Rev. Roland J. Wells, Jr. - Pastor

St. Paul's Sermon 2002

Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost - October 13, 2002

Lessons: Isaiah 25:1-9; Philip. 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14

"Servants Who Invite"

Introduction:

Have the kids come down.

I) A Parable We Know?

When we start reading the parable, maybe we think it's going to be like Luke's version- a king throws a party, invites folks, they turn him down, so the king tells his servants several times to fill up the feast. This is not the same story. Matthew's story is a wedding feast. It's a feast set for his son. The first servants aren't turned just down because the of buying cows or being newly wed. In Matthew, the servants are killed! What Luke tells as a story, Matthew tells a very different version- In this version the King is the Father, the Son is Christ the Messiah, the servants are the prophets and other ones sent out by God, and they are killed!

Then things start getting out of hand- the king goes and destroys the evildoers!

[8] "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. [9] Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' [10] 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.

That's all the farther we're going to go with the text; that's enough. Here's the payoff. The father throws the party. The servants are simply given the job of inviting everyone to the party. And the servants are us.

The Kingdom of God is pictured more as a party, a feast, a celebration than any other kind of illustration. The Kingdom of Heaven is the marriage feast which has no end. From the Gospels to the Book of Revelation, no symbol is used more. To be brought into a relationship with God is a party; a great gift; a celebration; a deep joy; the celebration of the son returned home.

Did you hear where you fit in the story? It's what every preschooler knows what to do. You're the servant who invites. You're not called to be slick. You're not called to be brilliant. You're not called to know techniques. You're not called to argue. You're not called to bring in a certain number. You're not called to produce results.

You're called to invite.

Today we live in a world very different from how our church was gathered originally. Our church was built of immigrants who were all members of the church in Scandinavia. A hundred years ago, virtually everyone in Europe was baptized in to the church. When Lutherans came here from the Old Country, it was a simple matter of gathering them up.

Oddly enough, there don't seem to be many Norwegians coming here these days. Lutherans never had to worry about inviting people to the feast in Europe, it seemed all were given tickets as infants! The church plugged along, and little emphasis was put on inviting.

II) A New Situation

Up until the 1960's, it seemed like that system would work in America. But the '60's changed the rules. My generation wasn't faithful to institutions. They were distrustful of the church. The same seems to be true of most of the GenX'ers and Millenials. The Lutheran church is following the other 'mainline' churches.

The average age of members of core city mainline churches today is mid-70's. Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and UCC- 75 yrs. That means we'll see most of the core-city mainline churches close in the next 10 years.

Lutherans are just a bit younger than that. In south Minneapolis there are 28 Lutheran churches. Three of them have held their membership or grown in the last 10 years. We're one of those. The other 25 have lost a combined total of 7,000 members! Here we are surrounded by 458,000 new immigrants, and we're dying. But they don't speak Norwegian- and neither do we.

I guess that American Christians don't know this parable. I guess they don't know what little kids know. All ya gotta do is invite.

'Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' That's all we're told. Classes like the one we have in adult Sunday School are fine. Many of you have been trained by Campus Crusade or Evangelism Explosion; you've had 30-40-50 years of Bible study, teaching and preaching. How much is enough? All you need to do is invite!

Once upon a time there was a baseball coach. He had a team of great little leaguers. They started out at age six with

'Tee Ball.' But he thought they didn't play well enough, so he just let them come to practice. It was OK, they got to learn how to hit the ball off the 'tee', how to throw and run, and learn about baseball. Then came 'Near-Ball'- and the little players got to learn how to hit the ball and run like crazy. The practiced, and practiced, but the coach thought they really shouldn't play a game yet, because they really didn't know enough.

Then came eight-, nine- and ten-year-old ball. Same thing. Practice, practice, practice. But they never played a game. The kids got used to this. It was fun to practice. Then they turned eleven...

This could go on for several more years, but this wasn't baseball, was it? It's so silly to even tell a story like that- those little boys and girls would be barraging that coach, saying, 'When do we get to play, coach?' 'Let us in the game, coach!' 'Enough practice, we wanna play ball!'

The parents would be grousing, even after a couple weeks the head of the little league would be called- the kids want to play! They know why they've been taught- it's to get into the game. Practicing, learning is fine. But getting into the game is the whole reason. They don't wait until they're professionals before they let them play ball. They let six-year-olds play ball. That's how they learn.

Aren't you ready to get into the game?

III) The Invitation

You're job as the servant is just to invite. You don't make them Christians. You aren't called to convince anybody. You're just given the job to invite. Like Philip or Jesus himself, that's all we need to do.

Sure, it's fine to get training- but our security doesn't come how slick we get- our security comes from the quality of the call and the promise. We're just given the job to invite folks to the feast. It's a feast! It's a joyous thing! We don't have to be careful. We don't have to be troubled by rejection. How utterly ridiculous it that somehow the Devil tricks us into keeping our mouth shut. If you knew that Perkins was giving away free meals to everybody, wouldn't you tell other people? If you knew that our Heavenly Father was throwing a feast for eternity...why would you be quiet? Think how silly that is.

Invitation, Amen.

Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation Larry Norman

When you know a pretty story, you don't let it go un-said.

You tell it to your children as you tuck them into bed.

And when you know a wonderful secret, you tell it to your friends.

Because a lifetime filled with happiness, is like a street that never ends

Chorus:

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation. let your laughter fill the air

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation, tell the people everywhere.

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation, to everyone in every nation

Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation, and let the people know that Jesus cares.

Look around you, as you sing it, there are people everywhere,

And to those who stop to listen, this sweet song becomes a prayer.

Cause when you know a wonderful secret, you tell it to your friends.

Tell them that a life time filled with Jesus, is like a street that never ends.

Pentecost 21- October 13, 2002

Isaiah 25:1-9

O LORD, you are my God I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

[2] You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin,

the foreigners' stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.

[3] Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you.

[4] You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress,

a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.

For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall

[5] and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners;

as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

[6] On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,

a banquet of aged wine-- the best of meats and the finest of wines.

[7] On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,

the sheet that covers all nations; [8] he will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;

he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.

[9] In that day they will say,

"Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.

This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."

Philip. 4:1-9

Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

[2] I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. [3] Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

[4] Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! [5] Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. [6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

[8] Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. [9] Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: [2] "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. [3] He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

[4] "Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'

[5] "But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business. [6] The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. [7] The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

[11] "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. [12] 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.

[13] "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

[14] "For many are invited, but few are chosen."