October 25, 2020
Pastor John Hering
Matthew 22:1-14
Matthew 22:1-14
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
It’s a tough job market out there today. The restaurant and airline industry is struggling big time to make ends meet. People have been laid off. Stores are closed and airplanes are grounded. So, now people are applying for new jobs. There aren’t so many jobs to be had and lots of people shopping for a job. It certainly is a manager’s market. He can take lots of applications, look them over, and pick which one he wants to hire. In the job world today, many are called, but few are chosen.
That’s unusual. For instance in Jesus’ parable today there are invitations sent to several groups of people, and we would expect that all of them would want to attend, but learn that while many were invited to the king’s banquet, few were chosen. Today I’d like for us to consider Jesus’ parable from the position of the one who arranged the banquet and from the position of the one who is trying to put on his wedding garments so they won’t be late for the banquet. I want us to do this today because I believe it will help us think about our life as we get one day closer to Judgment Day. You know how those invitations you receive in the mail go, you—RSVP—which means, “Respond, if you please!” May the Holy Spirit guide us to cherish God’s invitation and RSVP To God Now!
