Randy Alcorn told story about his friend Ruthanna Metzgar, a professional singer. She had been asked to sing at the wedding of a very wealthy man, and they were invited to the reception. It was being held on the top two floors of the Columbia Tower in Seattle - the tallest skyscraper in the Northwest - and there would be magnificently carved ice sculptures; beautifully decorated tables filled with the choicest of foods; and a professional orchestra dressed in elegant white tuxedos. At the start of the reception, the bride and groom came to an elegant glass and brass staircase where someone ceremoniously cut a satin ribbon at the bottom of the stairs, and wedding party ascended followed by their guests. This wasn’t just a reception… this was an event!! And Ruthanna and her husband were excited to be there!
As they made their way to the top of the stairs, there stood a maître d’ holding a bound book. He asked: “May I have your name please?” “I’m Ruthanna Metzgar and this is my husband Roy.” He searched the M’s. “I’m not finding it. Would you spell it, please?” So she spelled her name slowly. But, after searching the book, the maître d’ looked up and said, “I’m sorry ma’am, but your name’s not here.” Now, she’s a bit worried and she said “There must be some mistake. I’m the singer!” The maître d’ answered, “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done. Without your name in the book you cannot attend the banquet.” Then he motioned for a waiter and said, “Show these people to the service elevator, please.” And so the Metzgars followed the waiter past the ice sculptures, the beautifully decorated tables filled with the choicest of foods, and the orchestra – dressed in white tuxedos who were preparing to perform. But Ruthanna and Roy were NOT allowed to take part because their names were not in the book.
After they’d left the event, Roy reached over and touched his wife’s arm. “Sweetheart, what happened?” And she replied: “When the invitation arrived, I was busy. I never bothered to RSVP. Besides, I was the singer. Surely, I could go to the reception without returning the RSVP!” And then … she started to weep. (Randy Alcorn, "50 Days Of Heaven", p. 23)
She hadn’t done what she should have done to be allowed to attend the reception. Her name was not found written in the book. She had been invited/ called… but she had not been chosen.
In our story today, Jesus tells a parable about a King who gave a wedding reception for his son, and the parable ends up practically the same as it had for Ruthanna and her husband. A man comes to a reception, but he doesn’t do what he was supposed to do, and the King shows him the door. The king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
He had been invited/called… but he had not been chosen.
Now let’s take this parable apart a little bit at a time. 1st – this parable tells us about the wedding feast for the Son of the King. I wonder what that’s all about? Well, we don’t really have to wonder, because in Revelation 19:6-9 John tells us “I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure" — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.’ And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’”
The wedding feast Jesus referred to, is the great event at the end of time when all the saints (that’s you and me) are gathered in heaven to meet Jesus. We (Christians) are the bride, and Jesus is the groom - and we are going to have a party! A big and exciting party. A party like you’ve never seen on earth. And NOT just a party… but an event! That’s what Jesus is talking about!
But then, at the end of the parable, Jesus says something interesting: “For many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14
That’s an interesting statement by Jesus. And there are many folks who read that verse and believe that the only way you get into heaven is to be chosen. You can’t just decide to get into heaven… you have to be chosen. You don’t get to chose – only God can make that choice. I mean – that’s what it SEEMS to be saying!
The teaching is called “Pre-destination. Essentially (according to this teaching) your DESTINATION (heaven) has been PRE-determined ahead of time by God. There was a famous theologian named Martyn Lloyd Jones who put it this way: “A man does NOT become a Christian by MAKING A DECISION. He is made a Christian by God, who had marked him out before the Foundation of the world and sees to it that he is born again and that he believes in Him." What he’s saying is: YOU can’t DECIDE to be saved - or to go to heaven - because God has already decided that!
Now, let me RE-emphasize: According to this teaching of predestination you can’t do anything to become saved - God has already PRE-DESTINED you to heaven or hell and YOU don’t have a choice in the matter.
Well, as you can imagine, there’s a few problems with this teaching. First, there’s II Peter 3:9 that says “The Lord is … patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” BUT pre-destination teaches: MANY WILL PERISH – because they CAN’T REPENT. It’s impossible for them to choose to repent because their destination has already been decided.
Then there’s John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.” BUT pre-destination teaches: MANY CAN’T CHOOSE TO BELIEVE and so they will PERISH & they will not have everlasting life.
BUT the biggest problem is: the parable Jesus told defies the idea of pre-destination. Jesus tells us that the king invites people to His party but a lot of people didn’t want to show up. They CHOSE NOT TO SHOW UP! “(The King) sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they WOULD NOT COME.” (Matthew 22:3) They DECIDED they didn’t want to be there. (Some ignored the king) “they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,” (But others) seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. Matthew 22:5-6
And the King is furious. He destroyed the murderers and burned their city, and everyone else gets UN-invited… they just don’t get to come. Instead the King ordered his servants to gather anyone and everyone. There were good people and there were bad people who came, but when it was all said and done - the wedding hall was filled with guests.
But there was this one guy who didn’t wear the required wedding garment and the King throws him out on his ear. Now, on the face of it, this reaction by the King seems a little unfair. I mean – after all – in the parable - the guests don’t seem to be wealthy people. This 2nd batch of people were literally standing on the street corner, and it’s reasonable to believe that (at least some of them) didn’t have the resources to get a good suit of clothes. But the King kicks this man out of the banquet anyway… and he’s not particularly nice about it.
So the question that comes to mind is… what in the world happened here?
Well, according to Barnes New Testament Notes: “Anciently, kings and princes were accustomed to make presents of changes of raiment to their friends and favourites. To refuse to receive (this gift) was an expression of highest contempt.” The King not only invited this guy to the reception, He supplied him with a tux! But then man CHOSE not to wear garment… he REFUSED to wear it. And in so doing he showed contempt for the King.
So Jesus says: “Many are called (invited) but few are chosen.”
In the parable Jesus told us - those who were CHOSEN in this parable had already made a choice. They had made a decision. Some accepted the invitation and wore the garment, and… others DIDN’T. They REJECTED the King and His son.
(pause) Matthew 22:14 is NOT a verse about pre-destination - it’s a verse about CHOSING your own destination!
An old black preacher once said “Jesus - he votes for us, and Satan - he votes against us. Then we vote and break the tie.”
One preacher on the internet said it this way: “‘Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen’; Those initially invited were “called”; Those – good and bad – were called; But only those who were PREPARED for the feast were chosen.” https://saralandchristians.com/sermons/2021/6/21/few-are-chosen-matthew-221-14
Now catch that last phrase… “those who were PREPARED for the feast were chosen.” The decisions these folks made were the groundwork for God CHOOSING them.
(PAUSE)
If you recall, at the beginning of the sermon, I mentioned that Ruthanne Metzgar couldn’t get into the reception because her name was NOT found … in the book. Revelation 20:14-15 tells us that (at the end of time) “Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
This BOOK OF LIFE… was mentioned several times in Scripture: Exodus 32:32 says that “The LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.” And in Psalm 69:28 David pled with God to “Let (his enemies) be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.”
And in Revelation 3:5 Jesus declared: “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will NEVER blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”
People are going to make decisions that will either DELETE their names from the book of life, or PUT their names back in that book - but they will get to make a choice. They will get to DECIDE to embrace God… or not.
(PAUSE) ONE LAST THOUGHT - Do you remember why the one man was kicked out of the banquet? He wasn’t wearing the proper wedding garment. He knew of the garment the King had supplied, but he thought his own clothes were good enough. In the religious world, there are folks who want to wear their own clothes. They say to themselves – I think I’ve been good enough to get into heaven. They believe that if they just do enough “good stuff”, their good deeds will cover their sinfulness and God will let them in. But that will never work. Our SELF- righteousness won’t be enough to impress God, because that’s OUR garment… not His.
The only wedding garment that’s going make any difference is that which God supplies. Galatians 3:26-27 tells us about this new garment: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
But what garment will God accept? JESUS. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse us. Only the blood of Jesus can clothe us and cover our sinful past.
But HOW do we “put on Christ?” How can I clothe myself in Christ? I do that when I’m buried with the waters of baptism, and rise WITH HIM to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4)
INVITATION
