WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.750 --> 00:00:04.230 Church, 2 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:10.950 every one of us knows what it's like to long for God's comfort 3 00:00:11.851 --> 00:00:17.550 while quietly hesitating at the changes his love calls us to make. 4 00:00:18.630 --> 00:00:24.420 We cherish the rest of Psalm 23, we cling to the peace of 5 00:00:24.840 --> 00:00:30.000 Philippians 4, we even hope in the promises of Isaiah 6 00:00:30.661 --> 00:00:36.390 25. But when the King gently calls us to grow, to 7 00:00:36.450 --> 00:00:41.880 repent, to release old patterns, to put on the 8 00:00:42.030 --> 00:00:46.740 garment of righteousness, something in us pauses, 9 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:51.660 resists, whispers, "Maybe later." 10 00:00:52.890 --> 00:00:57.660 And here's the danger. We can begin to treat God's 11 00:00:58.110 --> 00:01:03.630 preceding grace, his invitation, his welcome, his open 12 00:01:03.780 --> 00:01:09.360 door, as if it were permission to stay exactly as we are. 13 00:01:10.350 --> 00:01:16.080 We can assume that because God invited us, God is already 14 00:01:16.740 --> 00:01:22.711 satisfied with us. But the collect we prayed this morning prays that 15 00:01:22.801 --> 00:01:28.650 God's grace would precede and follow us, not 16 00:01:28.740 --> 00:01:34.590 to keep us comfortable, but so we may continually be given to good 17 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:40.170 works. In other words, grace doesn't simply open the 18 00:01:40.260 --> 00:01:44.070 door. Grace transforms the guest. 19 00:01:45.330 --> 00:01:51.120 Across our scriptures this morning, we see God exposing a reality that we cannot 20 00:01:51.180 --> 00:01:56.040 afford to ignore. The King who invites 21 00:01:56.160 --> 00:02:00.720 freely also inspects thoroughly. 22 00:02:01.891 --> 00:02:06.780 He welcomes generously, but he transforms relentlessly. 23 00:02:07.711 --> 00:02:12.990 He calls us to his table, but he demands that we wear the garment of 24 00:02:13.141 --> 00:02:18.270 kingdom righteousness. God's preceding grace 25 00:02:18.421 --> 00:02:24.210 opens the door to the royal banquet, but his pursuing grace 26 00:02:24.270 --> 00:02:29.550 demands that you put on the garment of kingdom righteousness. 27 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:36.270 Before we talk about this garment, we need to face a deeper truth. 28 00:02:37.320 --> 00:02:41.400 That is, you cannot wear what you have not received. 29 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:48.000 You cannot put on righteousness until you first admit you have 30 00:02:48.090 --> 00:02:53.730 none. And the only reason any of us can even come near the 31 00:02:53.820 --> 00:02:59.130 banquet hall is because the King moved toward us when we were 32 00:02:59.250 --> 00:03:05.010 moving or not moving toward him. So let's begin where 33 00:03:05.160 --> 00:03:10.921 scripture begins, with the breathtaking, undeserved initiative of 34 00:03:11.070 --> 00:03:14.160 God's preceding grace. 35 00:03:15.750 --> 00:03:20.851 Isaiah reveals a millennial feast that is nothing less than 36 00:03:20.910 --> 00:03:23.851 extravagant. We read it this morning. 37 00:03:23.970 --> 00:03:29.760 Rich food, aged wine, choice meats, a table 38 00:03:29.910 --> 00:03:33.060 overflowing with abundance that we did not earn. 39 00:03:33.720 --> 00:03:39.451 And Jesus, he picks up this same imagery in Matthew chapter 22. 40 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:45.390 He says, a king preparing a royal wedding feast for his son. 41 00:03:46.230 --> 00:03:49.921 But here's the tension that is in this text. 42 00:03:50.580 --> 00:03:54.930 Everything is ready, but nobody wants to come. 43 00:03:56.370 --> 00:04:01.320 The dignitaries shrug, the privileged ignore the summons. 44 00:04:01.770 --> 00:04:07.171 The invited guests treat the king's invitation like we treat junk mail. 45 00:04:08.070 --> 00:04:12.601 And what does the king do? He does not cancel the feast. 46 00:04:13.260 --> 00:04:19.110 He escalates the invitation. He sends his servants into the 47 00:04:19.201 --> 00:04:25.170 crossroads, to the forgotten, the unworthy, the bad, and the good, to 48 00:04:25.260 --> 00:04:29.970 people who never imagined that they would be welcomed in a palace. 49 00:04:31.020 --> 00:04:36.990 That is preceding grace. Grace that finds you in 50 00:04:37.080 --> 00:04:42.000 your poverty, summons you in your unworthiness, and invites you to a 51 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:44.850 feast that you could never afford. 52 00:04:46.440 --> 00:04:52.410 Jesus's message is for those who walked in this morning convinced that your 53 00:04:52.531 --> 00:04:58.201 past disqualifies you, your failures feel too heavy, your history 54 00:04:58.710 --> 00:05:03.360 feels too messy, your shame even feels too loud. 55 00:05:03.420 --> 00:05:08.820 But preceding grace means God invited you. 56 00:05:09.990 --> 00:05:15.720 Before you cleaned up, before we even repented, before we even 57 00:05:15.841 --> 00:05:21.091 realized that we were starving. Come to Christ as you are. 58 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:27.000 But we have to understand, the King loves us too much to allow us 59 00:05:27.060 --> 00:05:29.610 to stay as we are. 60 00:05:30.960 --> 00:05:36.540 Preceding grace gets us in the door, but once we step inside his 61 00:05:36.630 --> 00:05:42.360 kingdom, once we sit at his table, once we taste the goodness of 62 00:05:42.451 --> 00:05:44.910 God, that's when the battle begins. 63 00:05:46.290 --> 00:05:51.330 Because the moment that we enter the banquet hall, the world starts 64 00:05:51.451 --> 00:05:57.360 pulling at our sleeves. Old habits begin 65 00:05:57.451 --> 00:06:02.550 to whisper. Old sins start to call our name. 66 00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:06.630 Enemies begin to circle the perimeter. 67 00:06:06.750 --> 00:06:11.880 So the question becomes, who keeps us from drifting back? 68 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:18.240 Who guards us when fear arises? Who chases you when 69 00:06:18.330 --> 00:06:23.460 temptation hunts you? That's where pursuing 70 00:06:23.580 --> 00:06:29.250 grace comes in. Grace that doesn't just welcome you but 71 00:06:29.401 --> 00:06:34.350 tracks you, protects you, and refuses to let you go. 72 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:41.010 Let's look at Psalm 23 and Philippians 4, where God reveals the 73 00:06:41.100 --> 00:06:46.050 relentless guardrails of his pursuing grace. 74 00:06:46.951 --> 00:06:52.831 In Psalm 23, David moves from the pasture to the banquet hall. 75 00:06:53.640 --> 00:06:59.070 "You prepare a table before me," he says, "in the presence of my 76 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:05.130 enemies." Not in the absence of my enemies, but in their presence. 77 00:07:05.250 --> 00:07:09.451 David is eating while danger watches. 78 00:07:10.320 --> 00:07:13.980 He is feasting while threats breathe around him. 79 00:07:14.010 --> 00:07:18.690 He is anointed while adversaries glare through the window. 80 00:07:19.020 --> 00:07:24.811 But how does he stay calm? How does he remain faithful? 81 00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:27.960 How does he stay seated at the table? 82 00:07:28.081 --> 00:07:31.290 This is where David gives us the secret. 83 00:07:31.290 --> 00:07:37.170 "Surely," he says, "goodness and mercy shall follow me all 84 00:07:37.230 --> 00:07:42.901 the days of my life." In our English translation, follow is too 85 00:07:43.020 --> 00:07:48.720 soft. In the Hebrew, that word literally means to chase, to hunt, 86 00:07:49.140 --> 00:07:54.841 to pursue with intensity. David is saying God's goodness and 87 00:07:54.930 --> 00:07:58.081 mercy are not strolling behind us. 88 00:07:58.470 --> 00:08:03.061 They are hunting us down with holy determination. 89 00:08:04.170 --> 00:08:07.770 It's typical of every parent who has children. 90 00:08:08.130 --> 00:08:13.890 When a child is racing off out of their protection, we naturally chase after 91 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:19.201 them, not knowing what has their attention, but knowing that they're in danger, so 92 00:08:19.260 --> 00:08:22.440 we do everything we can to bring them back. 93 00:08:23.610 --> 00:08:29.460 When fear tries to pull us off the path, goodness runs after us. 94 00:08:30.030 --> 00:08:35.581 When temptation tries to lure us away, mercy hunts us down. 95 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:42.030 When anxiety tries to choke out our joy, pursuing grace 96 00:08:42.151 --> 00:08:46.980 grabs us by the soul and drags us back to safety. 97 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:52.110 Paul then picks up this theme in Philippians chapter 4. 98 00:08:52.170 --> 00:08:58.050 He says, "Do not be anxious about anything." A better translation is 99 00:08:58.170 --> 00:09:04.056 simply have no anxiety. That's not a suggestion, it is 100 00:09:04.116 --> 00:09:09.426 a command. Have no anxiety. Instead, pray. 101 00:09:10.056 --> 00:09:15.336 Instead, give thanks. Instead, lift up your requests to God. 102 00:09:16.236 --> 00:09:21.726 And when we do, the peace of God will guard our hearts 103 00:09:22.146 --> 00:09:27.546 and minds. Guard, not soothe, not comfort, 104 00:09:28.296 --> 00:09:32.346 guard. Paul uses this military term. 105 00:09:32.736 --> 00:09:37.446 It's as if a soldier is standing at the door of your mind, 106 00:09:38.286 --> 00:09:43.476 keeping anxiety out, keeping kingdom confidence in, 107 00:09:44.346 --> 00:09:50.165 and that pursuing grace, grace that refuses to let us fall back 108 00:09:50.257 --> 00:09:54.156 into the darkness that God has pulled us out of. 109 00:09:55.086 --> 00:10:00.876 So preceding grace opens the door, and pursuing grace keeps us from 110 00:10:00.996 --> 00:10:06.666 wandering back out. But there is one moment in the banquet hall, a moment that 111 00:10:06.816 --> 00:10:12.516 every soul must face. Because the king does not simply 112 00:10:12.576 --> 00:10:17.856 prepare the feast, he does not simply protect the guest, he eventually 113 00:10:18.696 --> 00:10:24.606 steps into the room. He inspects, he evaluates, 114 00:10:24.666 --> 00:10:27.876 he searches every face, 115 00:10:29.076 --> 00:10:34.986 and the one question that he is asking above all others, "Did you 116 00:10:35.076 --> 00:10:37.836 put on what I provided?" 117 00:10:39.066 --> 00:10:44.796 That brings us to our final point. Matthew 22 takes a dramatic turn. 118 00:10:45.066 --> 00:10:50.496 The hall is full, the feast is ready, the guests are seated, but when the king 119 00:10:50.616 --> 00:10:56.466 enters, he sees a man who is present, but not transformed. 120 00:10:57.396 --> 00:11:03.306 He is in the right place, but he is wearing the wrong garment. 121 00:11:04.836 --> 00:11:09.666 The king asks him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?" 122 00:11:10.386 --> 00:11:15.366 Notice in your text that this man is speechless. He is not confused. 123 00:11:15.876 --> 00:11:20.196 He is not uninformed. Speechless. Why? 124 00:11:20.976 --> 00:11:26.916 Because in ancient royal custom, the king provided garments at the door. 125 00:11:27.876 --> 00:11:33.246 Just like when we walk in and receive a bulletin, someone would be at the door with 126 00:11:33.306 --> 00:11:36.576 the garment appropriate for the banquet. 127 00:11:37.446 --> 00:11:43.326 So this individual accepted free food and fine wine, but he deliberately 128 00:11:43.386 --> 00:11:49.176 refused to put on the royal garment provided by the host. 129 00:11:50.196 --> 00:11:51.277 He didn't forget it, 130 00:11:52.536 --> 00:11:58.356 he refused it. He wanted the king's table, but without the king's 131 00:11:58.446 --> 00:12:04.296 terms. He wanted kingdom privileges, but without kingdom standards. 132 00:12:04.356 --> 00:12:08.496 He wanted grace without obedience. 133 00:12:09.516 --> 00:12:15.216 And Jesus says the king responds with judgment, "Bind him, 134 00:12:16.115 --> 00:12:20.976 her, hand and foot, and throw him into outer 135 00:12:21.546 --> 00:12:22.446 darkness." 136 00:12:24.486 --> 00:12:28.926 On its face, this looks like cruelty, but it's not. 137 00:12:29.616 --> 00:12:35.226 It is the rightful judgment of a king whose holiness cannot be 138 00:12:35.316 --> 00:12:41.257 mocked, because the garment represents the righteousness of Christ, 139 00:12:41.436 --> 00:12:46.777 death, burial, resurrection, and the transformed life that 140 00:12:46.926 --> 00:12:52.206 flows from true conversion. Paul echoes this in the 141 00:12:52.267 --> 00:12:58.176 Epistle in Philippians 4. He says, "Think about what is true, what is honorable, 142 00:12:58.236 --> 00:13:03.786 what is just, what is pure, what is lovely, what is commendable, and keep 143 00:13:03.966 --> 00:13:09.907 on doing the things that you have learned and received." In other 144 00:13:09.966 --> 00:13:15.396 words, you cannot eat with the king while wearing the rags of your old 145 00:13:15.486 --> 00:13:20.977 life. You cannot claim grace on Sunday and walk in 146 00:13:21.096 --> 00:13:26.376 gossip and compromise and unrepentant sin Monday through 147 00:13:26.466 --> 00:13:31.686 Saturday. The king expects his guests to wear 148 00:13:32.736 --> 00:13:38.676 what he provides. So the question before us is not did we receive the 149 00:13:38.767 --> 00:13:44.646 invitation, not did we enter the hall, not are we seated at the table. 150 00:13:44.706 --> 00:13:50.046 The question is far more urgent. Are you wearing what the 151 00:13:50.166 --> 00:13:55.507 king provided? Are you living the life that rightfully 152 00:13:55.566 --> 00:14:00.907 reflects the king? Because the feast is ready, the king is present, and the 153 00:14:00.966 --> 00:14:06.786 inspection has begun. Family, we have heard the invitation 154 00:14:06.876 --> 00:14:12.096 of grace, felt its protection, and stood beneath the gaze of a 155 00:14:12.246 --> 00:14:18.066 king who inspects. And as we have already prayed the collect 156 00:14:18.186 --> 00:14:24.157 earlier, let us pray it again. Lord, let your grace 157 00:14:24.336 --> 00:14:29.977 always precede and follow us so that we may continually be 158 00:14:30.066 --> 00:14:35.586 given to good works. Walk away today, family, not merely 159 00:14:35.646 --> 00:14:41.436 invited, protected, but transformed, clothed in 160 00:14:41.466 --> 00:14:46.566 what Christ has provided, covered in what he has purchased, and 161 00:14:46.626 --> 00:14:49.716 committed to what it is he commands. 162 00:14:50.526 --> 00:14:56.106 In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.