Clothed
Last week, you may remember that I wore my safari outfit from Camp Kilimanjaro - I was in a t-shirt and shorts. I spoke about the lessons we learned at VBS, so it seemed appropriate enough. But what if I showed up to perform a funeral in that same outfit? Would that feel appropriate for the occasion? - Unless it was the funeral for maybe Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter – probably not.
When we work in the yard or the garden, we usually don't wear our 'Sunday best'; we wear work clothes or old clothes we don't care about getting dirty. If we were to go to a fancy dinner, we'd probably dress up a bit, maybe a nice dress or a suit and tie. Different clothes serve different purposes.
I'd like to look at a story that Jesus told in Matthew chapter 22. It's about a King who threw a wedding banquet for his son and, in the end - it's about a man who wasn't wearing the right clothes. In this story, Jesus, as God in the flesh, was trying to explain Heaven to humans in human words and ideas. As God has a much higher intelligence than us, Jesus was using earthly words and concepts to explain spiritual realities.
Let's take a look at what is called the story of…
I. The Wedding Banquet
Jesus was relating Heaven to something the people would understand, something they'd experienced themselves. Let's look at it in Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV)...
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) 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, both good and bad, 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) 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' 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."
As context is important, let's give a bit of background to the story. Jesus had entered the Jewish Temple courtyards and was teaching the people. The Chief priests had just confronted Him and questioned His authority. He then told them a story about a vineyard worker in which it was obvious that Jesus was talking about their sinful actions and attitudes - which made them so angry they looked for a way to arrest Him. And then He went on to tell this story about this Wedding Banquet.
The parable actually has two parts. The first part is in vs. 1-10, which deals with what happened prior to and at the start of the banquet - and then vs. 11-14 talk about what happened once the King arrived at the banquet. Let's look at the first part of the story...
A. The setting
- The lead up to the banquet. The King in this story was planning a wedding feast for his son. He sent out special invitations, which were rejected. He then sent out more servants to re-deliver his invitation which, again, they ignored and then were even brazen enough to mistreat his servants and then kill them. This pushed the King over the edge and he sent his army to deal with the murderers. And at this point the King then sent out an open invitation to anyone and the banquet hall was filled.
The King of the banquet represents God and the banquet represents Heaven, salvation – being welcomed into God's Kingdom. God first offered salvation to the Jewish people, but many rejected His offer to come to the banquet. They rejected and even killed the prophets – and then after Jesus told this story, they even went on to kill the King's own Son, Jesus, whom they crucified.
In the story, the King destroyed those who refused his invitation. And in the Gospels we find that Jesus predicted the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. And in 70 A.D., the Roman Emperor Titus and his army destroyed the city, the temple, and took the Jewish people into slavery - just as described in the parable.
But back to the part of the story where the King opened the invitation to everyone - this represents the offer of salvation to all, not just the nation of Israel, God's chosen people. The offer was extended to the gentiles, the non-Jews, to us – to all who would receive Jesus! And that's kind of big deal for us! Prior to this open offer - anyone who wanted a relationship with God had to follow all of the laws of the Old Testament. But now, Jesus was foreshadowing this new way, this New Covenant.
Back to the story - the offer was made to all, the hall was filled, but then, at the banquet, there was…
B. A problem
In the story, the King arrived at the banquet and noticed a man who wasn't wearing the appropriate wedding clothes. The king then surprisingly had him tied up and thrown out of the banquet - a rather strong reaction. Now this suggests the custom back then for the royal host of a wedding banquet to supply a white robe to each guest as they came in the main entrance. OR, it could have been that the man simply wasn't dressed appropriately for the banquet as everyone else was. - So either he didn't come in the front door or he didn't meet the King's dress code and the King called him out on it.
So why didn't the king's servants stop this man from entering if he didn't have the right clothes? The scripture doesn't say for sure, but some suggest that, for the sake of the story, maybe the King was the only one who could tell whether the man was dressed appropriately or not. The implication would be that only the King has the authority to judge and then toss someone out of the banquet.
Since the banquet represents God's Kingdom, it is possible that Jesus was pointing out that there may be some who show up to the party, and everyone else assumes they belong there – but God will be the final judge. And by way of implication - are there people who claim membership in God's Church – but in practice their hearts aren't really there? That's a lot to think about...
But when it comes to the metaphor of the banquet, it's vital to understand…
II. We are all invited
ALL! And did you notice the words, "So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad"..? Don't miss this - no one was invited on their own merit. The King didn't discriminate by one's past deeds – but only by one's willingness to respond to the invitation. We don't earn Heaven by our own goodness – but through our humility in accepting Jesus' invitation!
And God has opened the invitation of salvation to everyone, so we don't get to judge who makes it or who doesn't. There may be some who fall short by our standards, they may not act like us, or talk like us or look like us – but God decides who receives salvation, not us. Conversely, there may be some who appear to us to be Heaven bound, but may turn out to not be 'wearing the appropriate wedding clothes' – maybe they tried to slip in the side door rather than through Jesus. And as Christians, as God's ambassadors, we're to take the invitation to everyone and let God judge.
And some will accept the gift of salvation and some will not. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)...
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (14) But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
The fact that not everyone will make it to Heaven doesn't sit well with many. However - we're not capable of seeing a person's heart and in the story as told by Jesus - whether or not you were welcomed at the banquet or were thrown out was determined by…
A. Your clothes
What does that mean – your clothes? What was the larger point that Jesus was teaching? The answer becomes clearer in light of Paul's teachings in Galatians 3:25-27 (NIV)...
Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (26) You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, (27) for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
- The 'right clothes' really means that we are 'clothed with Christ'. When we accept Jesus' invitation in baptism, our sins – all the bad stuff of our life, everything that doesn't lined up with God's perfect will for us – it's all washed away and it's like we 'put on' Jesus. Let's look at Paul's words from Romans 13:14 (NIV)...
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
The idea is that we are 'wrapped up in Jesus' so that when people see us – they see Jesus! Our actions should then fit our 'attire' – being clothed in Christ, we are to act like Him. But just like I talked about at the beginning - if I'm dressed for working in the garden, I better get busy gardening!
But the larger point is - everyone has been invited to the party, but only those who are 'clothed in Christ' are accepted. Jesus said, 'many are invited, but few are chosen'. In our 'post modern' world, the idea that only those who are 'clothed in Christ' will make it to Heaven seems narrow minded to many. There are those who say that there are many paths to Heaven and Christians shouldn't be so 'exclusionary' and intolerant of other faiths or even no faith at all.
Recently a political activist tweeted, "There's no hope for any of us outside of having faith in Jesus Christ alone." Then an Ohio member of Congress replied, "This is one of the most bigoted tweets I have ever seen. Delete it..." - So who's intolerant here...?
That attitude is nothing new. But Jesus spoke very clearly when He said…
John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
We didn't make the claim that Jesus is The only way to Heaven, He did. There's no virtue in being 'narrow minded', but we also can't ignore or reject the very words of Jesus just to be popular or tolerant, either. Our job is to invite all to the party and let Him sort it out – that's open minded and tolerant!
But I want to look more at this banquet metaphor for God's Kingdom. There's certainly the future aspect of God's Kingdom - talking about Heaven. But there is also a present aspect to God's Kingdom…
B. The banquet on earth
You see, from God's perspective, the banquet is ongoing from now throughout eternity. The current manifestation of this party is intended to be the Church – the Bride of Christ – which will continue into eternity.
But - does Church always feel like a banquet, a celebration? Of course last week with all the VBS decorations around it certainly felt pretty festive. But maybe it should feel like that a whole lot more of the time. And I'm not just talking about outward appearances.
We are a gathering of people who were destined for Hell, but by the grace of Jesus Christ, we are now destined for Heaven! Isn't that something we should be celebrating a whole lot more? Christians should be the most joyful people in the world! Yes, there are a lot of problems in this life - I don't want to make light of any of the very real struggles many of us are undergoing. Yes, there are bad things that happen all the time. Yes, there are genuine tragedies. But we know how the story ends! This life is not all there is!
Jesus told us that He came so that we may have life, and have it to the full! I'm not saying that we're going to be happy about everything all the time. I certainly am not happy about many of my present circumstances... But despite the awful garbage that this life throws at us – we have a hope that endures! God's kingdom, the wedding banquet - the party has just begun!
So What?
If the grace of God was a physical place that you could visit, what would it look like? If you were standing outside the door where God's banquet was going on, what sounds would you expect to hear? Might it remind you of the passage from Revelation 7:9-12 (NIV)...
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. (10) And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." (11) All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, (12) saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
Are we a body of believers who are known for our love, our joy, and our willingness to share God's grace with people from every nation, tribe and language? If other people don't see us like that, we need to change, to grow! If we truly want to be a part of God's Kingdom, we have to get rid of 'the old clothes' and clothe ourselves with Jesus Christ! We need to accept Him and work everyday to become more like Him.
But sometimes, I think we're convinced that we have plenty of time. It's true that we do not know when Jesus will return. We do know, however, that He is coming back AND we know that today, we are closer than any other time in history to the return of Christ. The banquet has started - invite your friends to the party before the King comes.
Jesus is The way to Heaven. If your co-workers, neighbors, friends and family don't know Him, they will not be allowed into the party... It's our calling, as God's servants to invite others. Let's be about God's business! Let's be the Church and GO Share the Good News of Jesus Christ!