MY ATTITUDE

The Wedding Celebration
Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 14:15-24

Imagine having a wonderful wedding party, now How would you feel if you sent out invitations to your family and friends but no one showed up? And that is that’s what happens in this story, portrayed in two different parables by Jesus. A king invited a group of people and friends to a wedding party in honour of his son, but they turned down the invitation and did not show up, one person went to his farm, another to look after his business. In Luke’s version we see a lot of detail. It shows us people who are just too busy and self centered to come to the party. One person says he can’t make it because he just purchased a new property; there
was too much to do on it. Another says he’s busy with his animals. And another says he just got married himself and can’t possibly come. I would like us to think about these parables as if they are about the way we worship at church together. When we come to worship, what is the attitude in our heart: apathy or excitement? Do we have an excuse? Are there other things that seem more important for us to do or think about?
Some might be well We have a job; we have family responsibilities; there are all sorts of things that we must do. Don’t get me wrong, all these things are important. The Bible never says that they are not important. But we must recognize if those things are taking first place and keep us from the joy of coming to the celebration and worshiping together. Let me tell you this That’s what church is all about! It is about celebrating the goodness of God! By Placing God first and placing the Kingdom first means we put worship first. This is not about discipline — we know that the Pharisees were quite disciplined! It is about our heart. Its about relationship with God, so it comes to no surprise what happens next in the parable. When the people don’t show up, God invites new people. The celebration will go on. He will share His goodness and grace with those who will make it a priority to receive it. We must never forget that worship, both personal and church worship, is about a relationship and cultivating that relationship in worship with God. We see that Something else happens in this story that I want show you. See that in Matthew’s version Jesus takes the time to point out that a man shows up to the feast wearing the wrong clothes. And what happens? The king tells his servants to tie the man up and take him out.
Now, Jesus is not saying that if we don’t dress a certain way outwardly when we come to church, He is going to throw us out. No! Let me explain, In Jesus’ day the host provided not only the food and festivities, but also the clothes for the guests to wear. For this man to show up and wear something else was an insult to the host. In other words, this man still showed up, but it was obvious that he thought very lightly of whom he was there to honour. How does that apply to us? Pretty simply actually, and it goes back to the issue of our heart. Let’s not just go through the motions when we show up at church. We must remember whom we are there to worship and celebrate. He is worthy of nothing less.
Allow us to pray this, Jesus, I accept the invitation to deepen my relationship with You in worship. Help me order my priorities to match Yours. Don’t let me get so distracted that I start to have the wrong attitude about worshiping. Instead, I choose to follow Your lead in my life, and I ask that you rekindle my love for You — your presence in a new way. In your name, Amen.
May God bless you amen amen and amen.