In Jesus Holy Name October 5, 2020
Text: Matthew 22:2, 11-14 Redeemer
The Wedding: No shoes? No Service!
In my experience weddings equal “party time”! People love to attend wedding receptions. There is food, wine and music. They are fun. People want to celebrate life. Jesus told the parable of a father who rejoiced at the return of a wayward son. The father prepared a big celebration, food, wine, and music. This is what God is like when a wayward child returns home. The elder brother was invited to the same party. We just don’t know if he joined the celebration.
Can you remember back to July 29th, 1981? That was the day Prince Charles married Lady Diana. What a production! In preparation for the event, London cleaned itself up. Buses were painted with bows. Parks bloomed with Charles’ royal crest outlined in flower blossoms. Only 2,500 special people, very special people were invited. Top hats, fancy dresses… everyone dressed to the nines.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding was no less spectacular. Meghan and Harry’s wedding ceremony took place at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Their wedding was followed by a beautiful carriage ride with all the king’s horses and all the king’s men riding in regal retire. After the carriage ride the couple went to Buckingham Palace where the Queen hosted a lunch for 650 guests. It was a celebration!
Paparazzi were everywhere. Back in the 1st century Jesus would have been in a lot of the photos. He would have gotten past the velvet rope at any club in in town. He was in high demand as a guest. Why? Because Jesus was the life of every party. He made better wine when the old wine ran out. Even less than kosher people often hosted VIP events for him. Jesus loved celebrations. He always talked about the angels in heaven rejoicing when a sinner comes home. (from The Bad Habits of Jesus” Leonard Sweet p. 81)
We know that God throws a party when ever one of his lost sheep, or prodigal
child comes home. God favored Abel’s roasted lamb and delighted in the smell of
sacrifice offered to His Name. When David brought the Ark of the Covenant to
Jerusalem, there was dancing, singing and jubilation. According to David’s wife… maybe a little too much dancing. . I wonder….Have we become too stuffy? Have we missed all the fun?
Listen to the words of celebration in Revelation 19 when all the saints are gathered around God’s throne in heaven at the marriage feast of the Lamb and His bride, the Church.
“Hallelujah! I heard the sound like the roar of rushing waters, loud peals of
thunder. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of
the Lamb has come and His bride, the church has made herself ready. Fine
linen, bright and clean was given to her to wear.” Blessed are those who are
invited to the wedding celebration.” In the parable today Jesus is reminding
every listener…. God does not want anyone to miss the wedding party.
Each Sunday should be a celebration party… a day to remember the Resurrection. Each week should be a celebration of God’s amazing gift of Jesus, "The Marriage Supper of the Lamb." The wedding celebration will be the most spectacular display of grandeur and elegance ever seen. We will see the new heaven and earth, the new garden of Eden, the music and food will put the two English royal weddings to shame.
Over the past few weeks our reading in the Gospel of Matthew tells us that the Palm Sunday parade is over. Jesus has been teaching in the temple courts. He has told countless parables. The Parable of the Two Sons. The Parable of the Tenants. And now the Parable of the Wedding Banquet.
Weddings always create high expectations. Celebrations bring families together. Food, wine, dance combined with just the right atmosphere, and the bride in all her glorious dress. It is a beauty to behold. I guarantee that every one of you men remember the beauty of your bride as she came down the aisle. You see, almost from the moment she is born, most women start planning their perfect wedding. There is no aspect of the wedding which is too minute, too microscopic, to minuscule to escape her notice. The selection of music for the arrival of the bride, the flowers and candles on the table. The choice of wine, the hours in the beauty salon and the selection of the wedding dress are critical.
In our culture these days “destinations weddings are popular. I guess the church is too stuffy…! The location is a winery, a ranch, or even requesting the guest to travel to a romantic destination. Hawaii, Italy or France. It may limit the number of guests, but it is about creating a celebration to remember. Thousands of dollars are spent.
There are so many details when planning a wedding. So many people involved, so many components in a wedding; it’s almost guaranteed that something, a little thing, a big thing, a hidden thing will go wrong. There is more than one TV program which specializes in wedding disasters.
Things go wrong with weddings. I have seen a wedding start hours late because someone was still sewing the bridesmaid’s dresses. I’ve seen a groom too hung over to stand up. The list goes on. The possibilities for error, the potential of something going wrong at a wedding is astronomical.
The very first miracle that Jesus performed in His ministry was at a wedding, a wedding where something had gone wrong. Jewish weddings lasted a week. The guests were celebrating…. But the wine ran out. Back then, wine was to a wedding what a cake is to a wedding today. Can you imagine a wedding without cake? They could not imagine a wedding without wine. To run out of wine was an insult to the family and guests.
(Thoughts from a sermon by Rev. Ken Klaas on Matthew 22)
What Mary, the mother of Jesus faced was a social problem. A foul-up. A calamity to embarrass the family and the village. To save the embarrassment, Jesus turned water into wine… gallons and gallons of first rate wine. And the party continued.
In this final week, of His life Jesus was telling a story about a God of
grace and mercy. God has spared no expense for the wedding celebration
of His Son. All the important people were invited. The food, the music, has all been prepared. Invitations are sent. Come share our joy.
After the last too parables… it is obvious that God is inviting the Scribes, the Pharisees, to rejoice and accept Jesus as the long-expected Messiah. The miracles of Jesus were enough to prove that God had come to His chosen and precious vineyard. “But many paid no attention to the invitation. The king was enraged…. Ultimately He sent an army to destroy their city. His army flew the eagle and flags of Rome.
The King decides to invite others to come to the celebration. The King prepared a perfect celebration. It will not be wasted.
For three years Jesus has been wandering around the countryside. For three years He has preached a consistent message. Again and again He said: “I Am the “one” the prophets spoke about; I Am the Messiah who John the Baptist “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Now is the time to repent. Now is the time to be forgiven. Now is the time to be set free from the fear of Satan’s shackles that holds people in the fear of death & the grip of sin.
For three years Jesus backed up His claims. He fed thousands with a light lunch from a nameless boy; He stilled the storms on the sea with a word. He walked on the water. He healed people who had medically incurable diseases. Lepers were made whole and sent home to families. The blind received their sight. Paralytics were able to walk without robotics. Mourners were reunited with lifeless loved ones. For three years He never broke one of God’s commandments. He refused the temptations of Satan.
The pompous Pharisees didn’t much like Jesus because He set aside their man-made laws. Jesus instructed the people to love God & neighbor. He came to restore humanity’s broken relationship with God, our Creator. People were and still today, burdened with guilt at their failure to keep God’s commands. Then and today people worry that maybe their illness, their poverty is a punishment from God. (John 9) They knew they have failed to earn God’s love. They worry. And many just give up. The words of Jesus were a fresh, cool breeze in a dry religious world that demanded rule perfection. Imagine… our most important need… acceptance…. Jesus came, and offered God’s acceptance, to the woman at the well, to all.
The people whom the king had requested to come, declined. “Everything is ready.” The meal is prepared. Come to the wedding.
Everyone who hears the gospel message, the words of Jesus offering forgiveness, acceptance, and eternal life…are responsible for responding. Just as in the parable… servants are sent out to invite everyone, even the Scribes and Pharisees…but they rejected the message.
Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Yes, the Romans crucified him. Yes, friends placed his corpse in a borrowed grave. Yes the Romans sealed the tomb and set a guard. It did not matter. Jesus defeated death and rose from the grave with a glorified resurrected body. He has promised the same glorified resurrection body to all who accept the invitation to the God’s wedding banquet. (Philippians 3:20-21)
People still reject the invitation. Human beings have devised all sorts of plans to defy death. There is the “mother earth movement” where after death you find a nice spot in the forest and become one with mother earth. There is Cryonics, which is freezing the brain after death at a minus 130 degrees so that the brain can be preserved for the future revival of the cryopreserved person.
Admission to heaven, admission to the wedding celebration is on God’s terms, not ours. It is by God’s grace, not our goodness that entry is given. Just as restaurants post: “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service: So God’s invitation: “No Savior, No Celebration.”
