Exodus 32:1-14

When we last left the Israelites they were at the foot of Mount Sinai. God had just given them the Ten Commandments. Shortly after that God called Moses back up the mountain. This conference was to carve the Ten Commandments into stone.

But Moses was gone for at least 47 days; a month and a half. And the people waited, and waited, and waited. And they wondered as they looked at the clouds and lightning and fire on the mountain. "Is Moses still alive?" "Has God destroyed him and abandoned us?" "Did Moses get scared and split?" And they got impatient.

So they went to Aaron, Moses' right hand man, and said, "We don't know what has happened to this Moses, so make gods for us to worship so that we will have purpose and direction. And Aaron obliged them and made a golden calf and he proclaimed that the next day would be a feast day to sacrifice and worship that Idol. And the people ate and drank and did many other sinful things in devotion to that golden calf. And God saw all of it and said, "I will destroy them!" But Moses pleaded, and God was merciful.

If the Israelites had only waited another day. If I am not mistaken it seems that God was almost finished with Moses when this calf incident took place. If they had only trusted God enough to wait for God. Then they would have had God's directions carved in stone for all to read. They would have had God's prophet, Moses, back in their midst. They would have received the purpose and direction they wanted.

But they were impatient. They just couldn't wait for God, so they went and found another god they didn't have to wait for. They couldn't wait for God Almighty to give them direction, so they chose their own direction. They made themselves a god to worship. A god that would go where they wanted to go when they wanted to go. A god they wouldn't have to wait on.

But it was a false god. It was their own creation - a statue fashioned by human hands. It could give them no real direction and purpose. It served the psychological purpose of lulling them into a sense of security. But it was a false sense of security. The words of its prophets were not from on high. They were merely the ideas that humans imposed upon the metal lips of a statue.

Frankly, I can't be too hard of the Israelites because I understand how they felt. I can be a very impatient person. Just ask my wife. Don't tell me we are going somewhere and then make me wait 15 minutes before we leave. Let's get in the car and go now! I am like a small child. If you tell me my birthday is coming up it better come soon. If I have to wait I will begin to wonder if it will ever get here.

And I am not alone. Most people are impatient especially in dealings with God. Sometimes we seek guidance on how to respond to the problems of our world and we can't wait for the answer. How do we deal with violence and poverty and ignorance and prejudice and injustice? How do we respond to the depth and multitude of need and pain in our world? We pray, "Lord give me patience and don't make me wait for it!"

When the answers are not immediate, we say to ourselves, "I don't know if this God will answer me." And many of us decide to fashion for ourselves gods. Sometimes we bow down to apathy just stop caring. Sometimes we bow down to the pantheon prejudice, hatred, anger, and resentment. We say, "If the Almighty will not work on my timetable I will find gods that will."

If only we could learn to wait. Have you ever heard of waiting on the Lord in prayer? We live in a fast food/instant/"have it my way" society. I think the church has forgotten this concept of waiting in prayer. "Waiting in prayer" is a term that expresses the truth that God doesn't always work according to our timetable. Sometimes we have to prayerfully and faithfully wait for God's word to come.

But waiting on God in prayer does not mean we do nothing in the mean time. We can pray with our hands and feet. We can apply what we do know to do and what we can do and trust that God will guide and direct us. You remember the Israelites had been told what to do. They had already been told not to make idols but in their impatience they did. We have already been told to love our neighbor and we can seek to do that to the best of our ability until God show us how to address to root of society's problems.

And that takes faith. It takes trust to believe that God's prophet has not died up on that mountain. That was more faith than the people of Israel had. It takes trust to believe that God will answer when the answer is not immediately forthcoming. It takes faith to believe that God is there listening to our prayers when we are hearing no immediate replies.

But God's answers are never late. God will answer and God's answers always come at the right time. God will not abandon you and leave you on your knees in prayer without responding. Sometimes God will work on you and change your prayers so that you are seeking His will and not your own. But God cares for us and will never leave us alone.

Just wait one more day. I am not saying that if you ask God for direction today that you will not get it today. You might, or you might get it tomorrow or years from now. I am not telling you to get on your knees and plan to stay there for years waiting in prayer. I am saying just trust God to answer those prayers when the time is right.

Just hang on for one more day. If the answer doesn't come today, just plan to keep praying and waiting through tomorrow. Don't let your impatience get the better of you. Take it one day at a time. Don't bow down to the gods of apathy and anger and hatred.

And if you have already run after false gods before. If you have worshipped a golden calf like Israel did. If you have ever asked for something and gave up on God to seek direction and peace somewhere else. Remember that God forgives, just as God forgave Israel for their sin.

Come back and wait in prayer. Because, after all, only God Almighty can give a word from on high. All these other gods can give is fantasies and lies that lead us away from the truth. Wait for God Almighty's word, and you will not be disappointed.

Matthew 22:1-14

"You Are Cordially Invited: Dress Appropriately:" if this parable were to have a title this is what it would be. The parable is all about an invitation to a special event. It tells how people responded to that invitation. But this parable is not meant to teach merely social graces; it contains much more. It begins with the phrase "The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to�" So it claims to reveals something about the reign of God in our lives.

Knowing who Jesus was talking to when he told this parable will help us understand it. You see this was shortly after he had cleansed the temple. It was near the end of his ministry. When he was telling this parable he was in the temple itself. Jesus was speaking to the crowds who came to hear him. These were the people who had called him Messiah as he entered Jerusalem. These were the people who wanted to see him become their King. But the Scribes and the Pharisees were listening in on what he had to say. Part of his message was to them. And if anything they wanted to see him dead.

This parable was directed to the people, but it also had a message for the leaders of the people.

The parable basically has two parts. In the first part a King is preparing a marriage feast for his son. It is a special occasion and the King wanted it to be the best it could be. But some of the people would not come. Now people do not often fail to come to a feast planned by a King. You would think that the King would be done with them right then. But the King was gracious and gave them a second chance. He sends out his servants with a message. He said, "Tell those who are invited that I have made everything ready. The food is prepared, and the tables are set. And that the King says come to the wedding feast of my son." Once again they insulted the King by not coming. Some make light of the invitation and mock the King. Others consider their business more important than the Kings. Some even grabbed the King's servants and kill them. This angered the King so he destroyed the cities of those people. Then the King said his servants, "The wedding feast is ready and those invited were not worthy, so go into the streets and invite all to come to the feast. So the servants invited all, both good and bad, to come to the feast. And they gathered people until the hall was filled.

This part of the parable represents the reaction of the people to the coming of Christ the son of the heavenly king. In the parable the King represents God. As is often the case the wedding feast represents the kingdom of God which the Son will establish. A message had been sent, through John and other Prophets, to the leaders of the people telling them that the Kingdom was at hand and to make themselves ready to be part of it. They were being invited to a celebration of God's Son entering into his kingdom. Some made light of John's insistence that the Kingdom was at hand. Others just ignored him and went about their business. Some even went as far as to have him killed. Because the leaders of the people refused to answer the invitation to the feast, the King of Heaven went and invited the people.

This is the point of the first part of the parable: all have been invited. Jesus went straight to the people in the streets. He told them that the Kingdom was at hand. He didn't go down just the nice streets. He went down every street. He not only invited the good people who went to their Synagogues and the temples, but he also invited publicans and sinners, prostitutes and thieves. People like you and me!

It would be fine if the parable ended right there, but it doesn't it goes on. In the second part of the parable the King comes to view the guests which his servants have assembled. And as he looks across the banquet hall he notices one who is not wearing a wedding garment. It probably would have been easy to pick him out. All the others were wearing the white garment customary for the wedding. If he didn't he would have stuck out like a sore thumb. So the King approached the man and said, "How did you get in here without a wedding garment?" He didn't know what to say. He had no excuse a garment had probably been supplied for him to wear. So the King ordered the man to be thrown out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the parable ends with those enigmatic words, "For many are called, but few are chosen."

What does that mean "many are called, but few are chosen." And what is this business about the guest being thrown into the outer darkness. The parable had seemed pretty straight forward up to this point. Before this last part the parable was a condemnation of the actions of the leaders of the Jewish people. It was an indictment of the actions of the Scribes and Pharisees. It explained why Jesus took his message to the people. This parable told the people that they were invited by God Almighty to take part in the Kingdom of Heaven and that they needed to respond and come to the banquet hall. The Parable itself was the invitation.

So what does this last part mean. We need to remember that Jesus was talking to the people. It is true that the Scribes and Pharisees were listening, but the primary audience was those who were being invited, not the ones who had refused the invitation but those who were accepting it by listening to Jesus. This second part is a warning that being invited is not enough. All the guests had been called to participate in the Kingdom, but in the end some were not chosen to stay. The one who was not chosen was the one who was not prepared to participate in the Kingdom. Those who will not be allowed to participate in the kingdom are those who have not put on the righteousness and forgiveness of God. All the guests came to the feast clothed similarly. They were all wearing the garments stained and soiled by the dirt of the streets. They came wearing whatever they had on when they were invited. Those clothes were not good enough for being seen in the presence of the King. So all were given a new garment which had been washed clean and was suitable for the occasion. The message was, "You are invited to the Kingdom of heaven, come appropriately dressed in a robe of righteousness."

I am a servant of my Lord and King the Sovereign of Heaven. I and my fellow servants have been sent into the streets to invite people to a feast. I have come here to announce to you that you are cordially invited to a feast to honor and celebrate of the wedding of the only son of the King, the Prince of Heaven, Jesus Christ. The feast has been prepared and the lamb has been slaughtered so make ready and come to the feast.

You are cordially invited but you can't come dressed as you are. Your clothes are too stained by the sinfulness of this life. They are tattered and torn by your own cruelty and roughness. They are not suitable for such an occasion. To be allowed into the Banquet hall you must be clothed in the righteousness of God. You must be wearing a robe washed clean by the blood of the lamb.

Don't go to the market looking for on of these robes. They do not sell them there, not even a Wilson's. And even if you could find one in the shops on the square, you couldn't afford it. There is only one place you can obtain such a robe. There is only one who can supply such a cloak to cover your ragged clothes. That's the bride groom himself, Jesus Christ.