RSVP
Answering God’s Invitation
Sunday, February 21, 2010
By Pastor James May
RSVP comes from a French term that was first used around 1895–1900. In French it says, “répondez s’il vous plait” which in English simple means, “Please reply, or Please answer”.
Most of us have received invitations to various events that asked for an RSVP. Many times, because of the cost per guest of wedding receptions, an RSVP is very necessary to determine the approximate number of people who will be attending. After all, who wants to pay an extra charge for each person who doesn’t attend? I’ve had friends who paid out hundreds of dollars more than necessary simply because they overestimated the number of people who would be attending their ceremonies.
The problem is that many people refuse to respond to an RSVP. They either show up without warning, not thinking that it matters whether they respond or not, or they don’t understand what an RSVP is in the first place. And of course, there are always some folks who can’t make up their mind until the very last moment before deciding to do anything. They can’t seem to plan more than two hours ahead and are always operating in panic mode. They kind of remind me of the rabbit in “Alice in Wonderland”, always running full speed saying, “I’m late, I’m late, I’m late for a very important date, and most of the time they knew about the date for a long time. Procrastination is the name of the game, or perhaps a failure to think far enough ahead to plan, and it always results in what is called, “the last minute syndrome”.
It seems that their lack of planning always constitutes an emergency situation in which they expect everyone else to respond as though it is their emergency too. This often puts a strain on the host, especially if there are very many guests who don’t answer the RSVP.
My thoughts have always been thus, “Your failure to plan ahead does not constitute an emergency for me, so deal with it yourself.” I hate doing everything the last minute, and if I’m going to be late for an important appointment, whether its church, work or whatever, I would just as soon not go at all.
I know how some of you are – I can see it in your stress level when you walk in the front doors of the church. Perhaps you’re not a morning person and so you wait until 9:45 to start getting ready, knowing that church starts at 10 o’clock and it takes you a minimum of 10 minutes to get here if you drive 10 mph over the speed limit and don’t get caught behind slow pokes on the highway. Then it’s hit the showers, try to find something to wear because you forgot to wash or dry what you wanted to wear. Your shoes are scattered in different rooms for some reason. Why did my hair decide to be so wild this morning of all mornings! Ok, where’s my car keys; and my coat? Oh yeah, I left my coat in the car! And here are my keys, still in the lock on the door. Forgot to take them out last night, and OH NO! I left my car door open and it rained last night. Go get some towels quick so I can put them on the seat and not get all wet.
You finally get in, put the key in the car, try to start it and realize that you forgot to put gas in it on the way home from Wal-mart yesterday and it’s empty. So quick, everybody out of the car and into the other car. Hurry up, we’re already late. So here we go, everybody is having to move in panic mode. Tensions are high. Tempers are flaring. It’s fuss, fuss all the way to church about whose fault it is because we are always late.
Well, mama, if you had dried my clothes I could have been ready sooner. Well, if you hadn’t lost your shoes or your glasses we could have still made it. The husband says to the wife, “Well if you had put gas in the car like I’ve told you to do a thousand times, we could have saved a lot of this commotion of switching cars and been half way there by now.” The wife looks over at him with daggers in her eyes and says, “Well, if you would pick up behind yourself, take care of the car yourself like a man, and help get these kids ready, that might have helped too.” Now that’s the way to get the mind of Christ and get into the right spirit to worship God, right?
Then we finally get to church and all the parking is full so we have to hunt a place to park, walk further than we want to, and then try to get in without anyone noticing how late we are. We walk in with a big smile like nothing is wrong; greet everyone and try to act as though we’ve spent the last hour talking face to face with God, and try to get into the service. Then, 10 minutes into the service we finally realize that we have on two different shoes or that we left the door open on the house with all the lights on and the TV still playing. And where’s little Billy? Oh no – he’s home alone!
Now I’m not naming names here because all of us have probably experienced this type of scenario, and it always comes out of a lack of planning. If we could only learn to prepare for things ahead of time, how much more peaceful would our world be? But old habits are hard to break, and so many people just continue to live their lives on the edge with a panic button in their hand.
What does all of this have to do with my message today? Not a thing – I just thought it would be funny to relive the wonderful world of getting ready for church.
In actuality this sort of habitual lack of planning, procrastination and last minute syndrome does have a lot to do with our message for today. Let look at Matthew chapter 22 and see what the Word of the Lord has to say to us this morning.
Matthew 22:2,3 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
God has sent out a very special invitation to all of us, to every man, woman and child on the face of the earth. It is written in red, embossed on the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and sent out addressed to “Whosoever Will”. If you’ve never seen that invitation, rest assured that it’s real. It is a very special invitation to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where Jesus Christ will celebrate the coming of his Bride into the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is recorded in God’s Word in Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
The key to your very special invitation is that there is an RSVP attached that must be answered before you can go to the marriage feast. No one who does not answer that RSVP will enter into the city of God; and not one person who has not made himself ready will be allowed entrance there. This is one RSVP that we cannot afford to ignore.
To think of the idea of not answering this RSVP from the King of Heaven is unthinkable. I would be willing to guarantee you that if any one of us received a very special invitation to go to the White House and be entertained by the president in the White House ballroom, that we would answer that invitation as quickly as possible, whether we agreed with his politics or not. It is a high honor in this nation to be recognized as a friend of the White House, and we would answer out of respect for the President of our nation regardless of who it might be or what party he belonged to. To refuse such a special invitation would be considered as un-American and unpatriotic.
But that pales in comparison to the very special invitation we have from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You have been invited to not only meet Jesus in the very Throne Room of Heaven; but you are invited to come to the greatest celebration that Heaven has ever seen and then be welcomed as a son or daughter of God and become a child of God to rule and reign with the King forever. Boy, What an Invitation! Have you sent your RSVP yet?
But look back at the verses we read. The King sent the invitation; his servants delivered it; but the invited guests didn’t think it was important enough to answer the RSVP and refused to attend the wedding of the Prince.
In the eyes of a worldly king this would constitute a slap in the face; a high act of disloyalty and in many nations it would mean imprisonment or even death. You just don’t refuse the invitation of the king and live to brag about it. He carries the power of life or death over you and your entire household. And yet, those invited refused to go.
Who is this referring to in the scriptures? It is talking about Israel first of all, but in another sense, it is talking about the Gentiles as well. Israel was invited to become the wife of God with a covenant relationship with God in the Old Testament, but Israel refused God’s invitation, would not RSVP and chose to go their own way.
Likewise, the majority of the Gentile world has copied Israel’s rebellious attitude and they too have refused to answer God’s invitation.
Matthew 22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
This king was a man with patience. Instead of immediately taking revenge on those who refused his invitation, he actually sent more invitations though more servants, almost pleading for those who were invited to come to the wedding. Still they would not RSVP and spurned the invitation to attend the wedding. I can only imagine how much this would anger the king. Such disloyalty! Such utter disregard for the one who has power over them! Do they not know Who I AM or the power that I have over them?
In God’s special invitation to Israel he sent many servants to deliver the Word to them. Yet they killed the prophets, stoned those that were sent to them and snubbed their noses at God.
Matthew 22:5,6 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
Israel refused God’s call and just kept on doing their own thing. Whatever their job, they kept going every day; whatever their business was, they tended to it day after day as though they would live forever; forgetting God days without number and living to fulfill the desires of their own heart and to satisfy the flesh.
It was really only a small number of the Jews that would kill a prophet, or stone a judge or oppose the man of God, but that small number kept the rest of Israel from hearing the truth and responding to the truth. Most of the Jews just followed their leaders blindly, giving little thought to God’s invitation. They let their leaders lead them into the very pits of hell through lies, deceit and carelessness.
I wonder just how many of the Jews who died and went to the lake of Fire thought that they were okay just the way they were. How many of them found out just one instant too late that they had been taught wrong and had followed the traditions of men until it cost them their eternal soul?
I can’t help but believe that many of them thought that they were alright with God until it was too late. They had been faithful to their religious beliefs and their system of worship, but that system was flawed by men and changed to make men rich or powerful. It wasn’t focused on worshipping God alone. It was focused more on what man wanted than what God wanted and a man-centered faith is not good enough to save the soul.
They didn’t want to hear the truth. They would rather believe a lie because it required less of them and held no condemnation for their sin; and did not make them feel guilty for their sin. It was just too comfortable to believe the lie and so Satan just lulled them to sleep in their sin and they lost everything.
Matthew 22:7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Israel’s defiance and refusal to answer God’s RSVP cost them their nation, their land and for many, their very souls. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Army. Every one of those Jews that turned on Jesus and caused him to be crucified are long since dead and gone. God’s justice prevails and every one of those murderers is burning today.
God will not allow sin to go unpunished. He will not allow man to refuse His invitation without terrible and eternal consequences. This is the King of Kings we’re talking about; not just an earthly king. His invitation is written in the Blood of Jesus and cannot be ignored. We must RSVP God’s invitation or face His wrath at the judgment.
Matthew 22:8,9 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
God’s invitation to Israel was withdrawn for a long time. He still loves Israel, and the covenant will never be negated but God now deals with Jews more on an individual basis and less on a national basis. Jews are being saved by accepting Christ, but Israel as a nation still spurns God’s invitation to this day. God, in his love and mercy, will save Israel, but what cost they must pay for their refusal of Christ is yet to be seen. One day they will confess Him but what a price they have paid, and will continue to pay for their refusal to RSVP God’s call to accept Christ and be Born Again.
But the refusal of the Jews to accept Christ does not stop the plan of God. The invitation still goes out, only now it has come to the Gentile world. Jesus commissioned his disciples to spread the Word and build a Bride of Christ would fulfill God’s desire for children who would love Him.
Matthew 22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
In this verse we see the entire Church Age where disciples of Christ in every generation since the founding of the church by Jesus through the original disciples have gone forth and spread the good news of God’s invitation to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb to every corner of the globe.
Notice something here though. The Word says that they gathered as many as they could. Some were good and some were bad. There were a lot of people sending back their RSVP, desiring entrance into Heaven and wanting to be a part of the Bride of Christ. People from every walk of life, honest people and evil people, all giving their RSVP and coming into the kingdom of God, getting ready for the marriage feast.
Where does the good and the bad come into play? It isn’t that some were good and some were bad before they were invited. Before we came to Jesus we were all bad; not one good one among us. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We were all in need of God’s invitation.
The good and bad are all a part of the guest list – those who chose to RSVP God’s invitation and come into his house. Is it possible that someone bad can be in the church? Does being in the church, identifying with the Bride of Christ, make us a part of that Bride? Could there actually be bad people, appearing to be Christians, expecting to be a part of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? Could anyone appear to have sent their RSVP to God, become a part of God’s church and still not be ready for the wedding? Yes – all of this is possible and it is the part of this whole picture that is most disturbing to me.
Just as many of the Jews lost their soul through ignorance and following false teachers, so is the Bride of Christ losing many to false teachers today. Not everyone who names Jesus as their Lord, really serve Him as their Lord. Many who claim to be Born Again, really aren’t. Many who rely on their religion, and the obedience to the rules and laws of their church to make them good enough, will awaken the instant after they die to realize that they are forever dying in hell.
We are told to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling knowing and realizing that what we believe and who we follow and how we live will have eternal and irreversible consequences. Each of us must RSVP God’s invitation for salvation in our own way and make our own calling and election sure. Don’t take anybody’s word for it. Trust only in God’s Word and nothing else. We must rely only upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ and in His power to save. There is no other way, no matter how good it may sound.
There will a lot of people who will think that they are a part of the Bride of Christ and who will be expecting to be raptured with the True Church, but who will be left behind. There will be many who will stand in amazement at the fact that others are taken and they were not. They are blind to the truth because they would rather believe a lie.
To try to be a part of the Bride of Christ with secret, habitual, hidden and unrepentant sin is to live a lie. To pretend to be what we are not only deceives ourselves. To put on the appearance of serving God while not having a right relationship with Jesus is not going to be good enough. We must be fully sold out to Jesus, believing only in Him and not in any form of self-righteousness. We must be clothed in only the Righteousness which Christ will give us if we are truly Born Again and making ourselves ready for the wedding feast.
Matthew 22:11, 12 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
In ancient Israel, whenever the king invited guests to come to the wedding of the prince or princess, he would also send the proper attire for the guest to wear when he came into the court. No one without the king’s garments was allowed into the feast. This was how they were identified.
Therefore, if we want to RSVP God’s invitation to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, then we must put on the garments that have been sent from the King. These are the Robes of Righteousness which only Jesus can provide for us through His blood. Without that Robe of Righteousness we will not be allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven as a part of the Bride of Christ for we have not made ourselves ready.
Matthew 22:1314 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.
This is a clear message that those who try to enter into Heaven by any other way than God’s way will not make it. Without the Robes of Righteousness that the King has sent, there is no entrance there. Hypocrites won’t be there. Liars won’t be there. Unrepentant sinners won’t be there. Self-righteousness will not enter there. False doctrines will keep us out. Only that which is found in the Word of God will stand, and only those who are washed in the blood of Jesus will attend. Everything else, and everyone else will be cast into outer darkness; that place where the soul is tormented forever and ever.
God’s invitation has been sent. If you haven’t heard it before then you are hearing it now. God has sent each of us a special invitation, through the Blood of Jesus, to be a part of his Bride and to come where he is. The Bridegroom is coming soon to take his Bride away. Jesus is that Bridegroom and the Church is his Bride. Have you sent your RSVP saying that you will be there too? Don’t delay for his coming may be any moment.
Jesus will come to take his Bride in the twinkling of an eye. Your RSVP must have already been sent and received in Heaven before that day. Make your calling sure. Respond to your invitation right now by confessing your sin, asking Jesus to come into your heart, surrendering your life to Christ and then live for him, trusting in His blood to put on your Robe of Righteousness. Send your RSVP right now!
As I was writing about in the beginning of this message, many will miss Heaven simply becasue of procrastination and lack of planning for their future. They just were too busy to think about serving the Lord or answering His invitation. It’s not that they don’t want to go, but to not RSVP God’s invitation for salvation is to default on the side of rebellion against God and then face his wrath in the end. Don’t let that happen to you.
