Trinity 20, 2023

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

St. Matthew 22:1-14

Trinity 20

October 22, 2023

In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The parable begins like most, that is, pretty calm and nice. The servants are sent out into the streets to invite as many as they find, the good and the bad. No respect is paid to rank, class, or privilege. Everyone, apart from works or genealogy, gets the same invitation. In a world with no free lunches the offer of an endless banquet in paradise seems too good to be true. But it is true. All things have been paid for, the dinner has been prepared, the fatted cattle have been killed. The meat, the milk, the wine, the best parts are on the table. All things are ready. So also, it is prepared for you: no cost, no price. It is pure gift.

Then the parable takes a sad turn. Many reject the invitation. In fact, most reject the invitation. Many are called, but few are chosen. Some who reject the invitation are actually hardcore rebels. The word used to describe the response of those who were invited is translated for us as “they made light of it,” which means, their disposition and attitude toward the king is, at least, indifference. They do not care. But in fact, it’s worse actually. They know the invitation is from the King, but they don’t care. They hate the King. They hate His mercies. They despise His love. It takes too much of my time and attention. It’s not special. “I don’t need it,” they say. “I’m not used to this.” They want to rule themselves. They embrace Hell with affection. But most simply don’t believe the invitation is valid, that it actually is from the King, or even that there is a King. They have lived in delusion their entire lives, for so long that it has become comfortable. They liked the way things were back in the good ole’ days. They are afraid of change, afraid to risk anything, afraid to come out of the darkness and be exposed. They don’t want to be noticed. They want to hide, keep their blemishes secret and pretend they are better than they are. So it is, the ones who reject the invitation, despite their blathering, don’t have enough intellectual honesty or integrity to face the Word of God.

That is because the Word of God is a threat – to us all. For the Word of God wields supernatural power. It changes things. It kills and it makes alive. It changes those who are by nature children of wrath into sons of God. It threatens to break their hearts and change their minds. What they have always thought is wrong. What is comfortable, what makes sense, what they know from experience and reason, is wrong. What they think about God, what they think about man, what they expect from life – is all wrong. And that is a scary thing to those who think they are fine where they are. It is a scary thing to those who do not think they are sinners or make light of their own sins. God beckons them to a position of weakness and vulnerability, of faith in things that they cannot see. But what they can see, a man hanging on a cross, his followers persecuted and martyred, poverty and hunger, they do not like. In fact, that is what they’re invited to in this life. So they scurry back to the darkness, back to the cold embrace of the devil in ignorance and worldly comfort. They think they made the wise choice, and in a worldly sense, they did. But the wisdom of men is folly and the foolishness of the cross is the only true Wisdom.

Thanks be to God, that a few are so desperate, so lonely, so tired, so hurt, so abused by their own depression and sins, that they come and accept the invitation, despite the foolishness. These ones are meek. But they inherit a kingdom. They are brought into the wedding hall, clothed with righteousness, and embraced as long-lost children. They are home at last. Loneliness and heartbreak, weariness and fear, frustration and the pain of their time in the kingdoms of men is removed. They have been found and restored, forgiven and cleansed, and filled with joy.

My friends, repent. Repent before it is too late. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Hear His Word and your soul shall live. Be meek. Let His Word have its way with you. Stop trying to harmonize the Word with your own ideas and doctrines, apologizing for the stern, jealous God of Abraham, and rest in the sure mercies of David. Let God speak for Himself. For His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways. But His Word is Truth. It does not lie. It is not evil. It is good. It will accomplish that for which it was sent. Let it break your heart and your reason and change your mind. Let it expose you, make you weak and vulnerable. Be desperate for this joy. Be lonely outside of this fellowship. Be tired enough, weary enough, hurt enough to give up, and come back to God like the prodigal, who in the end, is given everything. For then you will be strong. In defeat you will find victory, in hunger satisfaction.

That is the way of the cross, the way Our God endured to make us His. It is a way, not an end. We have not yet arrived. We still have things to learn and things to suffer. The Word is still working on us, still breaking and changing us. We learn humility and faith in the exposure of our errors, our sin, and in His immeasurable Grace. The Word made Flesh covers us. Even as it breaks, it binds. It restores and refreshes us. The Father Himself loves you. He loves you individually, specifically, personally. He has sent His only Begotten Son to suffer, die, and rise again in your place. His Spirit has been planted in you through water and Word. You are His Temple. He feeds you with His Body and Blood, which you did not earn and could not buy. You are the Tabernacle, the place where He abides. He speaks to you in the Holy Absolution and you are forgiven, holy, righteous. Even now, He is guiding you home to the place where you belong through His Word.

You are a citizen of His Kingdom by virtue of the invitation. It doesn’t matter if you were good or bad. You are His. He has bought you. That is what matters. What you are supplants what you were.

But at the same time, you are still in a foreign land, traveling, eager to return home for your Prince’s wedding banquet. There is temptation along the way, in this foreign land. The many beckon to you from their dark doorways like the sirens of Odysseus to destruction. Some have been seduced into depravation. In the end, they prefer their old ways. They have shed the garment of righteousness and gone back into the darkness. Be warned. So also, be vigilant in prayer. Forsake the ways of men. Hold fast to the ways of God. For God has placed way stations, like this, along the way for you, places of His presence, of His Word and Sacrament, of His regenerating love; places for you to be re-broken and rebound, to be recast and recovered, to be reconnected with the saints who have gone before you, and forgiven again. God is here for you. You are in the right place.

And still, there is one more surprise of Grace. For when at last you arrive at the wedding hall you will find that you are not merely a guest, an honored niece or nephew, even a brother of the Bridegroom. You are the very Bride, the one for whom He did it all, the one He loves.

In +Jesus’ Name.