Have You Changed?

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, "How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?" The man was speechless. 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. For many are invited but few are chosen." -Matthew 22:11-14 (NIV) 

As I watched the presidential inauguration yesterday, I remembered a story that Pastor Adam Hamilton shared in one of his sermons. Each Sunday before people arrive for worship, Pastor Adam walks around and prays in all the places where people will soon gather. Once, as he made his way to the balcony to pray, he discovered several Starbucks coffee cups strewn on the floor underneath a row of seats. Like the contemporary service at our church, people at his church often bring in their coffee or breakfast pastries into the worship space. But usually they throw their trash away when they leave. Pastor Adam found himself wondering, "If whoever left this trash had been invited to the White House to meet the president, would they have brought their Starbucks into the Oval Office with them? And if they did, would they have left it on the president's desk when they left?" Pastor Adam reasoned that if those who had left their trash had been invited to the White House, they likely would not have brought in Starbucks in the first place and they most certainly wouldn't have left it on the Oval Office desk when they left. After all, it's the President of the United States, right? You do things a little differently when you respond to a presidential invitation.

In our suggested scripture this morning, a king sends his servants out into the street to gather up anyone they could find to attend a wedding banquet. The invitation is extended to any who will come. The invitation has nothing to do with whether they are good enough or deserving enough when they are invited. But apparently once they respond to this invitation, a change is expected. People are not supposed to stay the way they are when they are first called. I reach this conclusion based on the fact that one of the people invited to the wedding banquet shows up not wearing wedding clothes; he hasn't changed and as a result he is dismissed.

To be sure, this parable is an allegory. It's not really about a wedding party or what a person wears to the party. It's not really about whether people should bring in drinks and pastries to worship. I don't think it's meant to be read so legalistically so I hope you won't. Instead, this parable is about the age to come, when we will stand before the One who has extended an open invitation to anyone who would respond. If we have accepted that invitation, there is the expectation that we will conform to the message of the One who offers it, that we will allow ourselves to be changed, to be different.

You (yes you) have been invited to Christ's banquet. If you have said yes to the invitation, have you allowed yourself to be changed by the One who calls? Or is there little difference since you said yes to the One who has said yes to you?

If you have not said yes to the invitation, I'd just like to invite you to do so. Banquets are always full of abundance and joy, especially when the one hosting the party is Jesus. Let me suggest that the way Christ can change you and the world, though often not easy, is well worth it.

May God grant you the grace today to say yes to Christ's invitation and to be changed.





Tomorrow's suggested readings: Matthew 23.

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