1

!"# %&'()# '* +','(- . /.001 2.33"#4 5516768 93:

8eally, Lhe Cospel of Lhe Lord? 1hanks be Lo Cod? uld
you [usL hear whaL l read? (SLluL) 1hls ls Lhe good news?!
ln Lhe pasL weeks our 6
Lh
graders have been sLudylng Lhe
8lble aL ConflrmaLlon, whaL lL ls and why use lL. AfLer lasL week's
dlscusslon, one of our youLh came up Lo me and sald, asLor
Pannah, lL's almosL llke Lhe 8lble (SLluL) ls noL a book of
answers buL a blg book of quesLlons LhaL leads us Lo Cod."
1hey're rlghL.Loday's Cospel ls proof of Lhls. lf you're llke me,
Lhls passage leaves us wlLh a loL of quesLlons, and afLer Lhe flrsL
Llme l read l felL a llLLle llke Lhls (SLluL). All l could say was,
WhaL?!"
We are golng Lo Lalk more abouL Lhls ln a momenL, buL
for now, (8LAnk SLluL) l wanL you Lo seL your reacLlons and
quesLlons aslde and leL me relnLroduce Lhls LexL ln a more
lmaglnaLlve way.1he rlnce ls glvlng a ball!
;<.(1 (slnglng) 1he rlnce ls glvlng a ball! 1he rlnce ls glvlng a
ball! Pls 8oyal Plghness ChrlsLopher 8uperL Wlndmere
Lademere Carl Alexander lrancols 8eglnald LansaloL Perman.
=+>1 Perman? (spoken)
;<.(1 Perman! Cregory !ames ls glvlng a ball!
=+>1 lL was 8odgers and PammersLeln's verslon of a Save Lhe
uaLe" ln Lhe muslcal Clnderella (SLluL) .and Lhere l was, a 9
Lh

grader, ln Lhe mlddle of Lhe ArL8arn sLage Lwlrllng ln my
beauLlful ball gown. l was ln Lhe arms of my frlend Cale, along
wlLh my broLhers and all Lhe oLher young men ln Lhe Lrl-counLy
area my parenLs convlnced Lo wear LlghLs and a Lunlc for Lhe
sake of whaL Lhey refer Lo as, arLlsLlc excellence." 1hanks Lo
8yan, my good frlend and ChrlsL Lhe klng youLh, l carry on Lhe
famlly LradlLlon Loday.
Cur gospel Lhls mornlng remlnds me Clnderella because lL
ls a ?.&.@0# (SLluL) !esus Lells abouL a klng who also plans a
ball..a weddlng banqueL for hls son. 1he klng sends hls own
2
Save Lhe uaLe" vla slaves senL ouL Lo lnvlLe guesLs Lo leL Lhem
know Lhe dlnner has been prepared, Lhe Lable ls seL (SLluL),
everyLhlng ls ready and lL ls golng Lo be Lhe mosL lmporLanL
evenL of Lhe year. unforLunaLely for Lhe klng, nobody was
lnLeresLed (SLluL). 1he people were busy. 1hey lgnored Lhe
lnvlLaLlon, some even kllled Lhe messengers. l wonder how
ChrlsLopher..
;<.(1 ChrlsLopher 8uperL Wlndmere Lademere Carl Alexander
lrancols 8eglnald LansaloL Perman..
=+>1 ?eah, yeah.Perman Cregory !ames.l wonder how he
would have reacLed? Well, Lhe klng ln our parable was noL
happy. Pe was so angry he senL soldlers Lo murder Lhe klllers
and burn Lhelr clLles. (SLluL) 1hen he senL hls remalnlng slaves
ouL Lo lnvlLe anyone and everyone Lhey could flnd Lo flll Lhe
weddlng hall (SLluL). 8y Ceorge, he was deLermlned Lo make
Lhls some parLy!
8uL why ln Lhe world would Lhe klng lnvlLe Lhe good, Lhe
bad, & Lhe oLherwlse Lo Lhls exLravaganL affalr? lL would be llke
rlnce Wllllam and kaLe MlddleLon (SLluL) lncludlng me aL Lhelr
weddlng because Mumsy Cueen LllzabeLh lnslsLed sub[ecLs of
Lhe soverelgn naLlon, even Lhose whose greaL grandmoLher
lmmlgraLed Lo Amerlca, should be lncluded aL Lhe ball. 8y Lhe
way, l had my haL ready.or my fasclnaLor, as we fashlonlsLas
call Lhem ! WhaL do you Lhlnk? LeL's be honesL, lL's probably
besL l wasn'L lnvlLed because Lhe world would be Lalklng abouL
me and noL lppa.and you'd be looklng for a new chlldren,
youLh, and famlly asLor agaln!
(SLluL) Ck-back Lo our sLory.so Lhe klng wanLs Lhls Lo
be Lhe parLy of Lhe year and he wanLs everyone Lo A81?!
Sounds preLLy good, rlghL?
8uL Lhen lL [usL geLs uncomforLable. 1he klng sees
someone aL hls parLy who ls noL properly dressed. (SLluL)

3
1he klng sarcasLlcally calls Lhe man frlend," Lhen has
hlm cruelly Lhrown ouL lnLo Lhe sLreeL. Llke all Lhe oLher guesLs,
Lhls man was called, he was lnvlLed...buL he was deflnlLely noL
welcome, and LhaL's where maybe you, llke me, have a loL of
quesLlons.
(SLluL) Why Lhls man? Why dld he deserve Lhls
punlshmenL? Was lL really because he was wearlng Lhe wrong
Lhlng?
And remember, !esus beglns Lhls parable by leLLlng us
know Lhe sLory ls llke Lhe klngdom of heaven. (SLluL) ls Lhls
whaL heaven ls llke? Many are called, few are chosen? ls Lhe
klng Cod? And lf so, how do we balance our falLh ln a lovlng,
creaLor Cod and a Cod who geLs angry and vengeful?
And Lhen, lL bolls down Lo Lhe blggesL quesLlon of all:
Who am l ln Lhls sLory? Who are you? Are we Lhe chosen ones
or are we golng Lo be Lhrown ouL lnLo Lhe darkness of Lhe
sLreeLs?
8y Lhe way, dld you know lL's ok Lo ask Lhese quesLlons?
lL ls! lL's one of Lhe perks of belng a LuLheran.
lf we are honesL wlLh ourselves, as we read Lhls parable,
we geL preLLy comforLable wlLh Lhe ldea LhaL many are called"
whlle few are chosen. We assume LhaL because we call
ourselves ChrlsLlan (SLluL) ln name, LhaL slnce we have accepLed
Cod's lnvlLaLlon Lo Lhe banqueL, we are good Lo go.
We come Lo worshlp, we go Lo ConflrmaLlon, we brlng
our klds Lo Sunday school, we mlghL be on a commlLLee or Lwo,
we volunLeer, we go a mlsslon Lrlp, we puL money ln Lhe offerlng
plaLe, we geL along wlLh our nelghbor..well, mosL of Lhem. We
Lhlnk LhaL because we do Lhese Lhlngs, yep, we're flne. (SLluL)
We've made Lhe perfecL weddlng ouLflL for ourselves.no
weeplng or gnashlng of LeeLh for us. 8lghL?


4
noL really. (SLluL) 1he mosL amazlng, mosL unexpecLed
facL ln Lhls parable ls LhaL we are noL lnvlLed or called Lo Lhe
weddlng banqueL, or Lo heaven, because of who we are: of how
old or young we are, or how beauLlful, or smarL, or rlch, or
successful, or LalenLed, or well-dressed, or even how ofLen we
go Lo church or read our 8lbles (Lhough Lhese lasL Lwo are good
Lhlngs are LhaL help us grow ln our falLh). no maLLer how hard
we Lry, we sLlll fall shorL of Cod's expecLaLlons. We are lnvlLed Lo
Lhe parLy only because of who Cod, our creaLor and redeemer ls
(SLluL).
1he man ln Lhe parable LhoughL he would be ok on hls
own aL Lhe parLy wlLhouL a robe, buL Lhe klng knew oLherwlse.
(SLluL) We, Loo, sLand before Cod lmproperly dressed, because
of our sln, yeL Lhankfully, by Lhe grace of Cod, we show up aL
LhaL parLy cloLhed ln Lhe mosL beauLlful weddlng robe. We are
saved Lhrough !esus and Lhe lnvlLaLlon Lo Lhe besL parLy of all ls
ours.
(SLluL) 1he quesLlon now ls whaL do we do wlLh Cod's
lnvlLaLlon? Wlll we keep lL on Lhe shelf and leL lL collecL dusL?
Wlll we allow Lhe busyness of our llves Lo be more lmporLanL
Lhan Cod? Wlll we only pracLlce our falLh on Sunday mornlngs or
when lLs mosL convenlenL? Wlll we conLlnue Lo say and do
Lhlngs LhaL harm ourselves and oLhers? Wlll we sLop carlng? Wlll
we llve ouL our falLh beyond lLs ChrlsLlan name, beyond Lhe
walls of Lhls church? Wlll we pass up Lhls opporLunlLy Lo fully llve
ouL Lhe llfe of abundance Cod lnvlLes us Lo?
Cod doesn'L call us, as 1om Long says, Lo come Lo Lhe
parLy and (SLluL) [usL hang ouL aL Lhe punch bowl. Cod lnvlLes
us Lo [ump fully ln, Lo geL ouL on Lhe dance floor, Lo mlngle wlLh
Lhe guesLs, Lo brlng more people Lo Lhe parLy, and Lo (SLluL)
celebraLe and llve a full, holy llfe ln Cod's name. lL doesn'L mean
LhaL lL's always easy, buL we are never alone, and our reward of
everlasLlng llfe ls walLlng for us.
5
As !esus warned, lf you wanL Lo be a dlsclple-as you are
CALLLu-you have Lo LrusL (SLluL) and you have Lo boldly
answer Cod's lnvlLaLlon and wear Lhe robe ChrlsL has seL ouL for
you. ?ou need Lo show up Lo Lhe parLy llke lL maLLers. ?ou need
Lo undersLand (SLluL) LhaL grace lsn'L a llLLle prayer sald before a
meal, lL's a way Lo llve. Cod ls glvlng a call.Lhe klnC ls glvlng a
call.
;<.(1 Who? =+>1 1he klng!
;<.(1 1he klng ls glvlng a call! 1he klng ls glvlng a call!
;<.(1 (slnglng) Pls Supreme Plghness, unlverse CreaLor, Alpha
Cmega, Peavenly laLher, Son, Poly SplrlL, Wonderful Lord.
=+>1 Lord?
;<.(1 Lord, AlmlghLy Cod ls glvlng a call.
=+>1 1he Lord ls calllng! So leL us celebraLe! (SLluL) ralse Cod,
follow Cod, wlLness Cod. Cod loves you and doesn'L wanL you Lo
mlss Lhe celebraLlon.
1hanks be Lo Cod! Amen.