Matthew 22:34-40

Matthew 22:34-40
God Has Questions – Do You Have Answers?”
October 26, 2008

What are the most important things for us to be doing?
What are the most important things for us to remember?

Today we are beginning to look at what it truly means to live as Christians – and what the most important things are for us to remember as we live our lives in God’s ways.

What are the most important things for us to be doing?
What are the most important things for us to remember?

When I was in school, preparing for Final Exams were pretty important. It seemed like no matter what else you did – how well you did on tests or how poorly you did – the Final Exam could make a break a semester of school work.
Do well on the Final Exam, and you can save a mediocre record from the rest of the semester.
Do poorly, and a great record from the rest of the semester could be damaged.
It all hinged on the Final Exam.

When I graduated from Seminary the big thing that scared us all was the denomination’s Ordination Exam. This was an exam on polity, theology, Biblical studies — including translating passages from the original Greek or Hebrew — and other topics that the denomination thought every minister should know.
Every graduate from every Seminary had to take these exams before they could be ordained. It didn’t matter if you went to a Presbyterian supported Seminary or not – you had to take the Ordination Exam.
If you scored well on the Ordination Exam you would be approved for ordination – if you scored poorly you had to take the Exam – or some part of it – over again.
You can imagine the pressure and the preparation for these exams.

Final Exams.
Ordination Exams.
Questions to which we hoped we would have answers.

Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life writes that God has a Final Exam for us.
When our life is over, God is going to have 2 questions for us:
1. How did you respond to my Son Jesus Christ?
2. What did you do with what I gave you?

2 questions.
If you answer them in the way God wants you to answer them, He has a place in heaven prepared for you.
If not, your place will not be in heaven.

God’s Final Exam consists of these 2 questions –
How did you respond to my Son Jesus Christ?
What did you do with what I gave you?
Direct – not really difficult questions.

Maybe it would be wise to look at how to answer these questions in the way that will please God. As we move through the next month, we are going to look at the fact that God has questions for us – and whether or not we have answers.

We’re going to look today at the primary passage for the next month. We’ll combine it with several other passages during the month that will help us understand the answers we need to be ready to give to God’s questions, but today we are going to look at it by itself.

Listen to the 2 commandments Jesus gives as the most important as we read from Matthew 22:34-40.

You know — Washington D.C. is a tough town –– and I’m not talking about its poorest neighborhoods. D.C. is a tough town, beginning at the top.

My family and I visited D.C. when Johnson was President. I remember us riding by the White House — and it being surrounded by protestors carrying signs and shouting slogans I thought how terrible it must be to live like that –– a prisoner in a grand home fenced in by hatred. Johnson finally was forced to not run for President a second term because he lost the support of the public and of Congress.

Regardless of the NFL’s Redskins, knifing political opponents is the big sport in D.C.

Jerusalem was that kind of town in the days of Jesus — powerful people jockeying for position — opposing parties trying to outdo each other. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were the major players. Like the Republicans and Democrats, the Pharisees and Sadducees each thought they were right and the others were wrong. They didn’t like each other. But – they could work together when it suited their purposes –– for instance — when someone like Jesus came along.

Both Pharisees and Sadducees had a problem with Jesus.
Jesus was rocking the religious boat –– and both the Pharisees and Sadducees had a lot to lose. So the Pharisees and Sadducees worked together to defeat Jesus –– their common enemy. They tried to trip him up –– to get him to say something that would turn the crowds against him –– to discredit him.

The Pharisees started by asking a loaded question about paying taxes to Caesar.

And then the Sadducees asked a loaded question about the resurrection. The Sadducees, by the way, didn’t believe in the resurrection.

I always enjoy reading about those controversies, because in each case Jesus deftly turns the tables on his opponents.
It’s like watching a Roadrunner cartoon.
I love Roadrunner cartoons. Wile E. Coyote is always setting traps for Roadrunner. You know the trap is going to backfire on Coyote, but the fun is waiting for it to happen.
You see Wile E. Coyote struggling to get a big rock perched above a cliff. When he sees Roadrunner coming his way, he tips the big rock over the edge so that it will fall on Roadrunner. But Roadrunner comes along at the speed of light and passes the danger point without incident. Then we wait and wait, and nothing happens. Finally, Coyote goes down to the bottom of the cliff to see what went wrong. And then we hear a loud whistling sound –– and Coyote looks up –– his eyes get big –– and then the big rock smashes him into a little pancake.

Wile E. Coyote always pulls himself together and tries again –– but every trap that he sets snaps shut on him. The only question is how it will happen. I don’t know why I enjoy that so much, but I do.

Whenever I read about the Pharisees and Sadducees trying to trap Jesus, they always remind me of Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner. The Pharisees stick a loaded gun in Jesus’ face –– and Jesus reaches out and bends the barrel so it points back at them –– and then gently helps them to pull the trigger. What fun!

In our story today, both the Pharisees and Sadducees have had one “go” at Jesus, and both of them lost. Now the Pharisees try again. A Pharisee asks Jesus which is the greatest commandment. That’s the kind of question that the rabbis spent their lives arguing. No matter what Jesus answered, they would say, “What about this?” or “What about that?” Hopefully, by the time they were through with Jesus, they would have him trapped in a corner.

At least that was the plan.
But Jesus answered so well that they couldn’t figure out how to get at him. When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus answered:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind.’
This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets” (vv. 37-40).

How could anyone answer better than that?
How could anyone argue with that?

The Pharisees didn’t even try to argue with Jesus.
Love God. Love your neighbor.
The Pharisees were hoping that Jesus would say something stupid. They were hoping to make him look bad. But “Love God –– love your neighbor.” How could they find fault with that?

Love God.
Love your neighbor.

Rick Warren writes about the 2 questions God might ask us as we stand before Him.
How did you respond to my Son Jesus Christ?
What did you do with what I gave you?

Your answers to those questions are the most important answers you will ever give to any other questions that will ever be posed to you.

How did you respond to my Son Jesus Christ?
What did you do with what I gave you?

2 of the most important questions you will ever be asked.

How will you respond?

In responding to the question asked of Him in our passage, Jesus gives us 2 guidelines for being able to respond well to God’s questions to us.

Love God.
Love your neighbor.

How did you respond to my Son Jesus Christ?
What did you do with what I gave you?

I loved God.
I loved my neighbor.

2 answers that we can give to God’s questions of us.

I loved God.
I loved my neighbor.

When we are asked:
How did you respond to Jesus?
If we can answer:
“I loved God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind.”
We’ll be giving the answer that God will reward us for.
If we can’t, we won’t.

Love the Lord you God with all heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

What does that mean?
It means putting God first in your life.
It means letting God make a difference in your life.
It means wanting to live in the ways of God more than ay other ways.
It means not letting anything compete for your attention or affection than the ways of God.

Love the Lord you God with all heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind

It’s a relationship with God that Jesus is talking about here.

So – what is your relationship with God like?
Do you love God – with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?
Do you love God with everything you have?

First of all, this means taking Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

The first question Rick Warren says God might ask us is:
How did you respond to my Son Jesus Christ?

Unless you can answer:
I took Jesus as my Lord and Savior – and tried to live in His ways.

Unless you can answer:
I loved Jesus with all my heart – soul – mind – and strength

You won’t be giving the answer God is looking for!

So — how do you respond to Jesus?

Unless you respond to Jesus with love – commitment – and striving to live in His ways – you are not responding correctly.
Unless you respond with loving Jesus with all your heart – soul – mind – you are not responding in the way that god has in mind for you.

Love the Lord you God with all heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind
Love the Jesus with all heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind
I pray that you can say that you have taken Jesus as your Savior – because that’s
the most important thing you can ever say about yourself.

But – loving God – loving Jesus – with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind is more than just a one time commitment. It’s something you have to commit to every day as you strive to live as Jesus’ disciple.

Andrew Purves is a professor at Princeton Seminary and is a frequent speaker at the Wee Kirk conference Sally and I have attended on numerous occaisions – including last week. He says that we have to ask ourselves – every day –

How are Jesus and I getting along – right now?
How are Jesus and I getting along – right now?

Every day we have to nurture that love we have for Jesus – so we can say that we indeed love Jesus – and are trying to love Him with all our your heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.

That’s one of those questions to live by – to ask ourselves every day –
How are Jesus and I getting along – right now?

‘You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind.’

That’s the first commandment Jesus s said was the greatest.
Then – He said –

And a second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Love your neighbor as yourself.
What does that mean?

It means loving others.
It means loving others as much as God loves you.
It means showing God’s love to others in what you say and in what you do.
It means telling others about the love of God in words and actions.
It means being committed to using the gifts God has given you to do His work and will in the world.

If you can answer God’s questions:
How did you respond to my Son Jesus Christ?
And
What did you do with what I gave you?

By saying:
I loved Jesus with all my heart, soul, and mind
And
I used what God gave me to share His love with the world

You are on to the right answer – and God will bless you.

If you can’t, you are not.

So – what’s your answer?

When God asks :
How did you respond to my Son Jesus Christ?
And
What did you do with what I gave you?

What will you be able to say?

Let’s pray that we all will be able to say:
I loved Jesus with all my heart, soul, and mind
And
I used what God gave me to share His love with the world

God indeed has questions.
What are your answers?

We’ll keep looking at different aspects of loving God and others – what we do with Jesus and with what God gives us – as we go along this month – but – for now – ask yourself these questions:

How do I respond to Jesus?
What am I doing with what God gives me?

And –
How are Jesus and I getting along – right now?

Yea – God has questions.
What are your answers?
Amen.

Matthew 22:1-14

Matthew 22:1-14
“You Can Come As You Are – -
But You Can’t Stay As You Are”
October 5, 2008
Communion

This fall we are looking at some of Jesus’ teaching from the Gospel of Matthew.
We began by looking at Matthew 18::15-20 – and saw how Jesus teaches us to deal with conflict – while walking in love.
We then looked at looked at Matthew 18:21-35 – and saw how Jesus teaches us to forgive others – and how we can do that. Then we look at Matthew 20:1-16 – and saw an amazing story about the amazing love and grace of God. Today we turn to Matthew 22:1-14 – and will see how God invites us to come as we are – but not to stay as we are.

Listen to the word of God

Is the kingdom of God a “Come as you are party” – - and if so, can you stay as you are after accepting and experiencing the love of God?

These are the questions addressed by our gospel lesson for this morning.

Maybe you’ve heard the story about the boy who – on his birthday – was outside playing – - and heard his mother calling him to come inside. He figured that his mother never called him unless she wanted him to do something like clean his room or some such chore — so he decided that it was his birthday — he had no intention of doing chores — and he would just hide in the garage until she gave up on finding him.
Well — little did he know that his mother had planned a surprise birthday party for him — and all his friends were gathered inside waiting for the guest of honor to appear.
He also didn’t know that his mother noticed him slipping into the garage — and figured out what he was doing.
Instead of going into the garage after him, she went inside and held the party without him. He missed his own party because he wouldn’t respond when his mother called.

The parable Jesus tells in our gospel lesson for today is something like the story of the boy who missed his own party — although in the parable it is a king who gives a party – a banquet – and calls the guests to come and enjoy the feast. For various reasons, however, the guests make excuses and refuse to come to the feast. They quickly find that this was not the correct response to make to the knig’s invitation – - for he orders that all who refused his invitation be killed and their cities burned.
The invitation is then opened to any who will come to the feast and quite a motley crew ends up at the feast — the good and bad — all gathered together in the banquet hall and ready for the feast to begin.

OK — we can presume that the parable is over.

Outsiders are brought in — the good and the bad are gathered together – - God’s gracious invitation has been issued to all and some that we would never expect to be in the kingdom are there — while others we expected to see nowhere to be found. End the story here – Jesus – and you have the perfect parable about the gracious invitation of God for all to come to His feast — His kingdom.

But – - Jesus does not end the parable.
There is more.
Much more.
In fact, the main point has yet to be made.

One of the guests — one of those who has accepted the kings gracious invitation – is thrown out because he is not wearing a wedding robe.
What a silly thing to quibble over.
The king has invited all to his feast – - then starts making demands.
What’s the point?
What’s Jesus trying to say here?
Could it be that Jesus is trying to make us take a hard look at how we respond to God’s gracious invitation to be a part of His kingdom?

God says to you:
“Come as you are!”
But – when you hear God’s invitation to be a part of His glorious kingdom — to come as you are — how do you respond?

Do you refuse to be a part of the kingdom — much like those who refused to come to the feast in the first place?
Are the things of the world more important and more appealing to you than the things of the kingdom of God?

Many refuse to be a part of the kingdom of God – - like those in the parable who refuse to come to the feast.
The things of the world are more important to them. They don’t have time for the things of God. They are too busy making money — buying things — no time now for God.
Maybe later.
What a mistake that is!
What happens?
The same thing that happened to those who refused the invitation to the feast.
Destruction.
Destroyed lives.

You don’t hear about these things much any more.
We don’t like to talk about them.
We don’t like to talk about or hear about judgment. It’s a word we shy away from.
We don’t like to talk or hear about God’s judgment on sinners. We’d much rather talk about or hear about God’s love.
But friends — we overlook God’s judgment at our peril.

God may be a God of love — but God is also a God of judgment. We can not take His love — or His gracious invitation — too lightly — like those who made up excuses for not attending the banquet — or we may find that we may have gained the whole world — but lost our souls.

Or maybe you take God up on His gracious invitation to come as you are into His kingdom — but the fact that you have done that make no difference in how you live your life. A lot of people are that way. They take God up on His gracious invitation — but it doesn’t really matter to them that they have done so. They may make some surface changes to their lives – - but nothing drastic.

Again — sometimes we take God too lightly.

We may accept His gracious invitation — but not let it truly make a difference in how we live.
And again — we do this at our peril — just as the one at the feast without the proper robe.

It’s like the man walking down the street who sees a sign in front of a church that reads:
“Prepare to meet God!”
The man stops in front of the sign – - looks at his reflection — takes off his hat — smoothes his hair — straightens his tie — and — thus prepared — he thinks — to meet God — goes on his way.

Could it be that that is the mistake Jesus is illustrating in the one at the feast who is thrown out because he is not wearing a wedding robe?
Could it be that these are the ones who respond to God — but then do not let God make a difference in their lives — and remain as they are?
Could it be that being a part of God’s kingdom requires more than just saying “Yes” to the invitation?
Could it be that it means changing your life — letting Christ make a difference in how you live your life?
Could God’s invitation mean being accepted “as you are” — but not staying “as you are”?
Could it be that God invites us to “Come as you are” but not “stay as you are?”
Yes — in fact it could be that indeed!

You can come as you are –
But you can’t stay as you are.
You can come as you are –
But you can’t stay as you are.

When she was a teenager, Sally had a “Come as you are party” — her dad went around and “kidnapped” her friends at 6:00 in the morning — and brought them to their house. Of course, they came in their bathrobes — nightgowns — pajamas — their hair in curlers — and so forth. All was well until that afternoon at 2:00 when everyone returned to their homes — embarrassed to be in their bathrobes — nightgowns — pajamas — hair in curlers — and so forth — at that time of day. The party was such a hit that it wa remembered in the “twenty years ago today” column in her hometown newspaper several years ago.

God’s kingdom is a “Come as you are party” — everyone who will accept the invitation is included — but the difference between God’s kingdom and Sally’s party is that in the kingdom of God we can “come as we are” — but we can not “stay as we are.” We must let Christ change our lives.

The person in Jesus’ parable at the feast without the wedding robe had not done that. He had come as we was — bu he had stayed as he was. In God’s kingdom, we can come as we are — but we can not stay as we are.

It’s a “Come as you are — but don’t stay as you are” party.

You can come as you are –
But you can’t stay as you are.

You can come as you are –
But you can’t stay as you are.

Most of you know that this past week I was at the National Church Transformation Pastor’s Conference in St. Pete’s Beach, Florida. We talked about a lot of things – and I got a lot of practical ideas about leading a Church through transformation and revitalization. The main point I learned, however, is that Church transformation only happens when the Church leaders and members commit to having their lives revitalized – transformed – and changed by Christ. I will share a lot of different ideas with you in the very near future – but here is the starting point –

If we are going to be transformed as a Church, we are going to have to be transformed as individuals.
If we are going to be a Church that serves God and makes a difference for God in the community and the world, we are going to have to be people who serve God and make a difference for God in the community.

The first step is to let God make a difference in your personal life, then share that with the Church – the community – and the world.

Amy Vanderbilt is definitely no theologian — but some of her pointers for good etiquette are quite helpful. Vanderbilt insists that — when you are at a party — you follow the lead of the host.

Indeed, as part of God’s great banquet — the kingdom of God – - we need to follow the lead of our host — our host being none other than Jesus Christ. Jesus accepts us as we are — but then can change us.
In our lives we must show the changes Christ can make by repenting of our past and letting Christ change us.
We must show Jesus’ love in our lives — we must show that we are a part of the kingdom of God by letting the kingdom of God completely change us. Putting on the robe of love and righteousness by reaching out to those in need — in the simple ways and also in the more difficult ways.

Indeed, in responding to the invitation of Christ we can “Come as we are” but not “stay as we are.”

You can come as you are –
But you can’t stay as you are.

You can come as you are –
But you can’t say as you are.

Let Christ change your life.

Follow Christ’s lead in how you live your life.

Not doing so is just as risky as not accepting Christ.
Not letting Christ change how you live brings the same results as not accepting Christ’s invitation.
Not letting God change your life and make a difference in what you say and do will get you in the same place as those who never accept the invitation at all.
Come.

Come as you are — but don’t take it lightly.
Let your life in Christ change you. That is the only way for salvation.

You can come as you are –
But you can’t stay as you are.

You can come as you are –
But you can’t stay as you are.

Flannery O’Conner wrote a story entitled A Good Man Is Hard To Find. In this story, one of the characters makes the statement:

“If Jesus really did all He said, then there’s no other response to make
but to throw away everything and follow Him.”

Indeed, that’s the only way to respond to God.
That’s the response to make to the God’s gracious invitation.

Throw away everything — and follow Him.

You can come as you are –
But you can’t stay as you are.
Amen.