Spurned Opportunity

Checklist
for Life

When we are young, we don’t understand that opportunity knocks rarely, very rarely. So we waste years of our lives looking for a dream situation that may never come along. We often spurn the opportunities that do present themselves. In Matthew 22:6 a king offered people an opportunity, but they ignored it and mistreated his messengers. We can perhaps understand their jaded reluctance. The rulers of this world have been a selfish lot. We are not impressed with them. Because we are disenchanted with human beings we can easily miss the best opportunity in history. We are invited to the greatest celebration on earth. That celebration takes place every Sunday at your local church. Let’s not be so offended by the faulty people of the church or distracted by the world that we abuse God’s servants and miss out.

Throw Him Outside

Saving Grace
Tough Love

We often speak of using tough love to help someone who is hurting themselves. The Wedding Parable reveals an aspect of grace that we could call tough grace. A king invited any and all who would come to his son’s wedding, both bad and good. The invitation was filled with grace, the response to those who refused the invitation was tough grace. The response to the man who did not wear appropriate clothing was tough grace. How so? Entry to the kingdom of heaven is an open invitation. Hell is our choice. It is our choice because we refuse the invitation to heaven. It is our choice because we cannot stay without the right clothing (Matthew 22:13). As with ancient kings, attendance would indicate political loyalty. Refusal would indicate political rejection of the king. Let’s attend and put on the clothing offered.

Invite Anyone You Find

The Inclusive God

Who should churches invite? Some churches are very exclusive. We might be invited if we pass certain legalistic membership criteria. Some churches will not invite gays, gamblers, drinkers, men with long hair, women with short hair or makeup, or those who play cards, work on Sunday or belong to another race. Many churches are not so narrow, but have an open door to anyone who wants to come. So too is God’s invitation (Matthew 22:9). He encourages us to invite both the good and the bad to our celebrations. Exclusiveness is self-righteous because it classifies other people’s sins as worse than our own. As far as God is concerned, sin is sin, and none of us are righteous. Yet, we can put on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In so doing, we are appropriately dressed for the wedding celebration.

Wedding Clothes

Counted
Righteous
in Christ

How do we dress in appropriate clothing for heaven’s royal wedding? A person not properly dressed for the wedding of God’s son to the church is not welcome (Matthew 22:11-12). God’s people will be dressed in white in his kingdom, symbolic of the righteousness of the saints. So, what is that righteousness? At one time righteousness was obedience to the law but now it is by faith (Romans 1:17; Philippians 3:9). It is a living faith evidenced by good works (James 2:14-26). No one can enter the kingdom of heaven without faith in Jesus Christ. Putting on Christ is the right wedding clothing. We can learn how to dress for the wedding by going to a healthy church which teaches what Jesus instructed to be taught. The celebration has already begun. Will we accept the invitation?

The Bad as Well as the Good

Let Every Soul Be Jesus' Guest:
A Theology of the Open Table

The parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:1-14 pictures the reign of heaven. That reign includes the church and that feast includes the Lord’s Supper. Some churches exclude people from holy communion, but that seems to go against the message of parable. The invitation to this feast is to all. Ought not communion also be open to all, rather than restricted to those with a particular political loyalty to a religious organization of mere men? One could argue that the necessity of proper clothing makes for some sort of exclusive nature of communion, but how exclusive? The clothing merely represents the righteousness by faith in Christ, not a loyalty to any exclusive interpretations or doctrines of mere mortals. If that is so, ought not the only criteria for a welcome to communion be our faith in Jesus Christ?

Without Wedding Clothes

Loyalty to the
Kingdom of Christ:
Christian Responsibility in
Politics and Society

Is the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22:1-14 also the wedding supper of Revelation 19:7-10? While there are similarities, there are also differences. One is a parable, the other a prophecy. In the prophecy no one appears without the proper clothing. John Wesley argued that the parable is about the church militant (on earth) and the prophecy is about the church triumphant (in heaven). The idea of clothing representing righteousness is not found in the context of the parable. Hence, Spurgeon suggested that we have no right to simply assume the clothing in the parable represents the same thing. He suggests another possibility. The neglect by one guest to wear the wedding garment provided by the host could represent a refusal to display an outward show of loyalty perhaps even revealing an inner heart of disloyalty.

Consumer Church

The McDonaldization
of the Church:
Consumer Culture and
the Church's Future

In the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22:1-14 was a man who came for the food but not to abide by the wishes of the host. He came for what he could get, but not for what he could give in loyalty. Sadly, most churches today have people who are not there to follow a calling to serve Christ, but to have selfish desires fulfilled. Why does one family go where youth activities are served up on a silver platter, rather than where there is a need for someone to do youth ministry? Why does another family go where there are wonderful programs offered instead of lending a hand at a church that needs help with programs? Granted, the sheep need to go where they are fed, but they also need to grow up into loyal service.

They Paid No Attention

Who Needs Theology?
An Invitation to
the Study of God

What if we prepared a great party and people paid no attention? What if we went to great efforts in inviting people, but they still refused? How heartbroken would we be if some people just ignored the messengers we sent or even murdered them? How does God feel after thousands of years of people doing just that with his invitation to a great celebration of his kingdom? Jesus painted this discouraging picture in the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22:5. What could be more important in our lives than paying attention to our maker’s invitation? What could be more urgent than to rush to his invitation and go to where he is being celebrated? We are invited. Does it matter whether the most accessible celebrations are Catholic, Eastern Orthodox or Protestant? How could we pay no attention?

Come

A wedding is one of the biggest occasions of life. It is a formal declaration of a lifelong commitment, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, and so on. It offers both parties legal protection and heaven’s blessing. It was given by God so that a man and a woman might always enjoy each other's companionship, help, support and appropriate expressions of human sexuality. Being asked to a wedding is not an invitation to a mere fashion parade. A pretentious and gaudy display can cheapen the true meaning. The real purpose of a wedding invitation is to share in celebrating the start of life’s most important human relationship. Perhaps that is why our Christian calling is pictured by an invitation to a royal wedding in Matthew 22:4. Will you come? You are invited.

A Wedding Banquet

Jesus continued a reply to the chief priests and Pharisees in Matthew 22:1-2. He told them a parable of a wedding feast. The kingdom of heaven, represented by the Church on earth, is like a king preparing a wedding banquet for his son. The first invitations in the Church were to Jesus’ own countrymen. Christianity was originally Jewish. Most Jewish leaders refused the invitation. Most Bible commentators see the marriage allegory used in several other parables as symbolic of salvation for the Church. This parable focuses on the initial marriage feast which, in ancient times began a celebration lasting several days. It involved great preparation and in this parable, great expense. It was seen as one of life’s most important events, and the wedding of Christ to his Church is one of history’s most important events. You are invited.