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Series A – Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, October 11, 2020 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy gospel according to saint
0:30	matthew the 22nd chapter
0:32	[Music]
0:35	[Applause]
0:40	again Jesus spoke to them in parables
0:42	saying the kingdom of heaven
0:44	may be compared to a king who gave a
0:46	wedding feast for his son
0:47	and sent his servants to call those who
0:49	were invited to the wedding feast
0:51	but they would not come again he sent
0:53	other servants saying
0:55	tell those who are invited see i
0:56	prepared my dinner my oxen and my fat
0:59	calves have been slaughtered everything
1:01	is ready come to the wedding feast
1:04	but they paid no attention and went off
1:06	one to his farm another to his business
1:08	while the rest seized his servants
1:10	treated them shamefully and killed them
1:12	the king was angry sent his troops and
1:14	destroyed those murderers and burnt
1:16	their city
1:17	then he said to his servants the wedding
1:18	feast is ready but those invited were
1:20	not worthy go therefore to the main
1:22	roads and invite to the wedding feast
1:24	as many as you find and those servants
1:26	went out
1:27	into the roads and gathered all whom
1:29	they found both bad
1:30	and good so the wedding hall was filled
1:32	with guests but when the king came to
1:34	look at the guests
1:35	he saw there a man who had no wedding
1:38	garment and said to him
1:40	friend how did you get in here without a
1:43	wedding garment
1:44	and he was speechless then the king said
1:46	to the attendants bind him hand and foot
1:48	and cast him into outer darkness
1:50	in that place there will be weeping and
1:51	gnashing of teeth for many are called
1:54	but few are chosen this is the gospel of
1:57	the lord
1:58	in the name of Jesus now you notice our
2:01	text
2:01	today takes a very decided turn in in
2:04	the
2:04	direction of the eschatological
2:07	something
2:08	regarding the last days the big blowout
2:10	party at the end of the world
2:12	or at the beginning of the new world the
2:14	answer is yeah it’s both if you would
2:15	think of it that way
2:16	and you’re gonna note it’s a wedding
2:18	feast and we get a
2:20	glimpse of the menu the menu includes
2:22	fatted calves
2:24	that have been slaughtered oxen that
2:25	have been slaughtered isaiah puts it
2:28	this way
2:28	a feast of rich food feast of well-aged
2:31	wine
2:32	full of food food full of morrow
2:35	well you’re going to note here this this
2:38	wedding
2:39	is not being put on by women dudes are
2:42	the
2:42	are the ones who who’ve put this all
2:44	together you’ll note that the emphasis
2:46	is on the groom
2:47	not the bride so we’re talking about a
2:49	wedding where there’s barbecue
2:51	there’s wine the groom is the focus
2:54	you’ll know there’s no discussion here
2:55	about what colors they’ve chosen for the
2:57	wedding or anything like this
2:59	nothing like that so this is kind of a
3:00	fascinating thing and keep that in mind
3:02	because i mean nowadays
3:04	you know everyone’s out there saying
3:05	down with the patriarchy
3:07	so if that’s your slogan you’re not
3:09	going to be thrilled with this
3:10	particular wedding feast it has a
3:12	decidedly
3:13	male slant to it that’s kind of the
3:15	point
3:16	so that being the case let’s work our
3:18	way through this text this amazing text
3:21	and consider the implications and we’re
3:24	going to frame this by
3:25	way of law and gospel we’re going to
3:27	frame this particular parable
3:29	using the third commandment third
3:31	commandment remember the sabbath day to
3:33	keep it holy luther asked the question
3:35	vasastas what does this mean
3:37	well the answer is we should fear and
3:39	love god so that we do not despise
3:41	preaching and his word but gladly
3:45	hear and learn it so that’s going to be
3:48	our commandment that’ll kind of frame
3:49	the law here
3:50	and uh we’ll work our way through this
3:52	so get again Jesus spoke to them in
3:55	parables
3:56	he said the kingdom of heaven may be
3:58	compared to a king who gave a wedding
3:59	feast
4:00	for his son and sent his servants to
4:03	call those who were invited to the
4:04	wedding feast
4:05	but they would not come
4:08	now you’re going to know in this
4:10	particular parable we’re going to see
4:12	an allusion to actually mentioned in
4:15	type and shadow in in parabolic um
4:18	symbols the the ancient people of israel
4:21	people who are genetically related to
4:23	abraham and you’ll note that in chapter
4:27	22 of the gospel of matthew
4:29	it’s past its past palm sunday
4:33	and there’s just this on going
4:37	beating of heads and again the irony
4:40	is is that you have the pharisees you
4:43	have the temple leaders
4:45	you have the sadducees all of them
4:48	claiming to worship
4:49	the one true god and there he is
4:52	standing
4:53	in front of them in human flesh
4:56	performing great signs and wonders and
4:59	the only thing
5:00	they are focusing in on is how they can
5:03	trap him in his words
5:04	so that they can kill him it’s a weird
5:08	thing right that you cannot reason with
5:10	unbelief that is
5:12	the dangers of unbelief the blindness of
5:15	it if you would
5:16	have false religion and idolatry so
5:18	you’ll note
5:19	the a-listers the the children of israel
5:22	those descended from abraham
5:24	they are the first ones to get the
5:26	invitation
5:27	they are the first ones and they
5:30	wouldn’t come
5:34	that’s odd so again he sent other
5:36	servants saying
5:37	tell those who are invited you know let
5:39	them know what’s on the menu i’ve
5:41	prepared my dinner
5:42	my oxen my fat calves have been
5:44	slaughtered
5:45	everything is ready
5:48	and think of it this way you get an
5:50	invitation from a king i don’t know if
5:51	you’ve noticed this but royals have a
5:53	tendency
5:54	when they put out invitations there’s a
5:56	little bit of fanfare that goes along
5:58	with that
5:59	the paper is really nice the ink the
6:02	best calligraphers right
6:03	maybe even the the the ink itself may be
6:07	laced with gold to just kind of make the
6:09	point because when we’re talking about a
6:11	king who’s inviting you
6:12	and you’ll know that in all of our fairy
6:14	tales when a king invites the people of
6:17	the land
6:18	people to come to a wedding feast or to
6:20	a party or to a ball
6:21	everyone’s like i gotta go i gotta be in
6:23	the palace
6:24	these people no too busy
6:28	so they paid no attention they went off
6:31	one to his farm
6:33	another to his business while the rest
6:36	sees his servants treated them
6:38	shamefully and then killed them
6:40	which makes no sense i would like to
6:42	invite you to the wedding
6:44	feast being put on by our king and their
6:47	response is
6:48	i kill you you dead and then they kill
6:51	them
6:52	it just doesn’t make
6:55	sense well now
6:59	things take a decidedly dark turn
7:02	because the king rightfully so
7:04	is angry at how those
7:07	whom he sent to invite people to the
7:09	wedding feast were treated
7:11	and the reference there who were these
7:12	people who were extending the invitation
7:15	well these were the prophets of old
7:17	these were the prophets of old
7:19	and so you’ll note here is they were
7:21	sending out an invitation to the wedding
7:23	feast
7:24	well what does the invitation really
7:26	sound like though by the way
7:27	you know what it sounds like repent
7:30	repent repent of your sin
7:32	repent of your idolatry repent of your
7:34	wickedness repent of all of your
7:36	worthless ways
7:37	be forgiven and pardoned that’s what the
7:39	invitation
7:40	sounds like well they treated the
7:44	those inviters those prophets of old
7:47	shamefully and even killed them
7:48	so the king was angry and you’ll note
7:50	that Jesus Christ
7:52	the son of god himself was killed by
7:54	these same folks the ones who killed the
7:55	prophets also killed Jesus
7:58	so he’s angry and it says he sent his
8:00	troops destroyed those murders and
8:01	burned their city
8:02	this is a little bit of a veiled
8:04	reference if you would to 70 a.d when
8:06	god will send the roman legions
8:08	to israel who will then besiege the city
8:11	of jerusalem
8:13	and destroy it and tear down the temple
8:14	and burn their city that’s exactly what
8:16	happened
8:17	so that kind of leaves the next bit of
8:19	it and you’ll note that there’s a group
8:21	two then he said to his servants well
8:23	the wedding feast is ready
8:25	those invited were not worthy so go
8:28	therefore to the main roads
8:30	and invite to the wedding feast as many
8:33	as you find all right the a-listers
8:36	didn’t want to come that’s fine
8:38	we’re still having the party anyway
8:40	we’ve already slaughtered the fatted
8:41	calf
8:42	the food is ready it’s time to bring in
8:45	and fill
8:46	the wedding hall with guests so you go
8:48	and find anybody you can
8:50	and now this is a description of well
8:52	the Christian church
8:54	right and you’re going to know the new
8:56	testament believers
8:58	new testament israel we well we’re not
9:01	exactly described in the best terms
9:03	so you’ll note the servants went out
9:05	into the roads and they gathered
9:06	all whom they found both good and bad
9:10	you know that that guy who was running
9:12	the shoe shop
9:13	over down the street you know the
9:15	respectable business guy
9:16	he was given the invitation he came well
9:20	also the town drunk he was given the
9:21	invitation
9:22	he came and we’ll talk about
9:26	the meth heads and the crackheads and
9:28	and the prostitutes
9:30	and the losers and the floozies and
9:33	well they were all invited too and guess
9:36	what they showed up
9:39	so this is a picture of the Christian
9:40	church this is a chris
9:42	a picture of the church we’re on the b
9:44	list
9:45	if you would but yet we were also
9:47	invited now let me
9:49	pause there for a second i want you to
9:51	consider this in the ancient world
9:53	at least in ancient israel you were
9:55	either
9:56	a jew or you were a gentile gentile is a
10:00	catch-all kind of junk drawer for
10:02	everybody else right
10:05	has the invitation gone out to everybody
10:07	on planet earth
10:10	yeah everybody well that rules out
10:13	calvinism
10:14	so don’t tell jd hall i said that
10:19	right that rules out calvinism the
10:21	invitation goes out to
10:22	everybody and so what ends up happening
10:26	is that now the wedding hall is filled
10:29	with guests and then we get this strange
10:32	little bit
10:33	when the king came in to look at the
10:35	guests he saw there
10:38	was a man who had no wedding garment
10:41	say what say what
10:45	you’re gonna know nobody had time to
10:46	change clothes or anything like that
10:48	they got the invitation immediately
10:50	started heading off to the palace
10:51	they didn’t have time to change clothes
10:52	so what ends up happening at this
10:54	particular wedding
10:55	well the king himself provides the
10:57	wedding garments for the guests
10:59	you know the men show up here’s an
11:01	armani suit
11:02	and we have a tailor who will make sure
11:04	that this is made to fit you perfectly
11:06	you women you got beautiful dresses here
11:08	pick the color that you like and now
11:10	we’ll make sure that that fits you as
11:12	well they are provided with the best
11:14	clothing what is this a picture of well
11:16	remember our intro it our intro it
11:20	our intro it from psalm 146 verse 2
11:24	it says this i will greatly rejoice in
11:26	yahweh my soul
11:28	shall exult in my god for he has clothed
11:31	me with garments of salvation
11:33	he has covered me with the robe of
11:36	righteousness
11:39	so how on earth does somebody get into
11:41	the wedding hall
11:43	without a wedding garment on and
11:46	consider the disrespect
11:48	that this fellow has for the king
11:51	all right he’s there for his own
11:53	purposes yeah yeah
11:55	yeah i know you provided me with wedding
11:56	you know with you know with wedding
11:58	garments but uh
11:59	yeah listen i’ve got my own things to do
12:01	here and
12:02	and so he continues on
12:06	at the wedding in a street clothes and
12:09	so
12:09	the king said to him buddy that’s that’s
12:12	the better translation of the greek
12:13	there
12:14	buddy how’d you get in here without a
12:16	wedding garment
12:18	now i know the esv says he was
12:20	speechless but just a straight
12:22	translation of the great
12:23	of the greek here is he was silent
12:26	he wasn’t made to be silent he was
12:28	silent
12:29	in other words listen listen i’m not
12:31	really interested in talking to you just
12:33	kind of ignore the king just remain
12:34	silent
12:35	and the king said that’s it bind him
12:37	hand and foot and cast them out into
12:38	outer darkness
12:39	in that place there will be weeping and
12:41	gnashing of teeth many are called
12:43	few are chosen so what are we to make of
12:46	all of this
12:47	well we have already made it clear that
12:49	the call the invitation
12:51	is the call to repentance and the
12:53	forgiveness of sins
12:54	and you’ll know that in the divine
12:56	service especially those services where
12:58	we partake of the lord’s supper it is
13:01	over and again
13:02	stated in our liturgy that the lord’s
13:03	supper is a foretaste of the feast
13:06	to come you see the invitation has
13:09	already
13:09	gone out and every time we hear
13:13	come and join together for the divine
13:15	service
13:16	we are gathering for a sampling if you
13:19	would of the feast
13:20	that is to come and in a way practicing
13:24	practicing for the final invitation
13:26	which goes out
13:27	where you either respond in faith or you
13:30	respond in
13:31	indifference or violence
13:34	or you have your own agenda you see
13:37	again
13:37	what does the commandment say remember
13:39	the sabbath day keep it holy
13:41	to fear love and trust in god so that we
13:44	do not despise
13:46	preaching and his word you see when we
13:48	are inattentive to the word of god
13:52	when we have more important things to do
13:56	on the weekend than attend the divine
13:57	service to hear the word of god
14:00	that’s in a way the same attitude as
14:03	some of the a-listers had
14:05	when they said yeah yeah yeah i got
14:06	other things to do i got to take care of
14:08	my farm
14:08	i got other business or things like that
14:12	or when the invitation of the gospel
14:14	arrives
14:15	and you’re angry and you mistreat
14:18	and shamefully persecute those
14:21	who deliver the message of the great
14:24	news of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus
14:26	Christ
14:27	we’re a lot like the a-listers you’ll
14:29	know that’s the case
14:30	as for this fellow who shows up to the
14:32	wedding fees without a wedding garment
14:35	that’s like the people who attend church
14:37	because well
14:38	they think of it like a country club or
14:41	a community center
14:42	or they think of the church as a place
14:44	where we gather together and the most
14:46	important thing that we do at church is
14:49	maybe
14:50	share a you know little orange juice or
14:53	coffee in a bar
14:55	between the divine service in the sunday
14:58	school the most important thing is that
14:59	community building stuff
15:01	or the fellow who thinks that church is
15:03	a great place where he can network his
15:05	business
15:06	he doesn’t have any faith in Jesus he’s
15:08	not covered in the robe
15:09	of righteousness he’s there for his own
15:12	purposes
15:13	he’s disrespecting the king who has
15:15	invited him
15:17	and disrespecting the whole purposes for
15:19	which the feast is being put on in the
15:21	first place
15:22	and then when you kind of look at it
15:23	with the third commandment in
15:25	mind you recognize you know here’s the
15:28	issue with this
15:30	is that each and every one of us are
15:32	still tempted along these lines
15:34	each and every one of us are tempted to
15:36	respond
15:37	to the kind invitation of god the father
15:41	to the wedding feast of the lamb with
15:43	indifference
15:44	to be inattentive to hearing his word to
15:46	think we got more important things to do
15:48	on a saturday or a sunday
15:50	more important things than study his
15:52	word and gladly hear and learn it
15:54	you know i mean after all you know it if
15:57	i just show up
15:58	to church you know every few weeks
16:01	you know maybe at Christmas and easter
16:03	you know that’s all that matters you
16:05	know because
16:06	i don’t want to be so heavenly minded
16:08	that i’m no earthly good
16:10	you can hear this this these are the
16:12	this is the internal dialogue that each
16:13	and every one of us are tempted to have
16:15	and that’s the problem that’s the issue
16:19	and you’ll note that Christ himself he
16:21	himself has bled and died
16:23	for our indifference to his word
16:25	indifference to the invitation or even
16:27	anger at the call to repentance
16:29	he is also he is also bled and died
16:33	for our disrespecting of him and god the
16:36	father
16:37	in all the ways in which we have
16:40	well come to church not to hear his word
16:43	but for our own agendas
16:46	and he is the one who went to the cross
16:48	and carried our sins upon him
16:50	and god punished him in our place Jesus
16:54	was sent into darkness
16:58	from 12 in the afternoon until three at
17:00	his death
17:01	the sun did not give its light while
17:04	Christ bled and died for these sins of
17:06	ours
17:07	all of our breaking of the third
17:08	commandment and other
17:10	commandments Christ was in the darkness
17:14	languishing suffering bleeding dying so
17:17	that we would not have to be sent
17:19	into outer darkness where there is
17:20	weeping and gnashing of teeth
17:22	without end and so you’ll note then
17:26	that this is again a call to repentance
17:29	a call for us to repent
17:31	to acknowledge our sinfulness
17:35	and cry out to god in mercy and note he
17:37	will give it
17:38	you see as isaiah said
17:42	regarding what is coming god himself
17:46	will swallow up on this mountain on
17:47	mount zion the covering that is cast
17:50	over all peoples
17:51	the veil that has spread over all
17:52	nations he will swallow up death forever
17:56	and the lord god he himself will wipe
17:58	away tears from all faces
18:00	and the reproach of his people he will
18:02	take away from all of the earth
18:04	the lord yahweh himself has spoken and
18:06	it will be said on that day behold this
18:09	is our god we have waited for him so
18:12	that he might save us
18:14	you see along with the wedding feast of
18:16	the lamb we finally get to see god with
18:18	our own eyes
18:19	and on that day that great day the day
18:22	we are waiting for now
18:24	the day that we partake in a foretaste
18:28	of today finally we will see god face to
18:32	face
18:33	that he might save us this is the lord
18:35	we have waited for him
18:37	so let us be glad and rejoice in his
18:39	salvation
18:40	Christ has been crucified so that we can
18:43	live
18:47	i don’t think i can end off on a better
18:49	note than that
18:50	in the name of Jesus amen

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