Come to the Party

October 12, 2014 Matthew 22:1-14 18th Sunday after Pentecost Year A Come to the Party Text Illustration: Five brothers were walking along a road when they saw a sign: “party tonight!” It announced. “Free food, drink, music, dance.” And best of all, at the bottom it said, “hosted in person by The King.” The first brother read the poster and said, “I’m not interested.” I’m going to stay home and eat leftovers and go to bed early. This is as close to the King as I ever want to be.” The other four were excited to go, and spent the rest of the day choosing their best clothes and getting cleaned up and talking about what it was going to be like. The appointed time came and they set out together. As they neared the hall they could already hear the music pouring out of the windows, and they could see the smiles on people’s faces as they walked in. It was a glorious sight, and they could feel the excitement. The second brother stopped and sat down on the curb. “This is close enough,” he said. “I can sort of hear the music and I can see the people going in. This is pretty good, I don’t want to go any further because I’m not sure what I’ll find. And maybe I’ll get a glimpse of the King going in.” The three remaining walked into the hall together, and the sight was amazing. The smells were incredible, the food unbelievable, the music was supreme. They sat and feasted and enjoyed the party, and could see the King at the head table feasting and laughing and radiating joy. As they finished the meal, the tables were cleared away to make room for the dance floor. The third brother got up and said, “I’ve had enough. My belly is full, I enjoyed the meal, I’m leaving before I have to really join in the party. I got to see the King, this is close enough for me.” As the last two sat there, they saw a beautiful woman walking across the dance floor straight towards them. As she got closer they recognized her as the daughter of the King, who had been seated beside Him at the head table throughout the meal. She approached the two and reached out her hands to them both and said, “Come and dance! My Father saw you and wants you to come and join He and I and the others in dancing for joy!!” One brother looked down at his feet. “No, thanks. This is close enough. Besides, I don’t know how to dance.” “Just let go, I’ll teach you!” said the Daughter of the King. “No,” he replied, I might get embarrassed. This is close enough.” And he got up and left. The last brother also bowed his head. “I’m not worthy. I’m not good enough to dance with the King, and besides, I don’t know how to dance either. I’m afraid He will send me away, or I’ll get it wrong and look silly.” He paused, and looked up into the eyes of the daughter of the King. She repeated the invitation, “Just let go, I’ll teach you!” She reached her hand a little closer, and though his was shaking, he reached up and took her hand. Her faced came alive with a smile, he saw joy in her face, he felt life and boldness and love and exuberance come flooding into him and with joy he followed her across the dance floor to the King, who embraced him like a long lost son and then took both of them by the hand. And then they all danced. That story describes a lot of how we go to church, and more importantly how we manage our relationship with God. God extends the invitation to all people to come to the party. We are all excited about the party, but we don’t all show up. Sometimes we think that just being invited us enough excitement, we don’t even bother to show up. And then there are those who think being near the party is enough for them. And them some of us come to the party, but are determined not to do anything. That is me – I don’t like to dance at parties I will come and sit around and talk about people, but not dance. Some are invited to dance and still say no. Only those who are willing to dance with God, come to know the true joy of God. when was the last time God invited your to dance? And how did you respond? How far were you willing to go? And when did you decide that it was time to sit down? Today I am going to do something a little different, because I want our sermon time to be interactive. I don’t want to be long because I want us to think about our invitiation to dance, and to respond to God’s invitiation. I want us to have time for our new member celebration, but I also want us to remember that the celebration is for all of us. As they take their vows, it is our chance to remember our vows, and to think about what God is calling us to do to get involved in the building of the kingdom of God When I went to the church of the resurrection, in one of our workshops I was struck by one instructor, who said there there is a difference between us saying that we want to grow as a church, and that we are growing. It is a decision, just like coming to the party. Either we are going to stand outside of the party – or we re going to decide to come in and have fun. But growth starts with our relationship with God, and how much fun we want to have to the party. I think that this celebration is a sign that God has invited us and all that we have to do is come. 1266 Record Banquets The largest recorded banquet was given by President Loubet of France to every one of the 22,000 mayors in France in 1900. Indoor banquets, however, is topped by the 10,158-guest, $15-a-plate extravaganza in support of Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago in 1971. Living with God in our lives is a big feast. When we become a part of God’s family, there are thousands of people who are able to come. Some who don’t know that they have been invited. We wont see all of them present here – it would be good if we could get a hundred, and them 200 to come and party with us Jesus liked to party – Jesus especially liked to go to weddings. Because there was always a lot of good food, good music and an opportunity to dance. One king, took pride in his musicans. So he asked to question of them, what instrument was the most beautiful sounding. And the orchestra started to brag about their insturments, of course the clarinet is the best, and the strings spoke up, and the organist talks about all of the beautiful instruments. The drums thought they had to most compelling sound. Even the cymbal player thought his instrument was the best. The king would not choose between them. But he said wait until the party, and I will tell you what the sweetest sound of the party is. The party came, and the instruments were so nervous about being the best, no body played. There was silence, no chatter, no dancing, nothing. Until it was time to eat – the cymbal player led the procession – and the plates started to come our. There was rattling of bowls and dishing, the swoosh of the water, the clanging of silverware. And then the king announces, when you re hungry, the sweetest sound is the sound of a feast being prepared. When you are hungry, it is not the band that you listen for it is the sound of food coming to the table that is the sweetest sound of all. When we are hungry in our soul – the sound of god preparing our feast of joy and fulfillment is the greatest sound of God – How hungry are you in your soul? I invite those who are joining the church to come…… Perhaps you have heard of the family that moved into the neighborhood and the little country church decided to reach out to the family. When they arrived at the doorstep the members of the church were surprised to find that the family had 12 kids and were for the most part poor. They invited the family to services and said goodbye. Later that week the church responded to their need. They delivered a package to the family and said, "We want you to know that you and your entire family are welcome at our church anytime. We have bought you these gifts and we want you to feel comfortable and at ease in our congregation. We hope you can use these," and they left. The family opened the package to find 14 suits of clothing, beautiful clothes for every member of the family. Sunday came and the congregation waited for the family, and they waited. The family never showed. Wondering what could have possibly happened, after lunch the members of the church returned to the home and found the family just getting back, all dressed in their new clothes. "We don't mean to be nosey but we would like to know what happened. We had hoped to see you this morning in church," the leader of the church inquired. The father spoke up. He said, "Well, we got up this morning intending to come. And we sure do appreciate your invitation. But after we showered, shaved, and dressed, why we looked so proper we went to the Episcopal Church." God doesn’t care what we wear on the outside, it is the inside our soul that God wants to see. Children’s Sermon…… Invited To A Feast by King Duncan Passage: Matthew 22:1-14 • Lectionary: Proper 23 Item 5 of 10 | Back to Results Object: envelope that is addressed, a postage stamp (don't put stamp on envelope yet) Good morning, boys and girls. I want you to pretend with me for a moment. Let's pretend I'm going to have a really big party, and I wanted to invite you. How would I send you the invitation? That's right, I'd mail you the letter. Okay, here's my envelope, and I've got your address on it, and I'm all ready to send it out, right? Can I send the invitation out like this? No, I can't. You know why not? It doesn't have a stamp on it. The post office won't deliver mail that doesn't have a stamp on it. (Affix your stamp to the envelope) That stamp shows that you've paid for the mail. After you put the stamp on, then the post office will deliver the invitation. Our Bible story today is about a very special invitation. God invites us all to be a part of His kingdom. He invites us all, every last one of us, to follow Him and live the life He's planned for us. And He put a very special postage stamp on that invitation: Jesus! I bet you never thought of Jesus as a postage stamp, did you? Well, Jesus came to earth to deliver God's invitation to us. He wanted to tell us that God loves us, and God wants us to be a part of His family. And just like a postage stamp shows us that the piece of mail has already been paid for, Jesus tells us that He's already paid for our sins, so there's nothing standing between us and God. So let's pray and tell God that we accept His invitation; we want to be a part of His family. Collected Sermons, King Duncan, Dynamic Preaching, 2005, 0-000-0000-20 Extra illustration Text Illustration: THE MICROSCOPE AND THE BIBLE Many years ago, while on a visit to America, a wealthy Chinese businessman was fascinated by a powerful microscope. Looking through its lens to study crystals and the petals of flowers, he was amazed at their beauty and detail. So he decided to purchase one of these devices and take it back to China. He thoroughly enjoyed using it until one day he examined some rice he was planning to eat for dinner. Much to his dismay, he discovered that tiny living creatures were crawling in it. Since he was especially fond of this staple food in his daily diet, he wondered what to do. Finally he concluded that there was only one way out of his dilemma -- he would destroy the instrument that caused him to discover the distasteful fact! So he smashed the microscope to pieces. "How foolish!" you say. But many people do the same thing with the Word of God. They read it and would like to get rid of it because it reveals their evil nature. (From a sermon by Billy Bevan, Making Light of God’s Call, 5/26/2011)