What You Wear Really Matters, I Guess

So Cameron Crenshaw and I are trying to figure out Matthew 22:1-14 today.  It's a story of a king who throws a wedding party, and the guests he invites don't show.  So He invites everyone off the street, and they all come in.  But one guy shows up, and isn't wearing the right wedding clothes, and gets kicked out.  This is where I get stuck.

Some people say it's because the King would have provided fancy clothing for everyone at the party, and this guy had rejected it.  That would work. 

I get the part about the first crew not coming.  Jesus is showing how the Jews, who had been God's chosen people, had rejected Him enough that He was going to invite everyone in.  I don't get the clothing part.  Is it an example of how we need to be "clothed" in faith in Jesus, like a robe of righteousness that He discusses in other places?

I don't know. What do you think it's all about?

Now or Laters

So this dad has two boys.  He tells one of them to go mow the yard. 

The son mouths off to his father, "No!  I hate mowing the yard."  So the dad goes and finds the other boy playing X-Box and tells him to go mow the yard.

"Sure dad, no problem."

The dad walks away and the kid keeps playing Call of Duty.

As the afternoon wears on, the first son feels bad for what he did, and goes out and mows the yard.

Jesus asks, "Which son did what his dad told him to?" (Matthew 21:28-32).  The answer is obviously, the first son with the attitude.  Jesus goes on to talk about how there are a lot of people in the world who turn away from God, but realize they need God and turn around and begin to obey, like the first son.  And there are a lot of people in the world who say the right things about God, but they don't live it out.  They just talk about it, like the X-Box son.

Which will you be today?  This week?  This year?  Will you just talk about Jesus and your faith, and try to convince everyone that you're a good kid, or will you actually turn around on that thing you're telling God "no" on and do what you know is right?

It's never too late.

Grow

The parable of the sower has gotten a lot of attention from pastors over the years. We read it in Matthew 13. Jesus tells about the farmer sowing seed all over the place. He's scattering it everywhere. That alone is a bit crazy. When you're poor, and only have a little seed, you only sow it where you KNOW it will grow. This farmer in the story is so rich He can afford to throw seed everywhere. So he does. Some gets carried off, some grows and dies, some grows but never produces anything, and some does exactly what it's supposed to do, produce fruit and more seeds.

Jesus tells us point blank what the seed story is all about. God is the farmer. The seed is our lives, and the impact of the gospel in it. Often we think we are the soil, but Jesus tells us in verses 18-23 that we are actually the seed. Do we grow and produce fruit? It all comes down to our humility, and how soft we are to what God has for us. If we're really resistant to God, nothing grows. If we are little open to God, we will get interested in Him, but that faith will die quickly. Maybe we really want God's life, and our faith grows up tall. But worries about life and stuff take over, and kill our faith. Or, we can give everything to growing our faith, and it will produce great things!

What matters most to you? Is it being productive for the Kingdom, seeing God use you no matter what? Or is it defending your pride, your stuff, protecting your fears, be in charge?

There's only one way to grow.