Jesus, my friend [Trinity 20; St. Matthew 22:1-14]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus speaks to you today, from His own Gospel, saying,

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.”

“The clothes make the man.”

“Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”

“Its what’s on the inside that counts.”

These clichés and many more pressure you into discarding your body as any indicator of who you are in exchange for some sort of “inner-beauty”, which of course no one else can see, so really what’s the point?

Because, on the other hand, is Aesop and the Wolf in Sheep’s clothing, where the clothes don’t make the sheep, the wolf didn’t want to be a sheep, and the real “clothes” of the wolf DID matter. What you wear matters, not just clothing, but the clothing that is your body, matters.

No matter how you dress yourself up, you are human. You may wish to be a lion and roar about, scaring all around you, but your words and movements will beg to differ. It is what’s on the inside that counts, and Jesus tells us that there is not beauty on the inside, but horrible sin, for evil comes out of your heart.

As you hear Jesus speaking today about this wedding feast, you must remember that He is describing the Church. The wedding takes place in the Church, just as everything else that interests Him, does. The Abomination of desolation is set up in the Church. The division of the sheep and the goats will be in the Church. This man without a wedding garment is in the Church.

The Lord fumes at Adam and Eve in the church of Eden, ‘Who told you you were naked?” Who told you you were not clothed? Who told you to doubt my promise to clothe you? Friend, how did you get in here?

The pastor let me in. It was Adam, God’s priest on earth, that revealed the nakedness of them both. It was the false pastor that told me that I did not need to be clothed for this wedding, because I was fine as I was.

The Lord says this about the Church: “Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away.” (Lam. 1:8) Being unclothed means you retain your sin. Being naked means everyone knows you are not really a sheep, but a wolf. Being ok with that, means you want no forgiveness, and so you receive no forgiveness.

This is what Jesus gave the prophet Jeremiah to preach. That because you know better than God and because you see that there are more worthwhile things to spend your time on rather than coming to receive the forgiveness of sins at His hand in Church, you think you see clearly.

Being naked is never a good thing, in front of God. It is always associated with sin and death and the shackles that both of them offer. When the king comes to look upon this “friend”, he does not see an un-churched, non-believer, he sees a catechized, contributor who is sitting at the feast.

Where is our hope then? We can not be sure if we are clothed or unclothed. There is no guarantee from our own senses even to determine if someone else is clothed properly. In fact, we do not know if we will be called a “friend”-of-the-king and be tossed out likewise. Being present, does not mean that we will not fall away.

Repent of your sin. This parable can certainly be heard as a part of the Bible advocating correct behavior and proper “Christian” conduct, whatever that means. If that is only what is going on here, then there is no call to attend the Divine Service. You can conduct yourself in like civil manner, without consulting Holy Scripture at all.

Because Holy Scripture is not about you, it is about Christ. Of course Jesus is the son for whom a feast is thrown, but Jesus is also the friend that the king discovers. Note how, this third invitation results in many good and evil people showing up. Note how it is only one of those who is cast out. Note how it is not specified whether He is a part of the good or the evil bunch.

He is simply the one who has been disrobed. He is simply the one who has, for the sake of the good and evil, taken on the dirty rags that they came in, in order that they be dressed appropriately. He is simply the Only-begotten Son of God, taking on the sins of the world and being tossed out of His own banquet, onto the cross.

He is simply your God, sacrificing His own spot at His own wedding, in order for you to enjoy it fully as if it were your party. Sin is the garment Christ wears as He is stripped naked on the cross. Righteousness is the garment He purchased with His Body and Blood. And it is very, very Good that He leaves His Righteousness at the door of the feast in this way, for you to take up.

Now we need to find and grab hold of this door, this Feast, and this Wedding garment of righteousness. How can you be sure and certain that you will not be tossed out with the festal trash?

Adam and Eve knew they would not be forsaken, because immediately after their expulsion, God gave them clothes. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all the prophets knew that God would go and be exiled with them when He said, ““And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ ⁷ I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.

⁸ “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. ⁹ Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. ¹² And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.” (Eze. 16)

And this confounds us (Eze. 16:63), for we know it is our sin that Jesus is being kicked out for and yet it pleases Him to enact such a salvation, in this way. It was His good pleasure to be lifted high up on that cross for your sake, in order that it be known that God is the Lord; that He can suffer and still be God; that He can die and still be God; that He can rise again and be the one who clothes you in His garments of death and resurrection.

The Lord clothes you. Just as Adam and Eve had Jesus as their private Tailor, so even you, this day have their garments. You are not undressed, but dressed in the baptism that covers you, that robes you; that cleanses you. Both evil and good can be in the Church because Christ has paid for it all and His Blood covers it all.

So, you cross yourself to remind you of your baptism, wherein Jesus daily drowns you to sin and raises you to new life in God. You confess your sins to remind you of the robes you left behind and the new robe you now wear by grace alone. You approach the Body and Blood of the Crucified One, to remind you that this place at the feast is yours, in Faith alone.

Yes, satan. I am a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I am dressed in the Emperor’s new clothes. I am not what I say I am on the outside. My insides are rotten and full of sin and death. But, begone! I am baptized into Christ. I am not my own, I have not my own words or my own clothing anymore. Christ is all those things for me and He gives me His beauty, His righteousness, and His forgiveness.

Jesus is the one you need to refer to for anything that has to do with me. I must now sing to my Lord Christ, Who has redeemed me with His blood and has made me to be numbered with His Saints, in glory everlasting.