Prepared for the Wedding Feast
Sunday’s Verse:
From Matthew 22:12 ESV
“And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.”
Let's say you are invited to the greatest wedding of all time (not the Taylor Swift shindig from back in July). A feast was laid out, and seats were taken. Then the king sees you, and you weren’t wearing a wedding garment.
The king wants to know why you weren’t prepared properly for the wedding feast. You can’t respond.
What makes this part of the Parable of the Wedding Feast scary to me is that we can be invited and receive that invitation, but not receive it with Faith. We can understand this through the story of the wedding garment. We cannot come before the Lord with our righteousness. We have to be covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Our deeds, acts of religion, church work, or anything we do for ourselves will not allow us to enter into heaven. Everything we do has some kind of sin attached to it. "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away." (Isaiah 64:6)
God will not let us stand before him in our dirty rags. He has provided us with something greater through Jesus Christ. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Galatians 3:27) Through Holy Baptism, God covers us with Christ. His righteousness covers us. His death and resurrection cover us. His forgiveness covers us.
As Christians, we do not need to worry about having no response. When we have nothing to bring to the Lord but our sins. Jesus provides us with everything.
We will enter that feast not because we have lived a sinless life. But because Jesus lived a sinless life for us. Died for our sins and gave us eternal life. On that last day we will have no response because we know that it's not what we have done but what Christ has done for us.
Today’s Prayers
Lord, we know that we can not make ourselves worthy to stand before you. Forgive us for relying on our works rather than on your grace. Thank you for covering us with Christ in our Baptisms. May we always know that our righteousness comes from our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that one day we will stand before You at Your heavenly feast. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.