Sermon in Minneapolis 21.10.2012

Let us begin our services by joining in the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Today is the 21st Sunday after Trinity, or Pentecost, sorry. It used to be the 20th Sunday after Trinity, and now we count them as the 21st Sunday after Pentecost. And a gospel text for this Sunday, not for this year, but another calendar year, is from Matthew chapter 22, verses 1 through 14. And we will hear these words as follows in Jesus' name.

And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen, and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth, or he was angry, and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find bid to the marriage. So these servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all, as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was furnished with guests.

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he, the man, was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him, hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. Amen.

The context of this text is the last week during the life of Jesus. It's during the so-called Passion Week or Holy Week. And that week began when Jesus fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy when the prophet Zechariah foretold that he shall come to you meek and lowly, riding on a donkey, and he shall be arriving in this way. And so on what we know is Palm Sunday, Jesus fulfilled that prophecy. He found a colt of a donkey that had never been ridden before, and he now began to proceed toward his coronation. Only Jesus knew what would happen there in Jerusalem when he arrived there and it would be his last time in this city.

And the people were expecting that the great Messiah would come, that he would arrive in all of his glory, and he would be the one who would free this nation of Israel to become an independent country again and to be freed from under the yoke of the bondage of the Roman Empire. And so they sang as they came out in great numbers by the hundreds and the thousands a song of coronation that was sung to every king that was to be crowned. And so they broke palm branches off the trees. They waved them in the air. They even took some of their outer garments off themselves and laid the garments upon the ground making a red carpet treatment for him. And they were singing Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

And he then finally came to the valley of Kidron, went down into the valley, rose up again and climbed, ascended the hill toward the city of Jerusalem and entered the city through the golden gate. This was the beginning of Passion Week on Sunday before Good Friday. During that week he would go back to Bethany five miles away to spend the night and return back to the city of Jerusalem the following day.

During this week, Passion Week, the last few days of his life, he delivered two farewell sermons and we will first address the second of the two farewell sermons. And this farewell sermon took place on Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday evening in connection with the Last Supper when he instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion. And there in that room, in that upper room of that house, were gathered together his twelve disciples. And he gives a long farewell speech. And it's a very warm, it's a very comforting sermon or speech. And actually he gives his testament or will to his people, to his disciples. And he says that I wish to give unto you my peace. My peace that I give to you is not the peace that the world gives but my peace I give unto you. And basically he's saying that already now here in time by faith you are able to own and possess the essence of living faith, the essence of God's kingdom which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. But one day faith will be turned to sight and you will be able to then see in fullness what you have believed upon in faith as looking through a cloudy or a foggy glass or through a foggy mirror.

So this farewell speech to his disciples was very warm, very comforting, and very uplifting. But the first farewell speech was kept several days earlier, perhaps Tuesday of that week, on one of those mornings when Jesus came into town from Bethany after spending the night with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. As he was traveling that distance of five miles or so, he cursed that fig tree which had not produced figs and that fig tree dried up.

When he arrived into Jerusalem and came into the temple area, he saw their people selling doves and exchanging money in the temple area. So he made a whip out of cords and he tipped over the tables of those exchanging money and he chased those selling doves out of the temple area. And he said, Do you wish to make the Lord's house into a den of thieves?

And it's at this moment where the religious leaders at that time, the scribes, the Pharisees, and the chief priests intervened. And they basically asked Jesus, What in the world are you doing? Who gave you this authority? With what authority are you doing what you just did? Let's remember that Jesus was now standing in the temple area. The temple that was originally built by King Solomon. And the temple had a cornerstone.

So Jesus responds to that objection of the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders by telling them three parables. And one of the items in one of the parables was this. He was quoting the Old Testament prophet, was it the prophet Isaiah, and also in the Psalms, that the chief stone which the builders have rejected has become the chief main cornerstone. So that temple in which they were standing, or the temple area, was based upon a foundation which had a cornerstone. And that cornerstone was a picture of Jesus Christ himself.

As the apostle Paul in the New Testament writes to the Ephesians, that the temple, the kingdom of God, is a temple made of living stones which is built upon a foundation. The foundation is the foundation of the writings of the prophets and the apostles. And the chief cornerstone is Christ Jesus.

So Jesus quoted the psalmist and said that the cornerstone, the stone that the builders, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, the religious leaders, were those spiritual builders, have rejected. They are rejecting the chief cornerstone, Christ Jesus. And now he was standing right before them.

And he also tells another parable. He tells a parable of a father who owned a vineyard, was a grower of grapes. And he had two sons. And he said the first son was told to go work out in the vineyard. And the first son said, No way. He went out. And we can kind of add or embellish the story, slamming the door. I won't go work in the vineyard. But the son left and thought about it for a while and then regretted what he said to his father and in the end went to work in the vineyard.

But then the second son was asked also to go work in the father's vineyard. And the second son said to the father, Sure, father, I will willingly go and do what you wish. I will go work in the vineyard. He closes the door behind himself and goes the opposite direction. Did he even intend or plan on going to work in the vineyard?

So Jesus is talking to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, and he asked them which one of these two sons, these two boys, in the end, did the will of God, the heavenly father. Of course, they had to admit it was the first son who initially left slamming the door behind him and saying, No way, but regretted what he had said and done and went to work in the father's vineyard.

So the father says to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders that you are correct. And so I say to you that the harlots, the fornicators, and the publicans, these two groups of people were considered the greatest sinners in the society at that time, will enter into God's kingdom before any of you.

So the one son who left the house slamming the door behind him and saying, No way, were the harlots and the publicans. But in the end, they regretted what they had said and what they had done, and they made repentance and went to work in the father's vineyard. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders were the good son. Yes, son, yes, father, willingly, I will do what you asked me to do. Closed the door quietly and softly behind and didn't even go toward the vineyard. Went the opposite direction.

So that is one of the parables, one of the three parables here in this collection of three parables that Jesus told to these chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. And in the conclusion, after he told these three parables, these chief priests, the scribes, and the elders apparently understood the content or the message of these three parables because they got together and they decided what they would do to try to catch him in his words and tangle him in his words so they could capture him and bring him before the great council.

So here before us we have this parable, which is one of the three parables, and it tells of a king who had a son who was getting married. Married and a marriage of any individual is always a very happy and a joyous and a wonderful occasion. But this was now the king of the country, and it was going to be a big event. And so he began by sending out invitations far and wide to invite guests to come to the wedding of his son.

Can you imagine if you would get an invitation from a king or the president of this country? Even though we may not agree with his political agenda, I'm sure it would be a pleasure, an honor, to be invited to the White House. Would any of us reject such an invitation?

And now the king of that country sends out invitations with his messengers to the far reaches of his kingdom. Come, come one, come all, my son is getting married, you are invited to the marriage ceremony. And so here our text begins and Jesus answered and spoke again to those chief priests, the scribes, and the elders with parables and he said, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king which was preparing a marriage for his son and he sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding and they would not come.

So the beginning of the history of Israel, the people of Israel begins with Abraham and it continues with the second patriarch, Isaac, and the third patriarch, Jacob. And during that period of time and the time thereafter, the prophets were calling and inviting people to heed the message of God, the heavenly father that was being sent and proclaimed to them through the prophets. And here Jesus says and the people would not come. They basically rejected the invitation of the king.

So then a second invitation, group of invitations is sent out. And again he sent forth other servants saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatlings are killed and things are ready. Come unto the marriage. But when the wedding invitation was brought out, the people made light of it or made fun of it and went their ways. One went to his farm, another went to look after his newly purchased merchandise and the rest of them took the servants and entreated them spitefully or beat them and hurt them and slew them.

We could look at the Old Testament and there's many different incidents and stories where prophets were treated spitefully. Was it prophet Isaiah who was sawn asunder, cut into two pieces? Prophet Jeremiah was captured by his own fellow countrymen, put into a dry well, eventually sent off to Egypt where he then in the end met his brutal death. These are only but a couple of incidents that happened to many of the prophets and many, many more similar situations also occurred.

But then when the king heard what had happened he became angry and he sent forth his armies and he destroyed those murderers and he burned up their city. And so this is now the third call. And here in this question of three parables Jesus basically says that the time of visitation for this chosen nation of Israel is now coming to an end. Because of how you treated my servants, my messengers, the prophets, and because you have rejected my call and my invitation.

We recall already during the Old Testament time when the northern kingdom of Israel was attacked by the superpower Assyria in 721 BC. And for them, the northern nation of Israel, these ten tribes and their time of visitation came to an end. For when they were brought into exile these ten tribes disappeared basically forever and never returned again.

And so now the time of visitation for the nation of Israel is coming to an end. Jesus said that the kingdom will now be taken away from you and be given to another nation. It's interesting he doesn't say in the plural to other nations but it will be given to another nation. So what is this other nation? The Old Testament prophet Daniel talks about the one kingdom which shall never quake, shall never fall and shall never tremble. And this is the kingdom of God.

We could see what happened to King Herod how his time of visitation personally came to an end. He sealed his fate we could say when he at the behest of his evil wife, wicked wife, requested the head of John the Baptist on a platter for her wedding present. And King Herod fulfilled that wish. John the Baptist was beheaded and the head was brought into the birthday party on a platter.

So the same King Herod some years later during this same Passion Week in which context we are now in the midst of this text. When Jesus on Maundy Thursday evening was before Pontius Pilate wanted to wash his hands of all of these events and he sent Jesus to King Herod. King Herod was delighted to get this opportunity to visit with Jesus the man he had heard so much about who delivered so many mighty sermons and had done many miracles and they called him the King of the Jews.

Now when Jesus was brought before King Herod, King Herod circled around Jesus, looked him up and down and asked him, Are you the King of the Jews like the people say you are? Do a miracle for me. I heard you are a miracle worker. Jesus didn't open up his mouth and say even one word. The time of visitation for King Herod was over and it was sealed.

So this happened to King Herod on a personal level but now Jesus is talking about the time of visitation for the people of Israel, the nation of Israel as an entire people and an entire nation. But when the king heard what had happened to his messengers, the prophets, he was angry so he sent forth his armies and he destroyed the murderers and he burned up their city.

And when did this happen? 34 years later King Titus or General Titus was sent by King Nero into the city of Jerusalem and Jesus had foretold of this when he entered on Palm Sunday into the city of Jerusalem. When he saw the temple before him on the horizon he broke down and he cried and he said, Things are hidden from your eyes but they are not hidden from my eyes. I have been like a mother hen to you, my people of Israel, but you have not desired to come underneath my wings. But I can see into the future and one day it will happen that the armies will come, they will put a siege around the city and not one stone will be left upon another stone.

34 years later in the year 70 AD the Roman armies came, encircled the city, put a siege on the city and we can say that all of the believers apparently had fled, they had read the signs of the time and they knew it was time to leave but every other human being that was left in that city died in that siege and died in that conquest and attack of the city of Jerusalem. It was so great the destruction that not one stone was left upon another stone.

So then our text continues then he says to his servants, The wedding is ready but they which were bidden were not worthy. The promised nation of Israel, they were not ready, they rejected that call, that invitation and therefore Jesus said the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and be given to another nation and it would be the nation of the kingdom of God during the New Testament era among the Gentile people.

And therefore he tells his servants that go therefore into the highways and as many as you shall find bid them to come to the wedding festival. So the servants went out into the highways and gathered together all and as many as they found both bad and good.

Jesus says in a parable that the kingdom of God is like a field and in that field there is both the wheat and the tares that grow together until the time of harvest at the end of the world or Jesus talks about the final judgment and he says at the final judgment there will be two groups of people they will be divided into the sheep and into the goats.

So we can see that the call and invitation is now being sent out to gather and invite as many as you can find the good and the bad, the maimed and the healthy, the rich and the poor, any type of person that you can find and whoever will accept that invitation say the doors are open you can come the wedding is ready the fatted calf has been killed. This is referring to Jesus which has been crucified on the middle cross of Golgotha and he gave his life and he shed his blood he paid that price of redemption for the sins of all mankind.

And so they gathered together as many as they found both the bad and the good and the wedding was furnished or filled up with guests and now the people were gathered together in the wedding hall in the room where the wedding would be conducted.

Now you can imagine when the invitation was sent out to find anyone that would accept it imagine a beggar, a poor person, a homeless individual whose only possession was the clothes that they were wearing upon their back. At that time they didn't have another exchange of clothes. They were invited to come to the wedding but in order to be a proper acceptable wedding guest one needed to have the wedding garment, the white wedding robe.

A homeless poor destitute individual did not have the money to purchase such a garment so where did they find it? How did they receive it? So we can from the history books use an analogy that their connected to the temple area was the palace, the king's palace, King Herod's palace and whenever he came into Jerusalem this is where he spent his time and whenever he arranged a feast or a festival in that castle of his he would have servants or guards at the front door and any one of his guests that entered in through the front door would be furnished and dressed into the proper attire for that festive occasion in the king's palace.

And so this is the picture, this is the analogy that we have and so we have the king who had a wedding prepared in his wedding auditorium or the wedding hall through the front door and there at the front door would be the door keeper and for each one just before they entered into the front door would go into the closet, take the wedding garment and dress that wedding garment onto that invited guest and they would enter into the wedding hall.

And so we could say that no one who was in that wedding hall should be without a wedding garment and isn't that front door the door of repentance, the door into God's kingdom? Straight is the way and straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads onto everlasting life.

And so the wedding is now about to begin. It's the pre-wedding service time and for us the wedding will officially begin there at the end of time when eternity begins in the glory of heaven but already in this time we are in that wedding hall awaiting for the fulfillment of that time of eternity in the glory of heaven and we are all this evening here dressed in that wedding garment.

So here is now the conclusion of our text which is always the main point of a parable it always comes right at the end. First of all read the last verse: For many are called but few are chosen. Wasn't that wedding invitation sent out not one time, not two times but three times signifying many, many times that invitation was sent out? The wedding is prepared and ready come to the wedding festival.

And how many rejected that invitation? Other things were more important than going to the wedding of the king's son as we read in our text that some people said that they wanted to check on their merchandise and other people, I'm trying to find the right verse here, but other things were more important than going to the invitation or accepting the invitation of the king's son. One went to his farm and another to his merchandise.

So here Jesus said many are called but few are chosen. In the end the chosen ones are those who receive and accept that invitation into the wedding of the king's son but now the people are gathered together in the wedding chamber and that wedding is about to begin.

And now the king comes himself to check out the wedding guests one by one and there was one individual according to this parable, one there could have been more but Jesus says there was one who didn't have a wedding garment.

We as individuals as human beings cannot see into the heart of another person. We don't know. There could be people who come to services, say God's peace, sing the songs of Zion and confess with their mouth that they are a believer but the Bible does say of some individuals you have a name that you are living but actually in the books of God you are dead.

So for us as a human being we don't, we can't, we are not capable of seeing into the heart of another person but God knows and the living word of God spoken through the Holy Spirit is like a mirror and always that living word of God as a mirror is placed before each listener, each individual and if there is such an individual as Lestadius preached in one sermon and apparently on this same theme he said that one came in through the back door or climbed over the wall or in through the window and therefore if he didn't come in through the front door, the door of repentance, came in or tried to come in by some other means of prayer or good works or just joining the church that living word of God says that you are not dressed in that wedding garment that you need to come in through the door of repentance and then we bid you a heartfelt welcome, welcome into God's kingdom where you can enjoy righteousness, peace in the Holy Spirit.

But that mirror, the mirror of the living word of God is always placed before each listener at each service occasion and it tells us if perhaps we have a garment that has been stained with sin and it tells us and warns us and advises us that we can seek out that throne of grace, a brother and sister in faith where we can cleanse that wedding garment of its spots and stains in the blood of the lamb in the gospel message.

But also that living word of God, that mirror of God's word is placed before you and I, weary, tempted many times, tried and downcast listener of the word and wishes to say greetings from the heart of the heavenly father. I have paid that price of sin. I have died on your behalf and in that gospel there is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.

Even now from the heart of the heavenly father he wishes to encourage, uplift and support you on the way. Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven in Jesus name and blood you have that cloak of righteousness, that wedding garment in which wedding garment we are an acceptable wedding guest and we are on our journey toward that eternal wedding festival which will have a beginning but will have no end.

Have a fortunate journey toward our eternal destination there in heaven's glory in Jesus name. Amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us your peace in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.