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THE RIGHT CLOTHES
Zephaniah 1:1-13
Matthew 22:1-14
October 12, 2008

     This pericope picks up right where we left off last week.  You remember Jesus is in Jerusalem, teaching at the Temple, when the Chief Priests and the Elders of the People challenge him, “By what authority do you dare to teach people about God (Matthew 21:23)?”  Last week Jesus answered with the parable of the Tenant Farmers in the Landowners vineyard, which explained that the religious establishment had lost their holiness and the authority granted by God was to be given to a new community of believers.  Jesus then goes directly into today’s parable, which deals with the issue of who gets into heaven. 

     When it comes to Jesus’ teaching he taught more about the Kingdom of God than he did about money, or sin, or forgiveness combined.  Matthew is the most Jewish of our four Gospels, and a devout Jew would never speak or write the name of God.   So, Matthew changes Jesus’ words and calls it the Kingdom of Heaven instead, but they are the same.  The Kingdom of Heaven began when Jesus was born.  God did an amazing and new thing, and ordinary time was permanently altered – we moved into the period of the Kingdom of Heaven.  This period continues until Jesus returns to establish Heaven on earth.  Heaven on earth continues for eternity, so time really loses its meaning after that. 

     We are living in the period of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are living in the final days.  It may turn out that the final days last longer than all of the previous ‘days’ of the earth.  These are the final days because the last requirement for the redemption of mankind has been accomplished, the death and resurrection of Jesus.  That was the final piece of the puzzle to effectively bring us back into communion with God, where we began.  

     Now, when we talk about the Kingdom of Heaven we could be talking about the period of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection.  Or, we could be talking about the Church age, where the message of the risen Savior is preached in all the world.  Or, we could be talking about the return of Jesus, the collecting of the Saints, and living forever in heaven.  Anytime a banquet is mentioned, we are talking about the heaven part. 

     Jewish theology was filled with the idea of a Messianic banquet, this incredible party that would take place when the Messiah had set them free.  Jesus often preached about this banquet, and tied it to his return (Matthew 9:15, 25:1).  When Jesus established the Communion ceremony, which we do on the first Sunday of each month, he made it clear that this was to be a constant reminder of the banquet which will take place at his return (Matthew 26:26-29, 1 Corinthians 11:25-26).  Once again, there is a lot of symbolism in this parable.  The banquet means that we are looking at heaven.  The King is God.  The Son is Jesus.  The servants are the prophets.  The guests are those people who have been selected and chosen to enter heaven.  Sometimes we call those the ‘elect’. 

     In the parable the King has prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  You need to know that in the Palestinian culture which Jesus came from eating together was a very intimate event.   You didn’t just casually dine with other people, you only did this with your closest friends and family.  This is why the Pharisees were so horrified when they found Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 9:11).  Many of the most important stories about Jesus and the twelve Apostles take place around food. 

     Inviting guests to a wedding banquet was a two step process.   First, an engagement was announced.  Invitations were sent out that said, “My son is engaged.  Sometime, in roughly a year or so, there will be a wedding and a feast.  Get your affairs in order so that you might attend.”  You see, the wedding party could last for as long as a week, so people needed to know that it was coming.  This was a significant invitation because it ensured there wouldn’t be any acceptable excuses for not being prepared when the wedding came.   Remember, we’re talking about heaven.  There are no excuses for not being prepared. 

     A second invitation was sent out when it was time to begin the wedding and banquet.  Today’s parable begins with the issuing of the second invitation.  The servants take the invitation to the invitees.  Shockingly, the invited guests choose not to come.  In the Greek, ou thelō, not willing.  This is unthinkable, because an invitation from the King was both the highest possible honor, and it was a command.  

     Just like last week’s parable, the King gives the invitees a second chance, and issues a third invitation.  He sends his servants (the prophets) back to them to describe in great detail just how lavish and magnificent the banquet will be.  Maybe they’re not willing because they just don’t know what they’re missing.  Remember, Jesus is talking about heaven.  Maybe, if they knew how wonderful it was going to be they would drop everything, make whatever preparations were necessary, and do whatever they had to do – to get there.  Maybe they’re not coming because they just don’t know.  The servants spread the message of a magnificent feast. 

     So, imagine how deeply disappointing it is to the King, when they still don’t come.  We read today from the NIV which says, “But they paid no attention and went off.”  In this case I prefer the RSV which says, “But they made light of it and went away.”  They treated the invitation as if it were of no value, and they might have even laughed about it.  The secular world laughs at us for believing there is life after death.  And, especially for believing there is a heaven and a hell.  The world sees that as the sign of a small, uneducated, and unenlightened mind. 

     The invitees refuse to come to the party.  Instead, they go about their daily business, completely preoccupied with wealth and material possessions.   Doesn’t that sound like the world we live in?  Jesus has just accused the Chief Priests and the Elders of the People of valuing money and possessions over their relationship with God.  He tells them they have refused the invitation to heaven.  This is a nasty charge.  Then, he goes a step further.

     The King is furious.  He sends his army to kill the invitees, and burn their city.  Some theologians believe that this is prophecy.   Forty years after Jesus’ death, in the year 70 AD, the Roman army would invade Jerusalem.  They killed most of the inhabitants, taking special care to murder the religious leaders, and then they knocked down and burned the Holy Temple.  They did such a perfect job of destruction that the Temple has never been rebuilt.  Some believe that the King killing the invitees and burning their city is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem.  Personally, based on the end of the parable, I think that the death and the fire is an allusion to being cast into hell.  There are others who hold that same opinion.  

     The King is absolutely unwilling that the banquet be unattended, God does not want heaven to be empty.  So, he sends the servants out to the street corners to gather up anyone who will hear and accept this fourth invitation.  Jesus is specific to mention that they are to find both the good and the bad.  Heaven will not be occupied by the ‘perfect’; it will be occupied by the riff raff. 

     I think this is an especially endearing verse for Methodist’s.  We are kind of the mongrel dog of the ‘elect’.  We are not purely descended from Luther and the Protestant revolution.  However, we are definitely Protestant and not Catholic.  We have a very wide theology that emphasizes giving everyone a chance to be invited, and not being hasty to exclude anyone.  So much so that other Protestants accuse us of having no doctrine at all.  I like this particular verse because I think if Jesus were speaking today the King would say, “Go to the street corners and find me people that have really made a mess of their lives; people who don’t fit in with the religious elite.  Go everywhere that people have made bad choices and brought down the punishment of a sinful and fallen world and bring me the Methodists – the good and the bad.” 

     By the way, this issuing of the fourth invitation, the invitation to the lost and the wretched and the unworthy, that is the mission and the purpose of the Church universal.   We are living in the Church age of the Kingdom of Heaven, where the purpose is to get that invitation out to as many people as possible before Jesus returns and the banquet starts.  Of course, this fourth invitation would have been very upsetting to the Chief Priests and the Elders of the People.  In their view forgiveness begins with the sinner approaching God and repenting.  The sinner is in charge of the process.  The idea of God being the initiator by inviting the unworthy to repent and accept salvation would have been blasphemy to them.   This was another reason for them to hate Jesus. 

     Meanwhile back at the parable, the party begins and everyone is having a wonderful time, when the King notices a man who is not dressed correctly – he is not wearing wedding clothes.  You might wonder how the King could pick him out so quickly.  As an indication of the King’s joy and excitement, it was common for him to provide the clothes that his guests wore to the banquet (2 Kings 10:22).   The King knew exactly what kind of clothes he had gifted the invitees with, and someone wearing their own clothes would stand out. 

     This is a very significant passage.  This guest has chosen not to do things the King’s way.  He has made the decision that he can attend the party under his own rules and his own authority.  Now remember, we’re talking about getting into heaven.  Jesus is saying there is a group of people who believe they deserve to be in heaven, but they don’t have to abide by God’s rules.  They have decided they can come under their own conditions.  They can save themselves. 

     It is very significant that when the man is challenged by the King, he is speechless.  There is no acceptable answer.   Jesus made it very clear, the only way to get into heaven is through him (John 14:6).  There is no other way.  Paul’s letter to the Romans is the most excellently worked out treatise ever written to explain that Jesus is the only way to heaven.  And, when you stand in judgment before God and He asks, “Why should I let you in?”  If you have any answer except the blood of Christ, it’s better to just shut up and be silent. 

     The man without wedding clothes represents those who are trying to work their way into heaven under their own terms.  Those who have heard about Jesus, but instead choose Islam, or Hinduism, or New Age enlightenment, or by ‘being a good person’.  Those are the wrong clothes.  Jesus specifies the penalty for being dressed wrong.  The man is bound and thrown into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  I think that’s a pretty clear allusion to hell.  

     In the Bible hell is described in a variety of ways.  Sometimes it’s a place of perpetual burning and fiery torment (Matthew 25:41).  Sometimes it’s a place of utter blackness and dark (Matthew 25:30).  What is very clear is that it is a place of complete and utter separation from God, which is the worst possible punishment imaginable.   If holiness is to separate from the world and cling to God, hell is to separate from God, and cling to nothing. 

     There is a lot of debate about whether a loving God would really send people to hell, or whether we all get a second chance.  What about the person who lives their life and never hears about Jesus?  The Apostle Peter talks about Jesus going to hell and preaching repentance and forgiveness to the spirits there (1 Peter 3:19-20).  That might imply a second chance.  The Catholic Church once embraced the concept of Purgatory, where lost and wandering souls might receive a second chance.  In last week’s parable of the Tenant Farmers, and then again in this week’s parable of the ungrateful invitees, the King is very specific to give a second chance to those who have rejected him. 

     This has led some to conclude that we can live our lives any way we want, then die and see what’s in store, and then make the decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.  I think that’s a happy theology.  It makes us feel good because everybody wins, everybody gets saved.    But, I have to agree with John Calvin here.   The overwhelming evidence of Scripture makes it very clear – this life is your only chance to embrace Jesus (Hebrews 9:27).  After that, your decision is in stone. 

     I don’t want anybody to miss the party.  I don’t want anyone to choose wealth and material possessions over the party.  I don’t want anyone to try and show up in their own clothes.  I want everyone there who can possibly make it.  The Kingdom of Heaven began with the birth of Jesus, and continues until his return and the inauguration of the Messianic banquet.  Between the time he left, and the time he returns, we are living in the Church age.  This is when the fourth invitation is being issued, the invitations sent out to the street corners seeking the riff raff – the good and the bad.  Don’t miss out on the invitation, and don’t miss a chance to pass the invitation along.  The invitation is simple.  Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through him.