Sunday message- you can't go in there like that

Happy Palm Sunday!  This morning, I have a story that my missionary friend Melinda would just love- one that starts out with something you read, and then becomes something you heard.

The start of it is the Parable of the Wedding Feast, found in Matthew 22.  Jesus had just blasted the religious of Jerusalem for their past actions of killing the prophets- and showing them what they were about to do to Him.  Now He was about to come at it from a different angle, showing them what the results were.

Mat 22:1  And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said, 
Mat 22:2  The kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who made a marriage for his son. 
Mat 22:3  And he sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they would not come. 
Mat 22:4  Again he sent out other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage. 
Mat 22:5  But not caring, they went their ways, one to his field, another to his trading. 
Mat 22:6  And the rest took his servants and treated them spitefully, and killed them. 
Mat 22:7  But when the king heard, he was angry. And he sent out his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 
Mat 22:8  Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they who were invited were not worthy. 
Mat 22:9  Therefore go into the exits of the highways, and as many as you shall find, invite them to the marriage. 
Mat 22:10  So the servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was filled with reclining guests. 
Mat 22:11  And the king coming in to look over the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 
Mat 22:12  And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 
Mat 22:13  Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few chosen. 

So let's drill this down a bit.  God is the king, and Christ His son.  The invited were the religious of Israel.  In vv 5-7 we see their reaction to the Word.  First they ignored it; then they abused and killed the prophets that brought it.  And the end result would be their own destruction- which we will understand more of if you tune into Wednesday Bible Study this week.  But way before we go there, and before we go on, Luke actually elucidates a bit more on this initial invitation in a slightly different Parable he shared in Luke 14:

Luk 14:16  And He said to him, A certain man made a great supper and invited many. 

Luk 14:17  And he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. 

Luk 14:18  And all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, I must go and see it. I beg you, have me excused. 

Luk 14:19  And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I beg you, have me excused. 

Luk 14:20  And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 

Luk 14:21  And coming up that servant reported these things to his lord. And the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed, and the lame and the blind. 

Luk 14:22  And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and still there is room. 

Luk 14:23  And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 

Luk 14:24  For I say to you that none of these men who were invited shall taste of my supper. 

See, you don't have to kill a prophet to miss the Kingdom of God.  All you have to do is make an excuse.  "I have X thing going on in my life right now, hit me up later."  "I know I should, but I've been occupied with Y."

"What?  I go to church, what more do you want?"

I'll tell you.  In a bit.

First though, see the progression of the invitation.  In the Luke passage, v 21, the "certain Man" sent servants into that same city the first invitees were from.  That is the Word passing from the so-called religious to the poor of Israel- the sinners, the tax collectors, the people who gladly heard the message that the Pharisees and priests were keeping to themselves.  Note v 22, "and still there was room..."  So now the Message goes out into the wider world- the Samaritans, the Gentiles, all those the original invitees thought were not only beneath them, but also beneath their own people.  This is the Word going out to the world.

This is the Word going out to YOU.

Now, back to that question.  Scroll back to the Matthew passage, vv 10-12.  The servants brought in everyone they found, BOTH BAD AND GOOD.  And you can find that in the Church today.  The job of the servants- evangelists, missionaries, preachers, the ones who talk to you at work or leave the tract on your door-  Their job is to bring you in.  But being IN the church does NOT make you holy.  Do you realize that in two of the most recent celebrated attacks on innocents- the church shooting in Texas, and the more recent "serial bomber"- that the first had been a youth leader in Vacation Bible School and had looked into ministry, and the second was described as "thinking about going out to the mission field" by his MOTHER just days before he started planting the bombs?  WE lack the "division of soul and spirit" discernment to divide the good and the bad with the accuracy that God has.  He KNOWS who has submitted their heart to Him, He KNOWS who wears the robes washed white in the Blood of the Lamb.

In vv 11-12, the King picks out one "guest" who came without a robe.  When questioned, the man didn't know what to say- his excuses failed him before God.  "What, I go to church, what more do you want?" FAILED him.

Now, let me take you to the hearing part.  Days after I meditated on this, I listened to Alistair Begg telling the story in that lovely Scottish brogue.  Paraphrasing, his version went like this:

I was watching the golf tournament (the Masters) in Augusta.  And the winner gets this green jacket.  That jacket gains them entrance into an exclusive club.  And I thought to myself, I would enjoy joining that club, entering that clubhouse and partaking of all it held.  And I asked myself what chance I had to go in by my own efforts- and my friends who have golfed with me can tell you, there is no chance at all.  And that's when it hit me-  ALISTAIR, YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE LIKE THAT!  I cannot go in without that green jacket!  And if I cannot go in there, cannot earn a jacket on my own efforts- I will have to HAVE SOMEONE ELSE PUT THEIR JACKET ON ME.  And who will be willing to lend me their own jacket, that I may go in?

And that person is Jesus, who does not give you a green jacket, but a white robe, like the one we talked about in my SM about Zerubbabel and Joshua.  

See, here is the crux of it.  Even if you hear the call, even if you accept the invitation, even if you recline with others at the feast- if you are not in the "wedding clothes"- if you haven't submitted your life to Christ- Matthew 22:23 and Luke 14:24 await YOU.  You can't go in there dressed like THAT.

"What?  I go to church, what more do you want?"  I want you to put one that "green jacket", that white robe.  Anyone can walk into a building.  Anyone can tithe the cumin and spices.  I want to see you at the Feast.