party will take place is heaven. And, if you look at the bottom of the invitation you find the letters RSVP. But, it also says something else, not formal attire, but spiritual attire is required. If you want to go to the greatest party in history, God’s party, you must RSVP and put on your spiritual clothes now, the party could start at any time.
In this parable Jesus is once again telling his listeners what they would be turning their backs on. The king in the parable is God. In Jesus’ time people were invited to a party, but they weren’t given an exact time it would begin. When all the preparations were done, the host would sent out his servants to summon the guests. This tradition follows the parable. God was summoning the Jews to a feast in honor of his Son. When everything was ready God sent for the guests and they refused to come. God tried again, and again he was refused.
What does the king do? He sends out servants to bring new people to the party. Everyone was invited. That means God is inviting the likes of us to the party. But, when the king looked out over the crowd he saw a man who wasn’t wearing wedding attire. When the king asked the man why he wasn’t dressed properly the man was speechless. When God confronts us for our wrongdoing, what will we say? The man is then thrown into the darkness.
RSVP. Everyone is invited. It reminds me of a Charles Wesley hymn we don’t sing much anymore, “Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast. Listen to these words. “Come, sinners, to the gospel feast; let every soul be Jesus’ guest. Ye need not one be left behind, for God hath bid all humankind. Sent by my Lord, on you I call; the invitation is to all. Come, all the world! Come sinner, thou! All things in Christ are ready now. Come, all ye souls by sin oppressed, ye restless wanders after rest; ye poor, and maimed and halt, and blind, in Christ a hearty welcome find. My message as from God receive; you all may come to Christ and live. O let his love your hearts constrain, nor suffer him to die in vain. This is the time, no more delay! This is the Lord’s accepted day. Come thou, this moment, at his call, and love for him who died for all.
I love those words. Think about them for a minute. “Let every soul be Jesus’ guest. God has bid all humankind.” Charles Wesley painted a beautiful picture with those words. I think that when we get to God’s party, there wont be any classes of people. There won’t be any race or age or gender or denominations. There will only be sinners who have responded to God’s invitation. Clearly, not everyone will respond, but the invitation is open to all.
Once we have responded we have to be ready for when God’s preparations are done. That is in the hymn too. “This is the time, no more delay. This is the Lord’s accepted day. Come thou, this moment, at his call, and live for him who died for all.”
There are many in the world that like to remind us that the end is coming. This lesson reminds us that we don’t know when, but that we need to be prepared as if it were today or tomorrow. When God is ready, we must be ready.
Several years ago a man came to talk to me. He told me all he thought about the end time. Then he wanted to know my opinion. I said I believed what Jesus said, no one knows the day or the hour but God. Yes, people have been predicted the end since Jesus ascended and said he would come again. Obviously, most of those were wrong or we wouldn’t be here. Plus, if we read the Bible literally we also have to read it literally where Jesus says that no one knows when except God. That means that if one of us did accidentally figure it out that God would have to change it. So, that makes me think that God really doesn’t want me to spend my time trying to figure it out. If that offends you I am sorry, but you asked what I thought. Here is the heart of my belief. If you knew the end was coming tomorrow would you live your life any differently today? If the answer is yes, then you need to change the way you are living your life because for you, for any of us, the end could come tomorrow, or even today. No one knows except God.
The invitation is our start, but we must be prepared.
Is that enough? Well, lets look at the last part of the story. It’s troubling. The King invites everyone to the party and they come. The King looks across the room and spots a man that isn’t in a wedding garment and kicks him out. That bothers me. What if he couldn’t afford good clothes? Can only people with good clothes stay at the party?
I don’t think that is what this means. For Jesus’ parable everyone owned the right clothes. It was the best you had. This guy didn’t present himself to the King at his best. The invitation wasn’t taken seriously.
Our invitation says, RSVP – Spiritual Attire Required. If we are to take the invitation seriously, we have to wear spiritual clothes. What are our spiritual clothes? It is the kind of witness that we are. It is what we show to people around us.
That is what being a Christian witness is. Being a witness isn’t necessarily standing on the street corner preaching, it isn’t beating people over the head with a Bible holy that through osmosis some of the Scripture will sink in. If you are a witness to an accident or a crime, what is expected of you? You are expected to tell what you saw or experienced. That is what God expects of us too. We are to tell people about our experiences of God’s work in the world.
When we put on our spiritual clothes we are putting on our best for God. We go out and show what it means to be Christian. We let people see God at work in our lives so they will want God to be at work in theirs.
When I was a student at Sam Houston State, I was around the Wesley Foundation there pretty often. While I was there the student council at the Wesley Foundation decided that they needed a constitution. One of the things that this group of young adults, I was several years older than most in this group, decided to put in their constitution was that they, as officers wouldn’t drink. They didn’t condemn or condone the use of alcohol. They just decided that for them, as officers of this Christian organization, it would not be an effective witness to drink and they committed not do so.
That is a good example for us. Each of us need to look at our spiritual clothes and see what those clothes say to the world around us. We need to evaluate our witness. Our witness says to the world and more importantly to God, how serious we are in our response to God’s invitation.
The lesson this morning concludes with the worlds, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Everybody’s name is on the guest list, but not all will be at the party. Some will choose not to go. Some will not take the invitation seriously. Those who aren’t there, those who lack spiritual seriousness are called, but they are not chosen.
Each of us is among the called. We need to be among the chosen. The invitation is out there. God is calling, inviting you to a very special party. In fact, it is the party of all parties. It is a party that will last for all eternity. If you haven’t’ done so already, in a few minutes we will have the invitation, we want you to come and accept God’s invitation to the party. We don’t know when it will start. If your heart isn’t right with God you need to make it so today.
For most of us, my guess is, you have already responded to God’s invitation. But, are you truly ready? Do you have your spiritual clothes on? I can’t answer that for you. Only you really know how prepared you are. Answer the call, and take it seriously.
I want to close this morning by sharing a story with you about a young man named Jeff. Jeff was a deeply devout young man. He had to make a decision whether to attend a state university a few hours from home or to attend a Christian college further away. He believed it was God’s will for him to attend the state school even though he might get ridiculed for his strict adherence to his Christian beliefs. His dorm roommate was Tim, a rather worldly young man whose main interest was living life to the fullest, come what may. Often Tim and his friends would make fun of Jeff. It’s uncomfortable living with a saint. Jeff was noted for his punctuality, always keeping his appointments, which got under Tim’s skin because he was known for his tardiness.
One day when Tim came beck to the dorm he found Jeff lying on the floor. He called paramedics and Jeff was rushed to the ER. It was too late. Though unusual for one so young, Jeff had suffered a heart attack.
Jeff’s family received friends before the funeral and Tim and some of his buddies attended. When they arrived they noticed a special floral arrangement. It included a telephone with a receiver dangling and a red ribbon with the words, “Jesus called. Jeff Answered.”
Tim overheard two aunts talking about Jeff. The aunt in the blue dress said how glad Jeff would be to see Jesus. The aunt wearing the purple dress replied, “But I’ll bet Jesus was glad to see Jeff too.”
The Holy Spirit began working in Tim’s life. Later, Tim couldn’t sleep. The words “Jesus called, Jeff answered” went over and over in his mind. He noticed Jeff’s Bible sitting on the edge of the desk where he had placed it, planning to return it to Jeff’s parents. He opened the Bible. It fell to Hebrews 9:27. “And just as it is appointed for mortals to died once…” Beside the verse Jeff had written, “We must keep our appointments with God.”
That was too much for Tim. He knelt by his bed in the dorm that night and gave his life to God. Jeff’s savior became Tim’s savior too. After that Tim always kept his appointments knowing that someday in God’s timing he would meet his Savior face to face.
Jeff found his initiation to the party. It said “RSVP – Spiritual Attire Required. So does ours. He responded. Will we?
