0122 TIME TO CHANGE!

TIME TO CHANGE!

This chapter contains several of the best-known quotes and statements about Jesus. Such as:

“render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. . . . 

“You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. . . . He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” . . . 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

But there is a little detail of another well-known parable that I’d like to share today. Jesus told the parable of a wedding feast. 

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, . . . those who were invited to the wedding feast, . . . would not come. . . . ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention . . .  ‘those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ . . . both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.”

Just a few chapters ago I was emphasizing how Jesus sends us to the vulnerable, the needy, the children, and the imperfect. We are called to leave the ninety-nine sheep in the fold to rescue the one wandering lost sheep. So far, that seems to be the point of this story: “Whosoever will may come!” 

Some guests were invited. They were the VIP’s who were known by the king and his son. But they did not bother to come. They were invited a second time, with a very attractive sales pitch. But they each went their own way and ignored or declined the invitation. So the king invites as many as they could find. These are people who were not invited, who might not even be known by the king, who were not wealthy or connected. They get to come to this incredible feast and join in with royalty in their celebration!

Then the story takes an unexpected turn. The end of the story is NOT “whosoever will may come,” even though the servants were sent out to invite as many as they could find. Here’s what Jesus said:

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 

What?! I thought he said that whosoever will may come. 

Yes. But anyone who is invited to such an event knows that you wear a wedding garment to a wedding, even if you are an uninvited guest. Even though our culture when compared to past generations is quite casual and egalitarian, even we would know you don’t go to a royal wedding in a T-shirt and jeans. To make such a presumption would be insultingly disrespectful, right? Did you not even think to ask if there was a dress code? When you arrived and everyone else was dressed formally, did it not even strike you then that you were treating this event like a backyard barbeque?

Now the king asks, “How did you even get in here dressed like that?” And you stammer and say nothing. So you are thrown out, with no food and no fun, left out in the cold and dark, with nothing but regret for taking this privilege so lightly.

What is Jesus saying by this second part of the story? I think he is saying that without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Whosoever will may come, but to stay, to belong, you must yield to expected norms. This is no bait and switch, where someone is invited under false pretenses, thinking that standards have been set aside. Everyone understood the expected behavior. 

I’m saying, we are not invited into the kingdom BECAUSE we are already holy or are worthy of being called into God’s kingdom. But we are not to remain the same as our old life. We are not to imagine that God has no standards for our language and actions. Instead, we are to let God’s Holy Spirit CHANGE us to become more like him.

Here is the Lord’s summary of his story: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” I know it’s January, but Jesus is not saying many are cold but few are frozen. He is saying that anyone may come, and all are called. But you must change.

There are lots of people who have been in church for years, yet remain unchanged. There are lots of churches who never let their attenders know that there is a behavioral dress code. Come as you are. But do not stay as you are. They are permanent spectators but never participants, cultural Christians but never repentant followers, perpetual visitors but never true members.

Friend, how are you dressed right now? Do you think it’s time for a change?