Please Note That Most Messages Follow
The Revised Common Lectionary

"The Invitation"
St. Matthew 22:1-14

The following is a letter which I sent out this past Friday:

Dear «First Names» «Last Name»:

How many churches get to have two Homecomings in one year? On behalf of the First Baptist Church in Stanfield I want to cordially invite you to attend our 75th Anniversary Celebration Sunday morning, October 17th, at 11:00am in our sanctuary. You are also invited to participate in a covered dish meal following the service in our fellowship hall.

We are very thankful to God for blessing our church over the last 75 years. We are very excited about the future of our church. We are experiencing wonderful growth both spiritually and numerically.

During our anniversary celebration we have arranged for Dr. Daniel Vestal, Moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to bring the Anniversary Address. Dr. Vestal has served the Lord faithfully for 35 years leading churches in Texas, writing books, contributing to theological journals, and traveling the world to share a vision of missions and the Gospel message. He is truly one of the finest preachers you will ever have the opportunity to hear. Dr. Vestal was nominated for the Presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention twice. Both he and his wife will share in this celebration with us.

For 75 years God has used this church to speak to the hearts of His people. Lives have been transformed because of the ministry done through people like you in this place. Some years ago First Baptist in Stanfield started a new church which has become known as Red Cross Baptist Church located at the corner of Hwy 205 and 24/27. In commemoration of our 75th anniversary we are going to be breaking ground on another new church start. The ground breaking service is scheduled to be held Saturday, October 16th at 4:00pm. We would love to invite you to join us in this special service the day before our anniversary celebration. This new church facility is a missions outreach project of our church to provide a place of worship people living in a section of Stanfield who do not speak our language and are in need of a place to worship. We have invited our Presbyterian and Methodist friends to join us in this effort. In fact, as of the time of this letter - the new church is ALREADY paid for!

This is truly an exciting place to serve the Lord! I truly hope to have the opportunity to see each and every one of you. If you need directions or information concerning lodging, or the time of the ground breaking service on Saturday, please call the church office at 704-888-5850.

May the Lord Bless you.
In Jesus,
Raymond C. Osborne
Senior Minister

I am looking forward to next Saturday and Sunday! I am so excited about the events that we are going to be doing to celebrate our 75th anniversary! Breaking ground on a new church on Saturday and having Dr. Daniel Vestal as our guest speaker on Sunday! I told my wife that next to my salvation, marriage, and having children, next Sunday is one of the biggest events of my life.

I have sent the letter that I have read this morning to lots of people hoping that they will catch my enthusiasm, come and participate with us. As God’s people we ought to have not just an ordinary enthusiasm but a contagious enthusiasm that spreads to those with whom we come into contact.

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. We are all born "wide-eyed," so to speak. We delight in the enthusiastic wonder of an infant who hears the jingle of keys, or sees for the first time some colorful toy. Often we are inspired by persons of advanced years who still maintain a youthful air -- a spirit of enthusiastic wonder for the blessings of life.

A "Passion Play" was about to be performed before an audience of thousands.

Sitting in the front row with her aunt was a fun-loving, free-spirited, enthusiastic three-year-old.

"It was her first "Passion Play." Said the little girl's aunt, "I knew what a pleasure it would be to watch my little niece react to the performance. True to form, she immediately got into the story, captivated by what was happening. It came time for the "Last Supper" scene in which Jesus begins to wash the Apostles' feet. When He comes to Simon Peter, the Apostle objects. "Never," he says, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answers "If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with Me." Peter replies, "Then, Lord, not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well" (Jn. 13:6-9).

"Hearing this," the aunt continued, "my little niece stood up and, with great enthusiasm, shouted at the top of her lungs, ‘And wash his tummy, too!’"

I have often said it seems that we as Jesus’ present day disciples seem to have lost the enthusiasm that should accompany the very act of serving Him. To serve Him is an honor and a privilege. It excites me to know that every day presents me with new opportunities to serve Him.

This morning Matthew allows us to listen in as Jesus tells a parable. A king has scheduled a big wedding feast, but the invited guests are less than enthusiastic about attending. When the moment arrives for the feast to begin, not one of the invitees is present. The king is furious. He orders his servants to "go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding." Soon, the wedding hall is filled with guests, the servants having collected "everyone they could find, good and bad alike" (Mt. 22:10).

The wedding banquet is one of Jesus’ favorite images for life in the Kingdom.

The first-century Palestinian Jew knew no more high-spirited events than the wedding procession and feast. Everything else yielded—even a funeral procession had to halt when the wedding party went by. Everyone who met the bridal parade was expected to turn about and join the revelry. Presents of wine, oil, and nuts were given to people along the way.

Some of the celebrants carried bouquets, some bore torches, while still others held lamps set high on poles. It was a gala pageant of lights, vibrant colors, music, and dancing.

Jubilation continued at the sumptuous wedding feast where merriment was the order of the day-and night. Even soberly bearded rabbis, excused from their study of the scriptures because the wedding was considered a more important obligation and privilege, were known to add to the hilarity with their famous humor, sometimes with less restraint than "piety" might prescribe.

This is what the word wedding meant to Jesus’ hearers. Thus Jesus was saying that those who are invited to the kingdom are invited to be sharers in great celebration.

As His disciples, it is not only our responsibility to answer His call upon our lives to come with a jubilant heart to the feast, but it is also our responsibility to go out into the streets and invite every single person we can find to the celebration.

Notice the umbrella excuse given by these people as to why they cannot attend the wedding feast. They had more important things to do. Our excuse is that we are too busy doing other things.

One researcher has said that years ago the most committed of Christians would devote two hours a week to attending church. Today the church is fortunate to even get one hour from many people.

Do you and I understand that joy is the direct result of serving Jesus? Do you and I understand that serving Jesus as His disciples is like attending a Wedding reception and enjoying the feast?

There are two mind sets in many church members today. The first is a belief that as long as we are church members we are okay with God. Our loyalty to Him or His church is not important. The important thing is that we have joined the church and we occasionally bless others with our presence. The second is that many have what I call a "crisis oriented" relationship with God. When we’re in trouble or facing a crisis in our lives we become a warrior for Jesus! Remember the prayers and promises? "Lord if you get me out of this I will never miss another Sunday of church in my life!" Or "Jesus if you get me out of this I promise I will be YOUR witness!" But once the trouble has passed we begin to forget about the promises we made. Our lives return to the complacent way they were before the trouble came.

Our relationship with Jesus ought to be a continual journey of growth. Each day the joy of being a Christian and accepting His invitation to service, ought to flow from our lives into the lives of those we come into contact with. Our commitment to Him needs to be a commitment that we honor and keep with Him. Enthusiasm ought to fill our very being. Not ordinary enthusiasm, but contagious enthusiasm that spreads like wild fire. We have the best news ever - Jesus saves! Jesus is God’s Son! Jesus is ALIVE! Jesus is our Almighty Friend! We are going to attend the Wedding Feast of the Son of the King! Man what a feast! Serving Jesus is like basking ourselves in the greatest feast we've ever seen!

Next Sunday we will celebrate our anniversary with a covered dish following our morning worship. I look forward to that meal! But as good as that meal will be, the best is yet to come isn’t it?

The sound of Martha's voice on the other end of the telephone always brought a smile to Pastor Jim's face. She was not only one of the oldest members of the congregation, but one of the most faithful. Aunt Martie, as all of the children called her, just seemed to ooze faith, hope, and love wherever she went. This time, however, there seemed to be an unusual tone to her words.

"Preacher, could you stop be this afternoon? I need to talk with you."

"Of course, I'll be there around three. Is that OK?" It didn't take long for Jim to discover the reason for what he had only sensed in her voice before. As they sat facing each other in the quiet of her small living room. Martha shared the news that her doctor had just discovered a previously undetected tumor.

"He says I probably have six months to live". Martha's words were naturally serious, yet there was a definite calm about her.

"I'm so sorry to .." but before Jim could finish, Martha interrupted.

"Don't be. The Lord has been good. I have lived a long life. I'm ready to go. You know that."

"I know," Jim whispered with a reassuring nod.

"But I do want to talk with you about my funeral. I have been thinking about it, and there are things that I know I want."

The two talked quietly for a long time. They talked about Martha's favorite hymns, the passages of Scripture that have meant so much to her through the years, and the many memories they shared from the five years Jim had been with Central Church.

When it seemed that they had covered just about everything, Aunt Martie paused, looked up at Jim with a twinkle in her eye, and then added, "One more thing, preacher. When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one hand and a fork in the other".

"A fork? Jim was sure he had heard everything, but this caught him by surprise. "Why do you want to be buried with a fork?"

"I have been thinking about all of the church dinners and banquets that I attended through the years," she explained, "I couldn't begin to count them all. But one thing sticks in my mind, at those really nice get-togethers, when the meal was almost finished, a server or maybe the hostess would come by to collect the dirty dishes. I can hear the words now. Sometimes, at the best ones, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper, 'You can keep your fork.' and do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming! It didn't mean a cup of Jell-O or pudding or even a dish of ice cream. You don't need a fork for that. It meant the good stuff, like chocolate cake or cherry pie! When they told me I could keep my fork, I knew the best was yet to come! That's exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral. Oh, they can talk about all the good times we had together. That would be nice. But when they walk by my casket and look at my pretty blue dress, I want them to turn to one another and say, 'Why the fork'? That's what I want you to say, I want you to tell them, that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come!"

What about you and I this morning? Are our lives committed to Jesus? Have we accepted His invitation only to allow our lives to become so pre-occupied with other stuff that we are missing out on the feast?

The "Kingdom of God," Jesus says, "is like that." Our presence is requested urgently! The Kingdom of God is now! You and I can experience the bountiful blessing of that Kingdom in the here and now! Jesus seeks to inspire an attitude of immediacy in our response to His invitation to enter into the Kingdom. But like the invited guests in the parable, often our response is less than enthusiastic. Like the invited guests in the parable, we find excuses. "They were not interested," Matthew tells us, "one went off to his farm, another to his business" (Mt. 22:5).

I am left with only one question - What have we gone off too?

Amen.

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