A romance is a small and very intimate thing (or at least that is what women are constantly attempting to explain to their daft-thinking men 😊). Moments spent alone. Moments that wind up burning into our memories. A level of intimacy that leads one to think; gee, I would like to do that over and over and over again. If you gave men a big red button that if pushed would bring happiness, we would stand there for a 100-years pushing that thing over and over and over again. But it is that mutual recognition that my life was just not complete until I met … [fill in the blank here]. That recognition inspires us to get married and put a lock on the big red happiness button forever. And so it begins. What was once a small intimate romance built for two, must now become a “wedding” that is the LAST thing from small and intimate. The families must be notified (and included). Unable to choose our blood-relatives there are sure to be hurt feelings (that could spit in our food) if we omit someone from the long list of guests if not participants in our “wedding”.
And where it comes to weddings, everyone (short the groom, who is still scratching his head) has ideas. It is the bride’s day, so in theory, she should get to decide everything. But those pesky relatives are sure to insert their “brilliant suggestions” at every turn. It then requires the diplomatic skills of Henry Kissinger, to navigate potential conflicts, hurt feelings, family traditions, and of course what the bride wants. No man is equipped for this level of diplomacy so most grooms simply surrender within the first day or two. Good to have hubby out of the way, but that still requires fiancée to have the patience of a saint, and the ability to compromise for the sake of family unity … all of which drives a significant cottage industry in Vegas for weddings when both bride and groom just cannot take it anymore (or anticipate that early). The simple truth is, where romance is by definition an intimate thing between two people; Weddings are a public event designed to include everyone in the celebration of a union intended to last forever. While they are linked, they are rarely described the same way.
Enter God. Silly us. We thought a romance was only between two. It is. But God wants one too. He wants His romance with just you. He loves (for purposes of this example), just you. He is “in love” with you. It all started when you were an imagining in His head, so He made you. He made you with certain skills, abilities, and interests … and then he brought you into existence and set you free to use what He gave you and grow into an even more unique person. He watches you grow, like an excited parent, always pinning your refrigerator drawings up for all the universe to see. He cries when you do. He weeps when you get hurt, and weeps harder when you do the hurting to someone else. He gets so happy He could dance when you look back home, and seek to build a relationship with Him, attempting to get to know Him, like He already knows you. So the intimacy of our Creator God, is a level of romance, that would top any known to man. His love for you was there first, and He hopes it will lure you to His side. He hopes you will see His big red button of happiness, and decide you want to push it (even if only once in a while), just something to get your end of the romance going.
Silly us. And we thought all we were ever going to have with our God was a romance built for two. And no, I am not referring to how God would love to be at the center of your earthly marriage to do things you cannot even imagine getting done. (Like changing hearts, habits, and minds). No, I am talking about what God wants to culminate His romance with you. He wants a wedding. He wants a crazy big wedding. He wants something that is a public event that expresses to the entire universe, that you and God, have decided to make a permanent relationship forever and ever. It is going to be a party. And yes, while you will not be the “only” bride in this equation, all of mankind in total, will make up the “bride” He has been romancing for so long, it seems like forever already. He wants cake. He wants grape juice. He wants fruit with names we have yet to pronounce. He plans to pick steak off the steak-growing-tree (why not, He is God after all), and cook it on a grill with mesquite charcoal that would make a Texan green with envy. (and you “have” to try God’s spicy BBQ sauce, it is the stuff of legend). He wants witnesses. He wants a massive affair. Everyone is invited.
Now enter Matthew recording a parable just like this imaginative story that Jesus first told so long ago. He starts out his twenty-second chapter in verse one, with the third parable Jesus has been telling church leadership to get them to come back to the source of their religion (instead of replacing Jesus, with doctrine, that the Pharisees preferred and sometimes so do we). The romance between Jesus and the church leadership is hot on the Jesus side; and ice cold on the leadership side. It has been a one-way thing for a long time. Jesus wants to change that (with them, and with you). So he tries again in story form. Beginning in verse 1 it says … “And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, [verse 2] The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,”
First let’s get the players and the context. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is a like a marriage that God has prepared for His only son. God the Father is the King, who prepares this public event (of reconciliation for us) for His Son Jesus, who has long awaited this event. The excitement is so thick you could cut it with a knife. It continues in verse 3 saying … “And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.” His church is His bride. God sends His angels, and His servants (prophets, preachers, lay workers, anyone willing to work in His vineyard); the job of these servants was to tell the bride; it is time. It is time for the bride to come to the wedding. And “WE” would NOT come!! Let that sink in for a minute. The servants when to those who were supposed to be preparing, to those who were supposed to be in a romance with Jesus, but when the time finally comes, WE refuse to come. This cannot be. This is unfathomable. But it is what happens.
The story continues in verse 4 saying … “Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.” God decides to sweeten the deal. He knows perhaps some brides get cold feet. So he tries again, and this time reminds us, of the feast that will be coming. Sacrifices have already been made. Meat is ready to eat. It has already been on the altar and is ready for eating now. Perhaps the bride didn’t hear the first message, and anyone who loves a fiancée would not just throw in the towel because they have one bad day prior to the wedding. Someone who loves like God loves, would try again, and intensify the beauty of the invitation, to cut through our blindness, get our attention, and remind us, “this” is what we have all been waiting for.
Our response continues in verse 5 saying … “But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: [verse 6] And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.” Aaarg! WE made “light of it”. Who cares. It is only salvation, why bother with perfection anyway, how good could it really be? So instead of embracing it, they leave to pursue their own interests, one to a farm to work on creating his own perfection. Another went to his business commerce to see if he could purchase his own perfection. Those without jobs, or means, don’t want to hear that the gift of perfection or salvation is really ready for us – so they did what everyone always does – they beat the servants who brought this message. And when they just would not shut-up (amazed we would so carelessly throw away a thing of such value) – WE killed the messengers. The church did this. The old one did it. The new one did it. And the one we are in, … is still doing it. We spit on a gift we should have treasured, then we treat it far worse.
The story continues in verse 7 saying … “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.” And a holocaust ensues targeting millions who claim the lineage or membership in the first church carried out by racist hate. And an entire age is characterized as “dark” when the second church moves from Apostolic to death on horseback, killing all who would reform it, or bring light into it. And today, we sit on the precipice of global environmental destruction as we still claim to be a bride, but have no idea who our groom truly is, or what it means to love anyone other than ourselves. It is a dark picture that is painted when man rejects God thinking there are no final consequences to that choice. Satan’s greatest lie is that we would not suffer for our sins, that we have “all the time in the world” to commit them, until all of the sudden, we don’t. Evil will one day meet its end. The only question, will you be consumed by evil when time is run out, or been made free from it so long ago.
But the story is not about rejection, it is about a crazy big wedding, and the wedding must go on. So on to plan B. It continues in verse 8 saying … “Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. [verse 9] Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.” It is so easy to think of this as only applying to the Jewish faith. They rejected Christ, therefore the church of God was taken from them and given to others. That’s easy. But that is not the whole story. The first Christian church devolved from purity to death, and it was taken from them and spread throughout Protestantism. And here near the end of times, it may move again from organized denominations to individual believers in Jesus, who are taken out of where they reside today, to follow an end-times calling. Our organized structures seem to resemble walking a path that does not end well. They could change. But it would take change. And no matter what the church leadership thought, the invitation went out, either with their help, or without it.
The story continues in verse 10 saying … “So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.” Several things to take note of here. The invitation is universal. The attendees were a mix of “good” and “bad”. Some people destined for the crazy big wedding with God are not perfected yet; they are still on the journey. And what does every bride need most of all? A wedding gown. Usually white. Usually provided to her by someone else (most often her father). And what does Jesus offer each of those who choose to become part of His Kingdom, and trust Him to save them … a white robe of righteousness. That white robe is a gift. You cannot make it. You cannot buy it. You have to humble yourself and realize you need it, to take it when it is offered. If you keep trying to make one yourself, you are destined for failure. You don’t beat sin, because you want to, or you choose to, or you kept fighting it. You don’t beat sin. Jesus does. Jesus recreates inside of you, something else to want, something else to do, another way to think, another way to love. He gives you your white robe of perfection, you don’t do anything, but take it (and maybe say thank you).
The story continues in verse 11 saying … “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: [verse 12] And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.” So if you are the only one in a room full of people wearing white robes as bright as the sun; and you are not, you will stick out like a sore thumb. But there is always one person in church, who is sure, that going to church will save them. Or another who believes if you pray 4 hours a day, that should do it. Or another who believes if you memorize the entire Bible, you get a pass to get in. But they are wrong. There is no list of things you can do, that will earn you a white robe. It remains a simple gift, for those humble enough to realize they cannot do it themselves. Jesus makes you into who He wanted you to be, instead of the mess you made or make. It is that re-creation, that restores you into harmony with the law. Without it, going through motions, and abiding by the letter of what is written, is just not enough. For it never touches your heart.
When confronted with the simple question, why didn’t you take the free white robe? The man is speechless. There is no answer to that very basic question. It is the mystery of iniquity, why would we choose it, over God. The story concludes in verse 13 saying … “Then said the king 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. [verse 14] For many are called, but few are chosen.” The man with the beige wedding gown finds himself thrown out, away from the presence of Jesus, into the utter darkness that exists when you choose not to keep your eyes upon Jesus. Weeping and gnashing of teeth is to be expected. When romance ends from rejection you decided, and then you realize what a mistake you have made, it is often too late to do anything but nurse your self-broken heart. In love there is light. Without love, or bathed only in self-love, there is only darkness and failure.
But so as not to bury the lead, consider the 14thverse … “for many are called; but few are chosen.” This is not a disclaimer about the love of God being limited. Keep in mind, His invitation went out first to His church, the people who claimed to know Him, and were supposed to be waiting for Him to come and set them free. But in this story, they rejected Him. A pattern we see across time. The invitation then went out to the entire world (no shortage of love there); and both bad and good were invited to the wedding event. It was understood that some were not at the end of their journey to perfection, they were still on it. But again, the invitation was universal. Many were called. You could say all of us were called. The question is what we do with our own unique invitation. For our invitation comes amidst the romance our God continues to want to have with each of us. He longs for our hearts, and just a little of our time and attention. He puts aside one day every week for a special romance time, where we could come, hang out with our Dad, and play. He is always there with us.
But do we make light of it? Do we tend to our farms, and our commerce, trusting to our wealth to save us, or at least make our lives better? Do we look away from Jesus into the utter darkness that exists everywhere Jesus is not? Do we get so tired of hearing His servants invite us to perfection that we begin to ignore them, beat them, or kill them altogether? Do we repeat the sins of the church leaders who walked before us, refusing new light, and the love of Jesus that might make white robes of righteousness to surround us, robes we could never make on our own. All these warning are given so we avoid these mistakes not repeat them. The goal of this story was to insure we are at the wedding, dressed in the robes He provides, enjoying the feast and the spectacle.
And it feels like this is the piece we are the quickest to forget. A wedding is AWESOME!! We are enjoying the culmination of our relationship with Jesus – entry into forever. No more pain. No more death. Not just physical pain, or emotional pain, but every kind of pain you have ever had the misfortune of coming to know. NONE of it, was supposed to be something you got to know, none of it. Sin was the ugly cause behind every effect; and sin will be forever removed. Not just from what you do, but from what you think, what you want, and even how you reason. That sacrifice is already made. And you don’t need to do it. It wasn’t about you. It was done for you. Instead of you. All that is left now for you, is a life without pain. Loving like Jesus loves, sets you free inside yourself. It keeps you from causing pain to yourself, and to those you love. It alters your thinking, even how you read scripture. And it is free. The message remains “the time is now”; are you ready to join the wedding? Could there really be any other choice that seems valid to you over that?
Three stories were told to our church leadership forefathers. How they responded would unfold next …
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