Twentieth Sunday after Trinity (14 Oct. 2018)

Scandalous

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.  Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.  Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.  "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:1-9

Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.  Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.  One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.  For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.  And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.  Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!  You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, LORD, do I seek."  Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!  Psalm 27:1-9

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Ephesians 5:15-21

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.  Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast."'  But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,  while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.  The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.  Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.'  And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.  And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."  Matthew 22:1-14

"Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.  When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.  And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.  Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.'  And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.  When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"  They said to Him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.  And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him."  Matthew 21:33-44

We are under the somewhat false impression that the Gospel is nice.  But then we are handed parables from Christ that clearly imply the Gospel is expressly not for everyone.  Is that the case?

Through Isaiah, we are told that the thoughts of the Lord are not like ours.  It is such a simple statement, but much more profound than any are willing to admit.  Instead we try to judge God's actions, and our own, based on our understanding of things.  But such a concept is foolish and leads to self-justification.

Which is exactly what happened to Israel.  They had chosen the complacent path.  They either looked to their own strength, or the strength of another to save them from whatever temporary inconvenience the encountered.  They had their comfy little niche carved out, and woe to anyone who came to upset that.  Especially the very Son of David they were commanded to be ready for.  Because how dare this Man, this Jesus, call out their idolatry of the Law and their fleecing of the very people God called them to serve?  Such self-centeredness sound like a perfect place to apply the Gospel.

But Jesus says that while many are called, few are chosen.  In both parables, the people called first openly reject the offer.  The guests decided that their own plans were more worthy than the wedding feast.  The tenants of the vineyard somehow got it in their head that they didn't need to pay the rent, or even show a modicum of respect for the servants or the heir.  In both cases, the master deals with them swiftly.  At the wedding, a random guest clearly snuck in, because no one in their right mind would show up to a wedding in anything but their best.

So Israel and preachers of a false Christ.  They fashioned their own idea of the standards, only to have the Standard trip them up or crush them: scandalon.  Instead of hearing the Law and Gospel and being brought to repentance, they "double down" in their own ideas.  It is a lesson in being vigilant so that we too do not fall into pietism.