The Wedding Invitation (2)

Matthew 22:1-14

A woman arrives late to the wedding. The usher asks if she has an invitation.

She said “certainly not.”

Then the usher asks, “Are you friend of groom?”

“Of course, not. I am bride’s mother,” she says.

With what kind of spirit does this woman come to the wedding?

How do you come to the wedding that Jesus prepared?

Once Winston Churchill received an invitation from Bernard Shaw to an opening play. Bernard wrote the invitation: “Enclosed are two tickets to the performance of a play of mine. Bring a friend-if you have one.”

The Churchill’s response: “Dear Bernard, I thank God for your invitation. Unfortunately I am engaged on that night, but could I have tickets for the second night?-if there is one.”

When the “king” of the parable is invites us, he is not invites with the attitude mentioned above. He does not ask us to come to the worship service (the “wedding”) with this kind of attitude. We are invited to attend the wedding to PARTICIPATE. The invitation is full of JOY: Jesus must be Glorified, others must Edified, you must be Sanctified. It is joy of being invited by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In this wedding feast there is repentance, there is forgiveness and there is hope for salvation and a new life. It is not an artificial joy. It is the joy that Paul uses in his writings saying: “Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say REJOICE” (Phil. 4:4).

Unfortunately, the groom’s relatives rejected the invitation. They refused to come. They were busy or found excuses (badjarapanoutiouner). “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” (Matthew 22:3-6).

We read in Luke 14:15-24 a similar story of an invitation for the Great Banquet. People found reasons not to attend. One went to see his new land, the other went to try his new yoke on his oxen, the other got married… When there was an invitation people found excuses not to come. We are experts in finding excuses. Let me tell you something. If you don’t want to do something, you can find a million reasons to not do it. The question is: where is your heart? If your heart is vibrating with God, your attitude will be different.

A pastor received the following letter from one of members of the church.

“Dear pastor:

I am aware that you emphasize the matter of church attendance. However, let me inform you that there are several Sundays that I will miss.

1 Sunday before or after Christmas 1 Sunday for New Year’s Eve

1 Sunday for Labor day- I need rest

1 Sunday for Genocide Memorial Day –I will visit Mount Davidson

1 Sunday for the end of school year – the children need rest

1 Sunday for school opening preparations

2 Sundays for family reunions

4 Sundays for getting up late

4 Sundays for family weddings and funerals

1 Sunday for my wife’s birthday

4 Sundays for sickness

3 Sundays for business trips

3 Sundays for our yearly vacation

4 Sundays for bad weather

5 Sundays for Super bowl, and various sports

2 Sundays for family picnics

3 Sundays for unexpected guests

I promise to be at church all the remaining Sundays.”

The Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders and followers did not attend the wedding. In fact, they killed the “servant.” We read also that the king burned the city. Remember this was written after 70 AD. The Jewish Revolt happened that year and the Temple was completely destroyed.

3 –Therefore, the “wedding” invitation is open for all.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘the wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”

The invitation is for all, bad or good. Not for one kind of people but for all.

Last week I was in a seminar for Church growth. Our speaker was Dr Greg McIntosh. He is a professor in Talbot Seminary. He is the author of many books. He discussed the fact that how some churches are growing and some churches dying. Mainline churches, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopalian, are declining in numbers. When a church stops inviting, when a church becomes self-enclosed to its members, it will eventually die. A healthy and biblical church is the church which has strong evangelistic approach to its people (in our case Armenians), and the neighborhood.

Our church is an ethnic church. We were born in Armenian families- most of us, God has a plan for each one of us individually and as a church collectively. There must be a reason why God made us Armenians.

In the seminar, many pastors shared a concern about the growth of Armenian Evangelical church. They said that migrants in the 70’s- 90’s brought new blood and new life into our churches. However, now that migration has slowed down, we cannot rely on it for church growth. We need other strategies to attract and invite people in.

It all starts with praying. Planning along with prayer can give result. One of the practical ways McIntosh suggested is to write down on a 3x5 card names of people you think we can invite to church. Then start praying for these names. You may give the names to Badveli if you wish. Start making friendship with them, and then personally invite them to church.

Also as a church, we should be more welcoming. This means we need to make extra effort to welcome new comers, help them to find a place in the church, find them a friend, a ministry, or something that bonds them to the church. This is not done by Badveli alone. This is done by you and me together.

Now we move to the second parable.

4- How do we prepare for a wedding?

The invitation is for everyone. However, when you are invited, you go to the wedding with the best clothes possible. Now some of you exaggerate that in real weddings; this is not the case.

Apparently we have a “friend” (Matthew 22:12) who did not change his clothes as he entered the wedding. Please notice, that according the customs of the time, there used to be new garments near the door offered to all who came in. People did not have time to prepare when they came in. The King provided the new garments. Apparently, this man refused to wear the new garment.

Listen carefully, the invitation is for all. We have the invitation for salvation. We come to God as we are. But when we enter to the wedding, things start changing. God is providing the “new garment”. This man insists to stay as he is.

This is the problem. We come to this “feast”. We cannot go without a change in our life. Our relationship with God in this wedding brings change in our “garments”. Our life will be changed, our priorities will change, our heart will change. When you are in the wedding, there are new clothes, a new life. God is the provider of that, if you are willing to work with Him, if you allow the Holy Spirit to give fruits in your life.

Let me finish with something to think about…

Are you an active member, the kind that would be missed?

Or are you just contented that your name is on the list?

Do you attend the meetings, and mingle with the flock?

Or do you stay at home and criticize and knock?

Do you take an active part to help the work along?

Or are you just satisfied to be the kind that “just belong”?

Do you ever go to visit a member that is sick?

Or leave the work to just a few and talk about “the clique”?

There’s quite a program scheduled that I’m sure you’ve heard about,

And we’ll appreciate if you, too, will come and help us out.

So come to the meetings often, and help with hand and heart.

Don’t just be a member, but take an active part.

You have an invitation from the KING of KINGS. Some of you are here, and others are outside. Do something about it.

Amen