The Wedding Garment
Matthew 22: 1-14
What we wear says something about what we think, who we are, or at least what we would like others to think about us. Language- what we say with words is a mere fraction of what we actually say when engaged in communication.
How we use our hands, the way we use our eyes, our facial expressions, the way we stand, the way we walk, the way we laugh and the way we dress are all part of an intricate web we call communication.
And those of us who make our living in the realm of communication, tend to develop a certain instinct or ability- that even without helping it- we’re constantly scanning for those almost unnoticed cues that communicate a truth and intention that goes beyond words.
The business world, is a whole lot more than just a competition of degrees, resumes and references. And although a hefty resume can get you an interview- getting the job is oftentimes the outcome of how well you did in an interview- including, how well you dressed for the occasion. Have you heard of the phrase: “Dress for success?”
From the skinhead, biker pastor wearing boots to the young girl dressed wearing a mini-skirt and high heals- from the man wearing a business suit to the woman dressed like a man- From the Vietnam Vet wearing his veteran’s hat, to the young man wearing his pants on the ground- All are saying something with what they wear… or what they don’t wear.
In today’s Gospel, the Lord Jesus tells us a parable about the Kingdom of God. It is a parable that speaks about God’s invitation to the Jews to be his Guests of Honor at the Wedding Feast of His Son-
In the middle east, it was customary for Kings to send richly embroidered garments to his guests- what an honor to receive an invitation from a King! And what a privilege to dress with the expensive garments of royalty!
There is still a vestige of this left in our culture- where people usually dress with ballroom dresses and tuxedos for special celebrations.
Last night, my daughter dressed in a very beautiful dress for her very first homecoming dance- and she looked like a princess.
But the invited guests did not want to come to the wedding feast of the King-
Matthew 22: 5-6 says: But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully and killed them.
This was a picture of the Jewish religious leaders who rejected the invitation of God, not only ignoring the high honors of the King, but also even persecuting and killing God’s servants.
But notice what the religious leaders did- They IGNORED the invitation. They dealt with the invitation of the King as if it were rubbish, dishonoring the grace of the King as if it were something vile and despicable- unworthy of their attention and attendance.
But this way of dealing with the invitation of God was not only found with the Jews of 2000 years ago.
You would think that the world would burst through the doors of every Church- asking to be admitted to the Salvation Feast of God- but the world, not only ignores the Gospel invitation- it deals with it as if it were a despicable nuisance- unworthy of their attention.
And not only is the Gospel invitation despised and ignored, but it is also exchanged for the affairs of this world. For we live in a time where there is no time for Church, or for prayer, or for doing good deeds, or for reading the Bible or for feeding the poor, or for acts of service!
There’s only time for our entertainments and our affairs- with what face can a person who rejects the Gospel invitation be able to stand before a wrathful God on judgment day?
Those who think that they will be their own advocates before the Supreme Judge will suddenly find themselves mute when they see scenes of their own lives flashing before their eyes- and every moment that they despised the invitation of God- bearing witness against them- and pointing them, not to the feast of Salvation-
but to the feast of damnation- what they chose for having rejected the loving invitation of a Gracious King.
So in the parable we see the King dealing with those evil subjects in the way they deserved… The King then sends his servants to the Highways and the Byways- to find and to bring all whomever they found- both good and bad- rich or poor, --it did not matter!
This was the Great Commission of Christ to his Apostles- for Christ sent them to “Go and Make Disciples of all Nations!”
You and I, the members of Christ’s Holy Christian Church, are those who have been invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb- people of all races, and all backgrounds, and all cultures, and all ages, and all levels of education. Males and Females invited to one Feast-
A Feast where individually, we are all guests of honor, and collectively we’re the Bride of the Son. And every Sunday we gather around the sacrificial Altar that is also a wedding Table- for the mystical feast that is a glimpse of that one feast in Heaven where we will share the same Cup of Blessing with our Bridegroom- Jesus Christ.
In our baptism we were washed of our sins with the water and the Word- we were cleansed with the blood of the Lamb that was shed in Calvary for our transgressions- We were born again into a new life by the Spirit of God. Our Idolatries and Adulteries were washed away- and we were dressed with a Wedding Garment that is Christ Jesus Himself-
For it says in Galatians 3: 27- for all of you who were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ!
In Isaiah 61: 10 it says - I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.
Oh how wonderful is our God, that though we were undeserving of his invitation- he called us by Grace- to be not only the guests of honor, but also to be the Bride of Christ.
But my dear friends, the story does not end here; for the parable continues and says that the King entered to see the guests that were invited. And as he was greeting his guests, he noticed that there was one who had come into the wedding feast without a wedding garment.
“Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” And the guest was speechless- he stood mute before the King.
Notice how the King called him “friend.” Oh my dear friend, when God calls you friend, be careful that you find yourself to be faithful, because God also calls his traitors, “friends.”
On the night our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed, Judas Iscariot led a mob to the garden of Gethsemane in order to arrest Jesus. And when he approached our Lord, the Lord said: “Friend, why are you here?”
The King said: “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” The wedding guest was speechless- he was speechless because he had no excuse-
by not wearing the wedding garment given to him, with his actions he was communicating to the King the same thing that the religious leaders had previously communicated to him-
That the King’s invitation was something vile- something that didn’t carry much weight- of little importance! By wearing what he felt like wearing, rather than the wedding garment- he was communicating to the King what many Christians today communicate with their lives-
For many of us think that it is enough to have received the wedding garment in our baptism- and then live the Christian life in the backburner- as a nuisance that gets in the way of our daily lives.
But the garment of Salvation is not just given to us in our baptism- it must also be intentionally put on.
The Apostle Paul says in Romans 13: 13-14- Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
There is an interesting story in the Apocryphal book of Tobit, of an angel called Raphael and a man called Tobias. After Tobias follows a series of instructions, the angel Raphael follows the wicked demon Asmodeus who had fled to Egypt, and bound him hand and foot.
In the same way the King of our parable takes the “friend” without the wedding garment and binds him hand and foot. He treats him like the demon Asmodeus in the Apocryphal account and casts him into the outer darkness- in the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So my friend, if you have received the garment of Christ- put it on! From now on- tell God with your entire life that you want to live for Christ and only Christ.
That with our lives we may say like St. Paul in Philippians 3: 10-
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Like Paul, cling passionately to him who is taking hold of you!
And you will see that rather than suffering the outer darkness of hell and damnation- with the saints you will see the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And He will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and death shall be no more, and neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain. And this corruptible body of ours, will be dressed with the incorruption of Christ’s resurrection. And in perfect union- we will celebrate the wedding feast with the God who loves us, forever and ever. Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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