from Pastor Michael Harman, called to St. Peter Lutheran Church - Newell, IA,
whose sermons in pdf format can usually be found at:
http://stpeterlutheran-newell-iowa.weebly.com/downloads.html
Serving the Lord with vacancies at... First Evangelical Lutheran - Fonda, IA,
and Immanuel Lutheran Church - Pomeroy, IA
1 John 3:1a Behold! What manner of love the Father has lavished upon us, that
we should be entitled: children of God! And so: we are!
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Come to the Lord’s Wedding Feast! God wants to reunite lost mankind to
Himself. That is why He sent His only Son. The Gospel is the LORD’s
invitation to this great wedding feast in heaven. Since Abraham’s time, God
has been inviting mankind. But the majority of mankind still rejects the
invitation. Jesus ends with these parables with: “Many are called but few are
chosen.” Where do YOU stand?
MANY ARE CALLED
A. This invitation is the heart of the Old Testament. For 2000 years in the
OT, from Abraham to Christ, the LORD sent Moses, the Prophets, and others to
call His covenant people to the great wedding feast pictured in Holy Scripture.
Matthew 21:1-7 shows the Gospel call going to the Covenant people, the Jews.
Middle-eastern custom was first send a notice, then an invitation, so again and
again the King sent His messengers with the message: “Come because all things
are ready. Come to the feast.”
God had done everything necessary for their salvation. It was NOT their
sacrifices that covered all their sins or showed God thanks. The sacrifices
pointed to the only Son of God’s sacrifice. The Messiah would live His life as
the perfect thank-offering, without any sin, which no creature could do. Then
He would die on a tree to take away the curse of sin as the ultimate
guilt-offering (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). But these self-righteous and
indifferent folk felt they had better things to do than believe.
B. This invitation is the heart of the New Testament. At Matthew 21:7 we have
the turning point. Even though they were unworthy by nature, God had called
them. But God’s covenant people rejected His repeated invitation. So He
rejected them, them wiped Israel off the map. In vs. 9-10 Jesus pictures the
preaching of the Gospel also to all nations in The End Times, which began at
Christ’s Ascension and continues to the End. Since Christ’s Ascension,
missionaries have gone to all continents. Pastors, evangelists, teachers, and
others are supported by the efforts of our church body. They are also
supported with prayers and finances by groups such as the LWML, individual
missionary-adoptions such as Gary Thies
(http://www.missioncentral.us/missioncentral/welcome) promotes, the seminary
students or deaconesses helped by our church, and by families and individuals.
God is gathering all, both good and bad, without distinction. True, the first
invited were not worthy. Neither are you. NO guest deserves to be there. God
invites by grace, not by our standards. This is why our King sends ambassadors
to the crossroads of lives. God calls. He invites. And yes, many non-Jews
reject Christ, too. Our King does not stop calling because of rejection by His
own citizens. If anyone attends the feast in heaven, it is entirely by God’s
grace. If they do not, it is entirely their own fault.
C. The King’s invitation offers each individual the proper robe, the correct
dress at His feast. This robe is mentioned in verse 12. God provides this
robe of Christ’s righteousness. We cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven without
the forgiveness of sins which covers us sinners with Christ’s righteousness.
Yes, many are called!
BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN
A. The majority of the Jews rejected the wedding invitation. They persecuted
or killed God’s messengers: Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, the prophets. Verse
5 pictures the disinterest of God’s people. Things of this life which God
gives to us as gifts meant more to them than the invitation into the Kingdom of
heaven. One loved his farm more than anything: that was his god and he went
home to worship. Another felt earthly business was more crucial than heavenly
business, so he went away.
The excuses church members give in the twenty-first century for not being in
God’s House each week are not so different than first-century excuses. They’re
still lame.
Verse 6 tells how some mistreated, gossiped, made life miserable, and even
killed God’s messengers. This led the Lord to judge the people severely. As
it says in 1 Cor 10, these are examples of God’s mercy ending. In 720 BC the
northern ten tribes of Israel were scattered over the earth. In 586 BC the
southern two tribes were carried to Babylon and Solomon’s Temple was destroyed.
Nearly 6 centuries later came John the Baptizer whom they killed. Finally,
came the Son of God Whom they crucified. In His anger, the LORD sent the Roman
armies to torch Jerusalem in 70AD, then after a revolt in 135AD Jews were
banned from Palestine forever.
B. Have we Gentiles fared better? No way. Look around you. The majority of
the people still turn down God’s invitation with weak excuses. They have no
time for God’s Kingdom. They are too busy with the things of this world.
Fewer than 1/3rd of the members of this church attend Divine Services weekly.
In most towns in our area, over half of the people are members of NO church.
Roughly 5 out of 6 folks in your community see no need for forgiveness from
God, have no clear vision of the invitation God makes thru your lips, or the
price Christ paid for them on the cross. They worship other gods (their farm,
business, friends, sports, etc.) rather than being in the True God’s House, and
they don’t obey or fear the Lord’s eternal wrath against sin.
And they also persecute God’s messengers. It is said that in the twentieth
century more people were persecuted and killed for Jesus’ sake than during the
nineteen centuries since Christ walked on the earth. It continues in the 21st.
This is everything from grief pastors get for trying to remain true to God’s
Word to Muslim Law demanding the beheading of believers.
Furthermore, many do not desire the robe of Christ’s righteousness. They lose
heaven because they think they are righteous enough without confessing their
sins and believing the Gospel. They will be thrown into outer darkness forever.
C. What about you? Jesus tells this series of parables in Matthew 21-22 to
warn His people to repent. Just having membership in a visible church or
having a particular bloodline means nothing. Nations and groups do not go to
heaven. Individual souls do. The invisible church consists of only those who
keep genuine faith in Christ. The call has gone out to you. The robe of
Christ’s righteousness was given to you in Holy Baptism. God our Father has
claimed you as His own adopted child. He offers a foretaste of the feast to
come in Holy Communion. He proclaims, “ALL of your sins are paid for!” thru
the mouth of your pastor in Absolution. God feeds you with His holy Word in
His House each week.
Whether the Father brings you to Himself in death or thru Judgment Day, He will
come to see you with the other guests. As He views, inspects, and has a good
look at you on that Day, the wedding garment He has provided by the cross of
Christ, which you are wearing because of your Baptism, assures you that your
place remains in the wedding hall of heaven. All pretenders, hypocrites, and
those who feel they are good enough are unrobed and will go to hell.
CONCLUSION. “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Examine yourself. What
will you do? The King is saying to you: “Come, for all things are now ready.”
Are you listening? What are you wearing? It is very important. It’s a matter
of life and death: yours and people around you. Amen.
If this seems familiar, it is because you are a well-read and well-rounded
individual with a keen mind, for the main points here are taken from (+) Dr.
Harold Buls notes for Trinity XX found at
http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/bul/trin-20.html and so
this is a minor reworking of his sermon with a more local application.
from Pastor Michael Harman, called to St. Peter Lutheran Church - Newell, IA,
http://stpeterlutheran-newell-iowa.weebly.com/downloads.html_______________________________________________
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