Finnish Lutheran Church in Ball

Pastor Timo’s sermon, October 12th, 2008

22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Matt 22:1-14 Translated by Katja Kupari

Many of us have been asked the question; ’I have good and bad news, which do you want to hear first?’ But it’s not easy to determine whether we’re optimists or pessimist based on the answer. The conception of good and bad news is built-in in the gospel parable about the Wedding Banquet. The premise for choosing between good or bad news is that humans are given the chance to only receive the good news. There’s no buts or obligations to hear the bad news if you only want to receive the good news. But if the good news does not suffice for some reason, then all there’s left is bad news, according to the parable.

So there’s an invitation to a royal wedding; great food, celebratory ambience and good company. Who would want to say no to an invitation like this? Unfortunately quite a few do, the gospel tells us. And why is that? Because they supposeably had something better to do.

In today’s gospel Jesus continues the series of parables we’ve heard during the last couple of Sundays, where He describes how His own people declined God’s invitation. Of course not everybody turned their back on Jesus, but the more time passed the more people turned from favor to accusations. Jesus came into the world to save humans, starting with His own people, but not everybody wanted to receive Him.

If we look at the big picture we can see that everything Jesus foretold would happen started to happen relatively fast. After Jesus’ resurrection the gospel started spreading like an avalanche among pagans outside Israel. Christian mission had its breakthrough both in Europe, Asia, Africa and later in America. The invitation to the King’s son’s wedding banquet has reached millions of people from different nations with different languages, people who have found a new direction and meaning through Jesus.

It would be unfair to only talk about the gospel in past tense and as history of Christianity. What once was Christianity’s golden age on the old as well as on this new continent, has changed into something completely else in many ways and statistics. Many traditional churches and congregations struggle with losing members and the message about Christ doesn’t seem to resonate in the busy beat of the world. The head of the largest Christian Church, the Pope recently talked about this lack of faith and prompted nations to look for the living God instead of the treacherous riches.

If the Dow Jones-index in economy has melted down to figures from five years ago in just a few days, the boom of Christianity in it’s strong areas in Europe and America has also turned into a decline in a decade. Where Christianity is strong now, where gospel has gained ground and new congregations are being founded is Africa and Latin America, where missionaries are being sent from to here as well as to Europe.

That is why today’s gospel should be read from other perspectives than just historical. The intivitation to the king’s son’s wedding is present tense to today’s people and future tense to next generations. The invitation to God’s kingdom is current today as well as tomorrow, to you as well as to me. And when the invitation comes at you, you shouldn’t get out of the way.

Today’s gospel does unfortunately not have a happy ending. But it could’ve been more than a happy ending if the script had followed the king’s invitation. The gospel, then, basically only offers good news. It presents an invitation to the wedding banquet, it is an invitation for humans to join God’s eternal communion through the salvation prepared by Jesus.

The bible says that ”God’s kindness leads you toward repentance” (Romans 2:4). I was watching a Christian tv-show one day where an American League baseball player told about his becoming a believer. He felt strongly that God’s goodness was leading him towards God. As a special sign of God’s love he saw the day when he witnessed the birth of his own child. This professional player had done things and made choices in his life that he knew had hurt both God’s and his loved ones’ feelings. He did not think he deserved anything as good as his own child. During that moment, at the hospital, after having seen his son, he said that he begun to understand what God’s grace for sinful men is and this experience brought him to God and to the change in his life.

Good experiences like this, as well as hard times can lead people towards God. Jesus says that God ”causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good” (Matthew 5:45). In our everyday life God sometimes meets us in unexpected ways and wants to talk to us through these positive experiences so that we would find God and give Him thanks.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17) Jesus says in John’s gospel.

Life is about choices. The gospel says the biggest choice is to receive the gospel about Jesus

Christ, the Savior of the world. Actually this good news about Jesus is much more than a human choice. It’s a choice of mercy, prepared by God, and He promises to give it to everyone who will receive it, without our own merits. All we have to do is accept the fact that without God, without Jesus we are going the wrong way. We don’t have to save ourselves, but just believe that Jesus has already done it for us.

We received this invitation to be with God through baptism. We can return to this invitation during our lives, because God’s goodness leads people to repentance. God’s goodness is grace even when He wants to shake or stop humans by giving them hard times and hardships in order to get them to turn to Him. God’s grace leads humans when He let’s you and me experience flashes of the heavenly joy that we taste through all things beautiful that God has given us here on earth; the joy from other human beings and the beauty God has given the world He created.

” Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrew 13:8). Do not ever turn down this invitation but take it and store it in your heart for always. And have faith that ”The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Saarnat Suomeksi	Previous Sermons in English


Syysk.28, 2008	Sep. 28, 2008
Syysk. 14, 2008	*Sep. 14, 2008*
Elok. 31, 2008	Aug. 31, 2008
*Elok. 24, 2008*	*Aug. 24, 2008*
Toukok. 25, 2008	May 25, 2008
Toukok. 11, 2008	May 11, 2008
Huhtik.27, 2008	April 27, 2008
*Maalisk. 30, 2008*	Mar. 30, 2008
Maalisk. 23, 2008	Mar. 23, 2008
Maalisk. 09, 2008	Mar.09, 2008