The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 22:1-14

In Christ Jesus, who looks with compassion on the outcasts, the ugly, and the soiled, so they might become beautiful and pure in Him, dear fellow redeemed:

The wedding day is a few weeks away. Who do you suppose is most anxious about the details, things like the guest list, flowers, food, decorations, clothing? I’ll give you three choices: the bride, the mother of the bride, or the mother of the groom. It’s the women! And that’s okay—that’s why wedding celebrations are beautiful!

But these wedding planners and detail doers are not leading the way in Jesus’ parable about a wedding feast. In fact, no reference is made specifically to a bride or the mothers. This is about “a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” And through this parable, Jesus wants to teach us something about the “kingdom of heaven.”

It is obvious that if you were a member of an earthly kingdom, and the king invited you to celebrate the wedding of his son, you would go. You would go either because you felt honored to be invited, or because you were afraid of what might happen to you if you refused. It is shocking to hear how the invited guests in the parable refused the king’s summons. Some of them even killed the servants who brought the message from the king!

This is nothing short of treason, a total rebellion against the king’s authority. They wouldn’t do this unless they thought he was powerless to do anything about it. Well they made a severe miscalculation. “The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”

Jesus spoke these words during Holy Week. He was talking about the Old Testament people of Israel, who through their history often rejected the faithful prophets of God and even killed many of them. For their rebellion against Him, God gave them up to their enemies. The people in the northern kingdom of Israel were either killed or enslaved by the Assyrians. And the people in the southern kingdom of Judah were later conquered by the Babylonians.

After seventy years in exile, God sent some of the Jews from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. The descendants of these returned exiles should have remembered what the Lord did for them, and learned to humbly trust and follow God’s Word. But now the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees were plotting how they might arrest Jesus and have Him killed. They were just as guilty as their forefathers, and even guiltier for rejecting the King’s Son in the flesh.

So the King extended His invitation beyond the original guest list. He sent His servants out to “the main roads” to gather “all whom they found, both bad and good.” This refers to the Gentiles, who were not part of God’s chosen people Israel. Now they were welcome at the wedding feast too.

But before we go any further, we have to be clear about what this wedding feast is. We see that it is entered by invitation only, that wedding garments are required for all the guests, and that the food is the best there is. This wedding feast for the King’s Son is the feast of salvation, the celebration of Christ’s victory over our greatest enemies—sin, death, and the devil. It is a feast that no one partakes of on his own terms or makes himself worthy to receive. Notice that the attendees included both those who were considered bad and those who were considered good. No one earned an invitation and a place at the feast; the King granted it.

But why is this feast of salvation likened to a wedding feast? If the King is God the Father, and the feast is for His only-begotten Son, who is the bride? The inspired Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5, answers that question for us. The last section of the chapter speaks of the husband as the head of his wife “even as Christ is the head of the church, his body” (v. 23). Then it says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (vv. 25-27).

These are some profound words. They describe Christ as Bridegroom and the Church as His bride. We often joke about husbands that they “married up” in relation to their wives. But that is not the case here. Jesus chose a bride that was not virtuous, not wise, not beautiful, and He joined Himself to her. Through this sacrifice of Himself, He gave His bride all that was His. His virtue became her virtue. His wisdom became her wisdom. His beauty and holiness became her beauty and holiness. His glory became her glory. If anyone has “married up,” it was certainly the Church in relation to Christ.

And who exactly is “the Church”? It is all those who are cleansed “by the washing of water with the word.” It is those who submit themselves and their eternal future to the safe-keeping of Jesus their Savior. Or to use the words of today’s reading, “the Church” is the ones who were invited by the King to His Son’s wedding feast. They came when the King’s servants called. They entered wearing the wedding garments supplied by the King. They have a seat at the King’s table where they enjoy His delicious food.

So you see that a bride actually does make an appearance in Jesus’ parable. The guests in glorious attire at the wedding feast, they are the bride! The guests are the Church of all believers, presented to Jesus “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing… holy and without blemish.”

That is a description of you, dear friends in Christ. You were cleansed of your sins in the waters of Baptism and were clothed in the garments of Jesus’ righteousness. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). This is when you were called to the King’s feast, the feast of salvation. All that Jesus accomplished for you by His death and resurrection became yours. You were joined to Him at those waters. You became a member of His holy Church which is His bride.

And that means He has reserved a seat for you at His table in the eternal feast above. You participate in this feast now by receiving Jesus’ body and blood in Holy Communion—the holy “joining together.” You don’t see Him in all His glory, but He meets you here to strengthen you for this life and to prepare you for the life to come. Your partaking of the Lord’s Supper here is a dress rehearsal for the wedding feast in heaven.

But as you know very well, even though all are invited to the King’s wedding feast—even though Jesus died on the cross for all people—not all are found worthy to attend. Jesus said this about the unbelieving Jews who killed the prophets sent to them by God. They “were not worthy” because of their unbelief.

So the invitation was extended to outsiders to come. But when they came, one of them decided to attend the feast without a wedding garment. This was an insult to the King who was glad to provide these garments. Essentially the man was saying, “I don’t need the King’s garments. I’m just fine the way I am.”

That describes people who call themselves Christians, but who do not trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. They want to go to heaven on their own terms. Some of them place their confidence in the works they do. Others knowingly reject certain teachings of God but still expect to have God’s favor.

This is why we don’t automatically invite all Christians to our Communion table. We want to make sure we are in agreement about what we believe before we take Communion together. After all, we aren’t the ones in charge of this wedding feast. It is the King and His Son who are.

Jesus’ parable should be a huge eye-opener for us. Many decide that the feast of salvation is not worth their time. They ignore or they get angry at God’s servants sent to call them to come. And of those who do come, some want the King to submit Himself to them. Jesus sums up these warnings with the words, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

But you, dear members of the Church, are here today. You want to hear God’s Word of truth. You want the comfort of His absolution. You want to receive His body and blood for the remission of your sins. You don’t have something better to do than this. This is where you want to be. This is where Jesus meets you with His saving gifts.

He comes here through His Word and Sacraments to reaffirm His love for you. He comes to fight for you against the temptations and trials you face. He comes to provide all that you need to enter the marriage hall—His forgiveness, His righteousness, His life. Even though His bride—each one of us—may forget Him from time to time and pursue other things that seem more important, He does not forget us. He is perfectly committed to His Church; He is perfectly committed to you.

And you know it. You know that you are not invited to the feast because you are so important or so worthy to receive the King’s gifts. You are invited to the feast because The Gracious King Wants You at His Table. He does not look down on you for the rags of sin you have worn; He clothes you in the righteousness of His Son. He does not judge you for your many failures; He welcomes you to the marriage hall based on the perfect merit of His Son.

This is not a wedding you have to plan. You don’t have to worry about all the details that make everything just right. You are the honored guest. Everything has been prepared for you, and your merciful Lord is thrilled to serve you, His bride, both now and forevermore.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

+  +  +

(picture from “Parable of the Great Banquet” by the Brunswick Monogrammist, 16th century)