“THE AWESOME WEDDING RECEPTION”
After making his royal entrance into the nation's capital, Jesus returns the next day, to tell some stories, including one comparing the kingdom of heaven to a wedding reception. “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son.” (Matthew 22:2)
I assigned this reading for today months before Melanie & James chose this weekend to be wed
A person's wedding is one of life's most memorable events. It's also one of it's most festive! No wonder Jesus chose it as an image of the kingdom. There's something cosmic – two worlds unite!
Weddings celebrate the bringing together of two distinct families with distinct histories. As Gus declares: “There are two kinds of people – Greeks, and everyone else who wish they were Greek. When my people were developing philosophy, your people were still swinging from trees!”
Toula's aunt tries to be more tactful. “Now you are family. You know, all my life, I had a lump at the back of my neck. Right there; always a lump. Then I started menopause and the lump got bigger from the 'hormonees.' So I go to the doctor and he did the bio, the bop, the bobopsy. Inside the lump he 'found teeth and a spinal cord. Yes, inside the lump was my twin. So, we are all family.”
Wedding ceremonies and receptions generally include the unexpected. I attended a jewish one in which the groom..., toppled over and took out the canopy as he did...! ^ That is certainly true of the one Jesus tells us about in Matthew 22. Consider, for example, that it is “the king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son.” In short, the father of the groom is picking up the tab. But isn't that normally the job of the bride's parents? If that's unusual today it was unheard of in Jesus' day. It's a clue about the nature of this father-son relationship and about the generous heart of the father.
It's a detail that would've instantly grabbed the attention of Jesus' original audience. 'Wait, what about the dowry that the son and his family are entitled to? That's not how its supposed to work!'
That shocker is followed by another – that of the reaction of those on the original invitation list. Jesus tells us,“They all refused!” (Matt. 22:3) Wait a minute, they all refused? Ouch! Can you imagine paying for the venue, the caterer, DJ, limo service, champaign, & three level cake - and not a single person showing up?! How would you feel? But the king, the groom's dad, is relentless. He sends out his servants again and again, “But the guests he had invited ignored them and went about their busi-ness, one to his farm, another to his store while still others treated them shamefully...” (Matt. 22:5)
The rejection of the invitation, and the servants who deliver it, is Jesus' reminder and warning concerning Jerusalem's response to the prophets and now God's son. The previous chapter ends with the religious leaders reaction to Jesus' story of evil farmers who also kill the messengers: “When the leading priests heard Jesus, they realized he was pointing to them... They wanted to arrest him but were afraid to do so...” (Matthew 21:45-46) His story convicts those who prefer religion to the relationship Jesus offers and represents. It also serves as warning – past, present and future.
During our 2012 mission trip to Ukraine we held a special 4th of July celebration for our Ukranian team members. We put together skits and songs to share a little of our history and Americana.
We had BBQ chicken, and relay games and watermelon and a seed spitting contest...
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The following week, the Ukranian team followed suit and outdid us a hundred times over. We received an invitation akin to the king's:The feast is ready! Everything's ready! Come to the banquet! We're invited to a special feast, featuring Ukranian cuisine, folk dancing and singing, skits, prizes and specially chosen gifts for each of us on the American team. And to kick it off we were welcomed, one at a time, with a Ukranian tradition of hospitality featuring our host and his wife handing out bread...
(Matthew 22:3)
Imagine if nobody had showed up! What if Pastor Alexander & his wife had stood at the door with their homemade bread of hospitality with no one to share it with? What if no one came to eat their specially made foods, or experience their singing and dancing, or to receive their gifts...?
Well, one thing, we would've really missed out! Not only would we be rejecting their culture, hospitality and generosity, we would've missed out on one of the top highlights of the trip – the experi-ence of becoming part of the Ukranian family of faith! Such are the implications of the story Jesus tells. Those who were first invited totally miss out on the party and coming to truly belong...!
Jesus' story reaches its climax as the king issues a new invitation: “Go out into the streets and invite everyone you see!” (Matthew 22:9) It's a rather odd detail when you think about it. We tend to think the kingdom is reserved for good, law-abiding citizen types, but here we see those living on the edge, the immoral and shady characters, being invited too. Most of the new guests are lacking in table manners and social grace, but they came anyway because they didn't want to miss out.
This is one wedding reception that may get a bit messy before its over. Folks are likely to bring their baggage, dysfunctions and addictions. The reception hall may get a bit untidy. But as Jesus makes clear, the King's primary purpose is to see that the banquet hall is full. As scripture makes clear: “Pray for all people...for God wants everyone to be saved and to know the Truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1,4)
That is, he'd rather have a party and have to clean up the mess than never have a party at all. So he sends an invitation to those hanging out on the street corners, those who recognize that the life they have been pursuing has come up short, which leads to the perfect ending in verse 10: “So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike and the banquet hall was filled with guests”
(Matthew 22:10)
What an amazing story! The good and bad show up side by side. The wedding hall is full! The curtain closes. The credits roll. The crowd applauds; another classic Hollywood ending. Right? Wrong!
Jesus goes on to tag on a rather shocking ending involving a guest who shows up improperly attired and winds up being thrown out, gnashing his teeth, an image of being cold, empty and alone!
What is Jesus saying here? Is Jesus enforcing a dress code for those who want to enter in – you know: No shirt, no shoes no, no service? Ever been to a store like that? How 'bout a church like that?
But wait. The issue here is not one of a dress code but of a heart code. That is, the man in question had not had a change of heart – he was as unclean as when he'd first been invited. He showed up in dirty, rumpled clothing, symbolizing an unrepentant heart and an unchanged life. Herein lies Jesus' warning to those who consider themselves Christian without ever truly disrobing of their worldly ways and putting on Christ – living in Christ. As the apostle Paul put it...
“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you... Strip off your evil nature and in its place clothe yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who creates this new nature within you.” (Colossians 3:5, 9-10)
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The man in Jesus' parable shows up still clinging to his old life. He hasn't stripped himself of his old nature. He's still indulging worldly cravings. His heart isn't really in it.
What is Jesus saying? He's saying that in the end, some'll be standing out in the cold because they were too busy to accept the invitation. Others because they outright rejected it. And still others will wind up shivering in the darkness, their teeth a-chattering, still clinging to the lifeless things of this world, because they refused to let go of their old life and let Jesus' Kingdom vision change them...!
They aren't in the cold because they're more ungodly than those on the inside. “The banquet hall was filled with guests – good and bad alike” (Matthew 22:10), so clearly it isn't that our being good or bad is the key issue – its that we've been invited and are responding as guests who know we're guests, who realize that the things that we're clinging to do not bring fulfillment but estrangement!
There's a powerful moment at the end of the Return of the King in which Frodo stands at the crack of doom. The greatest danger he's faced is that of losing himself as the object of his affection whispers to him... As he stands on the threshold of freedom, he falters, even as his best friend urges him to let the ring go, to be free of it once and for all. His inability to let it go leads to further pain and loss, leaving him hanging on a precipace, his life in the balance. Then a hand reaches out for his.
Sam urges Frodo to grab his hand: Don't you let go - or give up! So it is with Jesus. If we can but let go of that which holds us back, be that our longing to be in control or our comfort & belongings, our hurts or church baggage; If we can let go of all that we cling to and cling instead to him - to his promises, that he's invited us because we matter to the kingdom, because we matter to him, then he can make of our lives more than we can possibly imagine! We can live like guests of the King!
The parable contains one more telling clue to the heart and mind of the king, and to our relation-ship to him. Notice what it is that his servants are charged to do. Those who consider themselves in service to the king, embrace his vision for a standing room only turn out at his son's wedding reception, and hit the streets inviting all they see and encounter, letting the good and bad alike know that that they are invited to join the son in a party to end all parties! In short, those who serve the king are sent out to the street corners to invite everyone (they) see! (Matthew 22:9)
Who'll be a grateful guest of the king because you stuck out your neck/hand and invited them?
One day, Jesus will call to himself those who've been invited, and who in turn have responded, and his banquet hall will be packed - “A vast crowd (we're told) shouting with a united voice like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder:'Praise the Lord! For the Lord God reigns, for the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb...!” I don't know about you, but I don't want to show up empty handed. I'm hoping some will be there because I passed on my King's invitation! “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb” - and show up! (Rev. 19:6-7,9)