Sermons Preached In Moody Texas

Moody-Leon United Methodist Church

Matthew 22:1-14Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

At 5:49 p.m. on October 11, 2002, Emily Marie Frantz was born. Our third Grandchild. We were all in agreement. She is beautiful. She is incredible. She is wonderful. I can’t help but wonder what her world will be like. I know the world her parents will provide, but what kind of influence will the world have on our precious granddaughter-on all three of our grandchildren-even on our children. Will the influence of the world cause them to be indifferent?

Matthew is telling us today to watch out! Don’t let the world distract you from what’s important.

Throughout our history as a nation, there have been many, many presidential candidates who came in second place, who were second best. How many of these candidates do you remember? General elections or primaries, how many of those who finished second do we remember?

How many Super Bowl losers do we remember? It’s not like they were terrible teams! They were the second best football teams in the nation the year they lost the Super Bowl.

Matthew is telling us that the second best things in our lives are totally insignificant when compared to Number One. Focusing on number two will get you thrown out of the banquet.

Matthew tells the third of three parables that build on one another. This story of a dinner party and those who are invited is troubling. His conclusion causes us to pause and think. At least he hopes it does.

This parable is allegorical in nature. Many commentators agree on that point. We often try to make parables into allegories, but rarely are they. You remember. In an allegory, there is this one-to-one correspondence with elements of the story. In this allegory the King is God. The son is Jesus. The invited guests are the Jewish people. The first slaves are the Hebrew prophets, and the second and third sets of slaves are Christian missionaries.(1)

Eugene Boring suggests this allegory represents “the salvation history from the initial sending of the prophets to Israel through the renewed invitation by Christian prophetic missionaries, concluding at the last judgment.”

The original dinner party has become the messianic banquet given by the king (God) for his Son (Jesus), who invites guest who agree to come (Israel) to the wedding celebration (salvation, the messianic banquet), but who then refuse the final invitation delivered by both the first group of slaves (the Hebrew prophets) and the second (the prophetic Christian missionaries).(2)

The Hebrew prophets bring God’s message to the Hebrew people. The Christian missionaries bring God’s message to the Hebrew people. The invitation, the message, is ignored. The second time the invitation is made the parable says, “the made light of it.” They had other places to go and other things to do.

Before we get too hard on the Hebrews, maybe we need to look at what happened. They didn’t blow-off the party for unimportant stuff. They had farms and businesses to take care of. It was good things, not bad, that distracted them.(3)

We are called to make a difference in the life of the church-to be used by God. Well, I have to work on Sunday. I have children to look after. It is the only morning I can sleep in. I have to cook for company. I need to catch up with all the chores around the house. I need to spend time with my children at the lake. We are working long hours at work these days.

All of these are good things. All of these things and many more are like the Super Bowl losers when it comes to our relationship with Jesus Christ. In the Kingdom of Heaven it is Christ who gets our total attention. Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, “Perpetual devotion to what man calls his business is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.(4) You know the solution. It’s just a matter of having plenty of time. Well, there are only a few people who live in that ideal state. Richard Donovan lists prisoners, nursing home residents and the like.(5)

This is a harsh parable! This parable focuses on our RESPONSE to the offer of God’s grace. It focuses on the judgement that comes based on our RESPONSE. We like to hear about grace. Paul liked to write about grace. “By grace we are saved through faith.” Martin Luther loved that scripture.

BUT Jesus gets blunt! God’s grace is a given. What are we going to do about it? What is our response? Do we have other things to do? Are we too busy?

“But when the king came in to see the guest, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe.” Picky, picky, picky! This guy was one of the last to come in straight off the street. When would he of had time or opportunity to put on a wedding robe? Fred Craddock helps us at this point. He reminds us that a wedding robe is kingdom talk for new life or righteous conduct. Matthew is making a theological point. He is not talking about the man clothing, but rather the authenticity of his relationship with Jesus Christ.

What is missing is not a robe. What’s missing are the proper manners. What is missing is a life characterized by Christ likeness-a life characterized by obedience to Christ’s commands. You know them. “Go and make disciples.” “Pray.” “When you have done it for the least, you have done it for me.” “Worship.” “Teach.” “Be humble.” Jesus said they could all be summed up. “Love God and neighbor.”

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” Everyone is invited, but only those with the proper manners are fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who act like Christians are welcome to stay in the Kingdom.

An estimated 500,000 tons of water rush over Niagara Falls every minute. On March 29, 1948, the falls suddenly stopped. People living within the sound of the falls were awakened by the overwhelming silence. They believed it was a sign that the world was coming to an end. It was thirty hours before the rush of water resumed.

What happened? Heavy winds had set the ice fields of Lake Erie in motion. Tons of ice jammed the Niagara River entrance near Buffalo and stopped the flow of the river until the ice shifted again.

The flow of God’s grace in our lives can be blocked by cold indifference.(6)

1. Richard Niell Donovan, www.SermonWriter.com, SermonWriter for Proper 23A

6. Merle Mees , Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching , 126.

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