The First Steps: Read: Matthew 22
Focus Verse: “‘Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 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.” Matthew 22:9-10
Meditation: You’re invited!
My kids have reminded me again and again how arranging a party is different when you’re young. In elementary school, invitations go out to...everyone! All the kids in the class get an invitation. Everyone the children knows(and the parents can stand) are invited. Parties of fifteen or twenty “good friends” are not uncommon.
As we grow older, our guest list changes. We invite those we know and those we like, those who we’re closest to and those we count as “good friends.” Very rarely will we invite EVERYONE to anything. Especially to something as important as a wedding where the number of invitations is closely monitored so we have just enough food to feed everyone.
The same party ediquette held true at Jesus time too. The host would invite his friends and neighbors. Those who were in. The host in Jesus’ parable does just that...only he has a problem. He has overestimated how much they like him. He assumed that everyone he invited would come. So when one invitation goes ignored he sends another. And when he hears back excuses he sends a third.
But the third invitation gets his guests mad. And they kill the messengers.
Frightfully upset, the host then sends his servants to invite “everyone you find on the streets.” The hobo drinking his wine, the unmarried mother of two, the gay and the straight, the “good and the bad” as the text says, everyone! Everyone is invited to the banquet. And they all come! The hall is packed.
But the host still knows this is a wedding party. And his guests aren’t dressed right for a wedding. So... he’s provided some clothes for them. A changing room is on the left with clothes in everyone’s size. And everyone is asked to change in order to be right for the party at hand. Right-ness is provided by the host. Just take off your old stinky clothes and wear the cool clean ones he has provided for you.
All is well at the party...except one thing. One of the guests hasn’t changed yet. One of them is still wearing his old stinky clothes. Smiling, the host approaches the man. “Friend, we have clothes for you to wear. How did you get this far without changing...”
The man is... speechless. Why? I’m not really sure. Maybe he didn’t think anything needed to change in him. Maybe he thought everyone else needed a makeover...but not him. Maybe he didn’t like it that the host was giving new clothes to “those people over there.” Or maybe he just didn’t like the clothes the host was providing.
But in any case...the man doesn’t say a word. And the host is forced to remove him from the wedding party. Why? Because they all need to look right. Because right-ness is provided by the host and if you’re not willing to take the free gift being offered, than what right do you have being there in the first place?
Jesus’ parable might be taken as a reference to Israel’s rejection of God and the ministry to the Gentiles...but I think there’s more to it than that. I think there’s something we can take from this parable...personally.
You see... we also have been invited into the banquet hall. Along with all the rest of creation, we’ve been invited to sit with our Lord as he makes the world new. We’ve been invited, along with the good AND THE BAD, together. We didn’t ask for the invitation. We didn’t somehow earn it. But...there it is in our hands.
And we, like others, have also been given a gift. The gift of righteousness, given freely in our Lord Jesus Christ. Like new wedding clothes, this righteousness makes us “look right” at the party. They too are a gift. Given freely without any merit or worthiness on our part.
But they’ve been given to more than just us. More than just our little family and friends. In fact, when we look closely at the redemption bought by Jesus Christ, we discover that those wedding clothes have been given to each and every person, living and dead, on the face of the earth. All have been invited. All are welcome. All have been clothed in Jesus Christ.
We needn’t worry about how Jesus will clothe anyone else. We need only worry about putting on the clothes ourselves. Realizing that there is nothing good and right and proper about the way we live. We aren’t any better than anyone else. The righteousness that is right for the party is the righteousness given to us by Jesus Christ our Lord. And that is a gift. Forever...to the end. Amen.
Questions to Ponder...
1) Think about the best party you’ve ever been to. What made it so great? What do you remember about the celebration?
2) How do you decide who to invite and who not to invite to things?
3) How would you feel if you were invited to this wedding banquet that Jesus throws?
A Prayer to Pray...Heavenly Father, you invite us to the wedding banquet of your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us the humility to repent, to take off our old stinky clothes, so we can put on your righteous robes. Amen.
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