Trinity 20
Matthew 22:1-14
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
October 13, 2024
“Many are called, but few are chosen.” These words of Jesus could also be translated, “Many are invited, but few are elected.” Our nation is currently going through election season, where we will elect officials at the state and federal level. It will be over in just a few weeks. And while as a Christian, you should vote for candidates who will best promote God’s rule of law, since our rulers are God’s servants, to promote what is good and to punish what is bad (Romans 13:4), the one vote which really matters is God’s. He raises up rulers and casts them down according to His own will. And he does not always raise up the rulers He approves of, but those whom He will use to carry out His own purpose. He raised up Pharoah to show His glory over him. He raised up Nebuchadnezzar to carry out judgment upon Jerusalem. And He raised up Cyrus to bring His people back to Judea and to rebuild His temple. And so, he may bless us with rulers, who will protect the innocent unborn children and protect the Christian Church and her Christians from persecution, or He may raise up bad rulers to chastise our nation for its wickedness. So, however the elections turn out, we trust that God is carrying out His will for the purpose of His elect.
And this brings us to the results of a much more significant election. The election of who will be saved. Many will be called, Jesus says. Yet, few will be chosen, that is, few will be elected. The doctrine of election or predestination is taught throughout Scripture. St. Paul writes in Ephesians 1 that God, “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world,” and that He “predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.” (Eph. 1:4, 5) And again, he writes, “In [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Eph. 1:11)
Election makes people uncomfortable, because they think it means we are robots or something, who have no free will. However, when we look at election through Scripture, we find it to be a comforting doctrine, which gives us certainty of our salvation. It is God who elects according to His grace and mercy. He elects for the sake of Christ, who died for us. And He carries out this election in time through His gracious invitation or call. This is what this parable teaches us.
The king who gave a wedding feast for his son is God. His Son is Christ. The wedding is the feast of salvation. His servants, whom he sends out to call the invited are His prophets, apostles, and ministers. And through this parable, we learn three things about this call or invitation.
First, we learn that this call is universal. When Jesus uses the word many, He is employing a Hebraism. He means all. It is like when He says that the Son of Man came to serve and give His life as a ransom of many (Matthew 20:28). Of course, Scripture makes clear that Jesus gave His life as a ransom for all (John 3:16; 2 John 2:2). This is why St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2 that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (vs. 4) The king sent His servants to invite those who were called. When they refused, He sent more. When they responded in violence, He sent His servants to every street and lane to bring people in. This describes what Jesus says in the Great Commission, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” (Matthew 28:19) and “Preach the Gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15). God’s call to believe the Gospel is a call for every human soul.
God’s call is universal, because Christ Jesus made atonement for the sins of all people. St. John writes in 1 John 2, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” There is no one for whom Jesus did not die. There is no sin, which Christ did not pay for. That is why Christ sends out the invitation to the whole world. This is how He can say that whoever believes will be saved. The promise is for all.
Second, God’s call is gracious. That means that those who are invited do not deserve the invitation. St. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1, that God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” God does not call us (or elect us) based on our good works. There is nothing in us that makes us worthy of this call. He calls those who are entirely unworthy. This is exactly what Jesus means when He says, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
And third, this call to the wedding banquet of God’s Son takes place through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. I hear it time and again that people, who refuse to go to church, refuse to listen to the preaching of God’s Word, will say that they still have a good relationship with God. They think they have accepted the invitation to the heavenly banquet, while they are refusing the invitation from God’s servants. But no, this invitation is accepted in real time in a real earth through real means, which God has appointed. Christ commanded that disciples be made in all nations through Baptism and teaching (Matthew 28:19-20) and He commanded the Gospel to be preached to the whole creation. Every time we gather to hear Christ’s preaching and to partake of His Sacrament, we are accepting that invitation to the heavenly wedding hall. In fact, we confess that we have true Communion with those in heaven, who enter the banquet before us, when we participate in Christ’s body and blood shed for us.
The call to the feast of salvation is universal; it is for everyone. The call is gracious; it is offered freely to those who do not deserve it. The call comes through the preaching of the Gospel and the Sacraments; the preaching of the Gospel will continue until the end of the age, because God fervently desires to save all. Yet, most people refuse this gracious invitation.
Some completely ignore the invitation and go each to his farm or business. Don’t we know a lot about that! It seems no one can bother to go to church to worship God! They will accept the invitation if absolutely nothing else comes up, and if they feel motivated enough to go. They think it is a little thing to ignore the invitation of the King of Heaven. Yet, others respond with violence, killing the messenger. We see this as many of God’s prophets were murdered and all but one of Christ’s apostles were killed for proclaiming Christ. And the hatred and violence against Christ’s preaching continues today.
And yet, there is still another group who refuses the invitation, and that is the hypocrite. There was a man who came to the feast, but he was not wearing the proper wedding garment, so the king had this hypocrite thrown out. Now, Christians should dress their best when they come to church, because they are coming into the presence of God. And if they do not have proper church clothes to wear, they should buy special clothes they can afford to wear to church to show their respect to God. However, we would never kick anyone out of church because he could not afford a nice outfit. Even someone dressed in rags is welcome to worship with us, because true worship is done in spirit and Jesus says that whoever comes to Him, He will by no means cast out (John 6:37). So, why does the king cast out this man for having the wrong outfit?
Because the wedding garment this man failed to wear is the robe of Christ’s righteousness. This garment is given through Baptism and the preaching of the Gospel and it is worn through faith alone. St. Paul writes in Galatians 3, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many as you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” And St. John tells us in Revelation 7 that he sees the host of saints in white robes, which they washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb Jesus. And Isaiah prophesies of the Church when he writes, ‘I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me in the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” (Is. 61:10), as St. Paul also writes in Ephesians 5, that Christ sanctified His bride the Church, “having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (vss. 26-27)
You put on this wedding garment through Baptism and when you hear the preaching of the Gospel. And you keep this wedding garment on through faith in Christ. This garment is Christ’s righteousness, not yours. It is a gift. The hypocrite was thrown out of the wedding hall, because he wanted to establish a righteousness of his own through works. And so, he took off the robe of Christ’s righteousness.
And this emphasizes the point that you are not chosen or elected to the feast of salvation because of your own righteousness. God spoke to the children of Israel through Moses in Deuteronomy 7, “the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery.” And again, in Deuteronomy 9, Moses writes, “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.6 Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.”
And this is the same with us today. Many are called, but few are chosen. Why are the few chosen? It must be because they are better than the rest! No. Rather, had God not chosen you, you would still deny Him. You would ignore His invitation and behave violently toward His messengers. Rather, you were dead in your sins, following the course of the devil, and God made you alive in Christ Jesus by grace, according to His own mercy, not according to your works or merit (Ephesians 2; Titus 3:5). Why did God choose some and not others? We do not know. Some claim that God never intended to save those who were not chosen, but rather that He chose them from eternity for hell. But Scripture clearly teaches that God desires to save all people, that Jesus atoned for the sins of all people, and that God invites all people to be saved. Those who refuse the invitation do so of their own evil will, because they are rebellious. Those who accept the invitation do so by God’s grace. And we the clay have no business questioning God the potter for why some are rescued from their rebellion, while others continue in it (Romans 9:20).
The doctrine that God has chosen us is comforting, because had He not chosen us, we would still refuse Him. Yet, all Christians should believe that they are chosen by God. The fact that you believe the Gospel bears witness to this. So, as God’s chosen, seek to make your election sure by walking in Jesus’ ways, hearing His Word, repenting of your sins and believing His forgiveness, and receiving His Sacrament. Then you may trust that whatever happens in this world, whoever may be elected or whatever disaster may come, it all works out for good for those who are chosen by God.
Amen.
Matthew 22:1-14
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
October 13, 2024
“Many are called, but few are chosen.” These words of Jesus could also be translated, “Many are invited, but few are elected.” Our nation is currently going through election season, where we will elect officials at the state and federal level. It will be over in just a few weeks. And while as a Christian, you should vote for candidates who will best promote God’s rule of law, since our rulers are God’s servants, to promote what is good and to punish what is bad (Romans 13:4), the one vote which really matters is God’s. He raises up rulers and casts them down according to His own will. And he does not always raise up the rulers He approves of, but those whom He will use to carry out His own purpose. He raised up Pharoah to show His glory over him. He raised up Nebuchadnezzar to carry out judgment upon Jerusalem. And He raised up Cyrus to bring His people back to Judea and to rebuild His temple. And so, he may bless us with rulers, who will protect the innocent unborn children and protect the Christian Church and her Christians from persecution, or He may raise up bad rulers to chastise our nation for its wickedness. So, however the elections turn out, we trust that God is carrying out His will for the purpose of His elect.
And this brings us to the results of a much more significant election. The election of who will be saved. Many will be called, Jesus says. Yet, few will be chosen, that is, few will be elected. The doctrine of election or predestination is taught throughout Scripture. St. Paul writes in Ephesians 1 that God, “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world,” and that He “predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.” (Eph. 1:4, 5) And again, he writes, “In [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Eph. 1:11)
Election makes people uncomfortable, because they think it means we are robots or something, who have no free will. However, when we look at election through Scripture, we find it to be a comforting doctrine, which gives us certainty of our salvation. It is God who elects according to His grace and mercy. He elects for the sake of Christ, who died for us. And He carries out this election in time through His gracious invitation or call. This is what this parable teaches us.
The king who gave a wedding feast for his son is God. His Son is Christ. The wedding is the feast of salvation. His servants, whom he sends out to call the invited are His prophets, apostles, and ministers. And through this parable, we learn three things about this call or invitation.
First, we learn that this call is universal. When Jesus uses the word many, He is employing a Hebraism. He means all. It is like when He says that the Son of Man came to serve and give His life as a ransom of many (Matthew 20:28). Of course, Scripture makes clear that Jesus gave His life as a ransom for all (John 3:16; 2 John 2:2). This is why St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2 that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (vs. 4) The king sent His servants to invite those who were called. When they refused, He sent more. When they responded in violence, He sent His servants to every street and lane to bring people in. This describes what Jesus says in the Great Commission, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” (Matthew 28:19) and “Preach the Gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15). God’s call to believe the Gospel is a call for every human soul.
God’s call is universal, because Christ Jesus made atonement for the sins of all people. St. John writes in 1 John 2, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” There is no one for whom Jesus did not die. There is no sin, which Christ did not pay for. That is why Christ sends out the invitation to the whole world. This is how He can say that whoever believes will be saved. The promise is for all.
Second, God’s call is gracious. That means that those who are invited do not deserve the invitation. St. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1, that God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” God does not call us (or elect us) based on our good works. There is nothing in us that makes us worthy of this call. He calls those who are entirely unworthy. This is exactly what Jesus means when He says, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
And third, this call to the wedding banquet of God’s Son takes place through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. I hear it time and again that people, who refuse to go to church, refuse to listen to the preaching of God’s Word, will say that they still have a good relationship with God. They think they have accepted the invitation to the heavenly banquet, while they are refusing the invitation from God’s servants. But no, this invitation is accepted in real time in a real earth through real means, which God has appointed. Christ commanded that disciples be made in all nations through Baptism and teaching (Matthew 28:19-20) and He commanded the Gospel to be preached to the whole creation. Every time we gather to hear Christ’s preaching and to partake of His Sacrament, we are accepting that invitation to the heavenly wedding hall. In fact, we confess that we have true Communion with those in heaven, who enter the banquet before us, when we participate in Christ’s body and blood shed for us.
The call to the feast of salvation is universal; it is for everyone. The call is gracious; it is offered freely to those who do not deserve it. The call comes through the preaching of the Gospel and the Sacraments; the preaching of the Gospel will continue until the end of the age, because God fervently desires to save all. Yet, most people refuse this gracious invitation.
Some completely ignore the invitation and go each to his farm or business. Don’t we know a lot about that! It seems no one can bother to go to church to worship God! They will accept the invitation if absolutely nothing else comes up, and if they feel motivated enough to go. They think it is a little thing to ignore the invitation of the King of Heaven. Yet, others respond with violence, killing the messenger. We see this as many of God’s prophets were murdered and all but one of Christ’s apostles were killed for proclaiming Christ. And the hatred and violence against Christ’s preaching continues today.
And yet, there is still another group who refuses the invitation, and that is the hypocrite. There was a man who came to the feast, but he was not wearing the proper wedding garment, so the king had this hypocrite thrown out. Now, Christians should dress their best when they come to church, because they are coming into the presence of God. And if they do not have proper church clothes to wear, they should buy special clothes they can afford to wear to church to show their respect to God. However, we would never kick anyone out of church because he could not afford a nice outfit. Even someone dressed in rags is welcome to worship with us, because true worship is done in spirit and Jesus says that whoever comes to Him, He will by no means cast out (John 6:37). So, why does the king cast out this man for having the wrong outfit?
Because the wedding garment this man failed to wear is the robe of Christ’s righteousness. This garment is given through Baptism and the preaching of the Gospel and it is worn through faith alone. St. Paul writes in Galatians 3, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many as you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” And St. John tells us in Revelation 7 that he sees the host of saints in white robes, which they washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb Jesus. And Isaiah prophesies of the Church when he writes, ‘I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me in the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” (Is. 61:10), as St. Paul also writes in Ephesians 5, that Christ sanctified His bride the Church, “having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (vss. 26-27)
You put on this wedding garment through Baptism and when you hear the preaching of the Gospel. And you keep this wedding garment on through faith in Christ. This garment is Christ’s righteousness, not yours. It is a gift. The hypocrite was thrown out of the wedding hall, because he wanted to establish a righteousness of his own through works. And so, he took off the robe of Christ’s righteousness.
And this emphasizes the point that you are not chosen or elected to the feast of salvation because of your own righteousness. God spoke to the children of Israel through Moses in Deuteronomy 7, “the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery.” And again, in Deuteronomy 9, Moses writes, “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.6 Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.”
And this is the same with us today. Many are called, but few are chosen. Why are the few chosen? It must be because they are better than the rest! No. Rather, had God not chosen you, you would still deny Him. You would ignore His invitation and behave violently toward His messengers. Rather, you were dead in your sins, following the course of the devil, and God made you alive in Christ Jesus by grace, according to His own mercy, not according to your works or merit (Ephesians 2; Titus 3:5). Why did God choose some and not others? We do not know. Some claim that God never intended to save those who were not chosen, but rather that He chose them from eternity for hell. But Scripture clearly teaches that God desires to save all people, that Jesus atoned for the sins of all people, and that God invites all people to be saved. Those who refuse the invitation do so of their own evil will, because they are rebellious. Those who accept the invitation do so by God’s grace. And we the clay have no business questioning God the potter for why some are rescued from their rebellion, while others continue in it (Romans 9:20).
The doctrine that God has chosen us is comforting, because had He not chosen us, we would still refuse Him. Yet, all Christians should believe that they are chosen by God. The fact that you believe the Gospel bears witness to this. So, as God’s chosen, seek to make your election sure by walking in Jesus’ ways, hearing His Word, repenting of your sins and believing His forgiveness, and receiving His Sacrament. Then you may trust that whatever happens in this world, whoever may be elected or whatever disaster may come, it all works out for good for those who are chosen by God.
Amen.
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