WEDDING CLOTHES
Matthew 22:1-14
I guess most of you here have been to a wedding at some time in your lives and for many, of course, it was your own wedding. When we got married in Japan, a very long time ago now, I had never been to a Japanese wedding so I had an image in my head of a Kiwi wedding. So, I made my own dress because that is what most people in NZ did in those days, just used my every day make-up and actually forgot to organize a hairdresser to do my hair until the very last moment. We had both the wedding service and the reception outside so it was a very casual arrangement. It wasn't until some months later when I went to a Japanese wedding that I realized just how far off the mark we had been compared to a true Japanese wedding. For those of you who don't know about a Japanese wedding, the bride and groom often change their clothes 2 or 3 times from one gorgeous outfit to another. Some, I hear, even change their clothes 5 times. This, of course, costs a lot of money and some families have to take a loan in order to pay for it all. Our wedding, by the way, was probably the cheapest ever held in Japan! Probably most of us think more about what we are going to wear when we go to a wedding than at other times.
The passage we had read to us earlier is about a very different type of wedding feast. This is a parable which is a made-up story to illustrate some point. Jesus used this tale to show what God's kingdom, heaven, is like and how we can enter it. “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for His Son.” The King of course is God the Father and the Son, Jesus. Imagine what the wedding feast will be like for the Son of God! When parents are arranging details of a wedding for their children one of the first things they consider is the cost and the amount of money they have available will determine to some extent what kind of feast they will have. Some film stars spend obscene amounts of money on their weddings. It has been estimated that the Brad Pitt / Angelina Jolie wedding cost is $10 million! Think for a minute of the father, God, in this story – Psalm 50 God says “Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills….. for the world is mine, and all that is in it.” Everything that is, comes from Him and belongs to Him. What kind of wedding feast then do you suppose it might be when it is put on by a Father who has no limit to His resources? Think of the most amazing, most gorgeous meal, wedding or feast you have ever been to or heard about and realize that God is putting on a wedding feast far superior to anything we could ever imagine and it will be the biggest feast ever held with more people attending than has ever been recorded. The wedding feast God is planning will be far better than anything ever filmed by any paparazzi anywhere. And the most amazing thing is that we are all invited to it!
It is rather a shock when reading this parable to get to verses 11 and 12 and find how the King treats a guest who is not suitably dressed. He first of all asks the guest how he managed to get in without the correct attire but then, instead of quietly asking the intruder to leave, He calls the guards, has him tied up and thrown outside. That's what the parable says “thrown outside.” Not just gently escorted outside but literally thrown out into the darkness. What a terrible picture! Have you ever been to a wedding or some formal occasion and seen someone who has not got the right type of clothes being asked to leave? When we were on the Sunshine Coast in Australia earlier this year we went to a restaurant which, even though it was located right by the beach had a big notice stating that people with jandals on were not welcome. There are times when it is important to wear the right clothes for that occasion. If a guest arrived at a formal wedding in a T-shirt, old jeans and jandals I wonder what would happen! Would they be allowed into the venue? It would certainly create a problem in Japan. It is clear that it is necessary to have the correct clothes on for a wedding.
Why is it necessary to have the right clothes for the wedding feast God is planning? This is because our holy, righteous God cannot welcome sinful people into His house. In Habakkuk 1:13 it says, of God, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil.” Remember, when Jesus was on the cross He said, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me!” Jesus was paying the price for all of our sins so they were placed on him and because of that, God could no longer look at Him even though Jesus was His beloved Son. This wedding feast is going to take place in God's home, heaven and He cannot have sin present in His holy place. The only way we can get into His home is to tell Him we are sorry for things we should not have done, ask for forgiveness and decide to follow Jesus the rest of our lives. It doesn't matter how 'good' we might be, from God's point of view, “all our righteousness is as filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6 As humans, we often have a scale of evil which is formed in our heads by our experiences and our culture. By this I mean that we have an unwritten list which says that perhaps murder is the worst sin, stealing is not quite as bad as long as nobody gets hurt, and telling little lies is not so bad and really can't be classified as 'sin.' But that is not how God looks at 'sin'. Psalm 53:2,3 “God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they have become corrupt: there is no one who does good, not even one.” What a shocking verse! Surely there is a mistake here – even if I'm not good enough surely God thinks the pastor is a 'good man.' However, God does not keep the same scale of sin that we do. James says “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” James 2:10. Probably we have not committed murder or burgled someone else's house but maybe we have told a little, wee lie. In that case, we have broken God's law and cannot enter God's presence without having that lie covered. You will have read about what Jesus thought of the religious leaders of the time when he was on earth. The general public looked at the leaders and thought how amazing and 'good' they were. They were given the best places in restaurants and weddings and were always treated with respect. And, they themselves thought they were very good and holy. However, Jesus said to them “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.” Matthew 23:27 They, the religious leaders, looked good and clean on the outside but Jesus said that actually they were stinking. The leaders of that time spent a lot of time keeping rules and thought by doing that they could be righteous but they ignored the sin on the inside. When Jesus looked at them their rule-keeping efforts were just a bunch of “filthy rags.” Even our best efforts are not good enough for us to attend the wedding feast prepared by the King. This is why we must have the clothes acceptable to the King in order to attend the wedding feast He is putting on for His Son, Jesus.
Where are we going to get clothes that are acceptable to the King? Apparently, in Middle Eastern cultures in those days a king who was putting on a wedding might supply clothes for the feast. If that is the case here then the man had no excuse to be improperly attired. Also, when you consider the previous verses where the servants went out in to the village to invite everyone to the feast, because the preparations were already complete, the people who then decided to accept the invitation would not have had time to go out and buy suitable clothing so it is safe to presume that the king actually supplied all of the necessary clothes. The King had wedding clothes already prepared for this man so why did he not put them? Did he think he was good enough just as he was? Was he just too lazy or too proud? No reason is given in the story. All we know is that he did not have on what had been prepared for him by the king and therefore he could not stay for the celebrations. God has prepared wedding clothes for every one of us but we are the ones who have to accept them and put them on. The man mentioned in this story missed out on taking part in the feast. Does this mean that God purposely leaves some people out? No, it is not God's will that anyone should miss out on the wedding feast He is preparing. He has given an open invitation to every person without exception. I'm not sure whether many of you follow rugby, in particular, the All Blacks here in NZ. When the selectors are going to pick a team, the players let the selectors know whether they are available or not. Some may have signed a contract with a team in another country, or have health issues or for some other reason may say that they are not available. In that case they will not be chosen. In the same way, if we show God we are available and interested He will pick us for His team. His team is not just for the rich or famous, the talented or good-looking but it is for anyone who acknowledges Jesus as their Lord. It is up to us to accept God's invitation and by doing that we receive the clothes He has prepared for us.
What are the clothes that have been prepared for me? Isaiah 61:10 “He has clothed me with the garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.” Notice the first word in this verse, “He.” This refers to God, the King, who, at the moment we become a Christian, gives us something to cover up the 'dirty rags' we're dressed in. We are covered with the righteousness of Jesus. This means that when God looks at us He doesn't see all the dirt. Instead, he sees pure, white robes which He has given us. It doesn't matter what you may have done in the past, it's all covered up by the new robe of salvation which we have received from God. I'm sure most of you remember the famous story which Jesus told of the prodigal son. He wanted to leave his home and his father and go out on his own instead of depending on his father. He received the money that would have come to him when his father died and went far away. While he had money, so-called 'friends' helped him spend it all and when he had nothing left he ended up looking after some farmer's pigs. What a long way he had fallen from the wonderful life he had in his father's house. At last, he realized how stupid he had been and started back to his father's house intending to work for his father as a servant. Even before he got to the door his father saw him and ran to him to welcome him back. Do you remember what the first words were that the father said to his returned son? The story is found in Luke 15. Verse 22 says “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him.” Can you imagine the kind of clothes the son would have been wearing? He had been working with pigs, probably living in the barn with them and wishing he could eat the food they were eating. I'm not sure whether he would have had access to a shower or a washing machine so his clothes would have been dirty, probably with holes in them and what a smell! That is exactly how we look to God when we go to Him. But He says “Quick! Bring the robe and put it on him. Quick! Bring the robe and put it on her.” In this way, the dirty clothes of our efforts and our sins are covered over and God sees only the pure, clean garment which He has donated to us.
Some of the men may not understand this but, when you receive an invitation to a wedding, one of the first things a woman says is, “But I've got nothing to wear!” Yet when you look in their wardrobe there seems to be heaps of clothes. We worry about whether we are suitably dressed. Some worry about whether they will be outclassed by someone else there. Or worse still, that someone else might be wearing the same dress as we've bought. These are all very important things. But, for the wedding banquet arranged by the King of Kings we all have the same clothes, the clothes of salvation, so we do not have to compare ourselves with anyone else or worry that we may not be dressed right. He has provided all we need. These garments are not something that we can buy or make ourselves. When we read in Genesis the story of Adam and Eve we see that after they had sinned by not obeying God, “The Lord God made them garments.” They could not cover up their sin by themselves but needed God to do it for them.
Thinking back to the story of the prodigal son in Luke15 we see that the father not only gave the returned son the best robe but also put a ring on his finger. I don't know how many of you have watched the movie “Ben Hur”. It's a great classic with a number of spiritual truths hidden in it. Judah Ben Hur was a rich Jewish prince whose best friend, when he was young, was a Roman boy. When they grew up the Roman boy became governor of the area Ben Hur was living in and because they had different political views he sent Ben Hur to prison. Ben Hur was eventually adopted by a famous Roman senator. The scene of the adoption is particularly moving. The Roman man legally adopts Ben Hur and during the ceremony gives him a ring. This ring is not just any ring but it has a seal imprinted on it which was used instead of a signature. It gave Ben Hur the same authority, the same power as his Roman adopted father. As a result of this Ben Hur becomes a citizen of Rome and as a son will inherit all of his father's wealth. This is an amazing picture of what God has done for us. Not only did He give us a robe of righteousness He has also adopted us and given us the right to be called a son or daughter of the Most High King. He has put his ring on our finger to show that we have an inheritance coming to us.
As well as the “robe of righteousness”, God has provided other garments for us. In Psalm 30:11 “you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.” Sackcloth was a material made of coarse, black goat's hair which was woven to make material which, as the name suggests, was used for sacks. It was very rough material so would have been very uncomfortable to wear. People used it when they wanted to show deep repentance. When we have done something that we know was wrong, we feel remorse and regret what was done. We have a bad feeling as though we were clothed in rough sackcloth. However, if we take our sorrow to God and truly repent saying that we really are sorry for what we did, He forgives us and exchanges the rough, heavy sackcloth-like feeling for one of relief and joy that we have been forgiven.
As soon as we acknowledge our sin to God and ask for forgiveness He gives us the robe of righteousness. After that, is it okay for us just to do whatever we like? No, not at all. Revelations 22:14 says “Blessed are those who wash their robes.” God has given us the robe but we have a responsibility to keep it clean. In our everyday lives we do things, say things, think things that are not pleasing to God which cause our robes to become soiled and it is our responsibility to clean them. How do we do that? When we sin we go to Jesus in prayer for cleansing knowing that “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is something that we need to do frequently. Of course, when we pray, we talk to God about anything that is troubling us and ask God for His help as well as for His forgiveness. Also, in Ephesians 5:26 Paul talks of “the washing of water through the Word.” Another way that we keep our wedding garments clean is by reading the word which is the Bible. How often do you wash the clothes that you have on now? Once a year? Once a month? With a lot of the clothes we wear we wash them every day. In the same way, we need to wash our wedding robes by reading the Bible every day. Imagine how dirty the clothes would get if we only wash them once a month! As we read the Bible, sometimes it feels as though nothing is happening but it is still washing us. Sometimes, the dishes you have used after eating don't look very dirty but you still wash them just to be sure. In the same way, we may not 'feel' that our 'clothes of salvation' are dirty but they still need a wash.
You and I have all received an invitation to the greatest wedding feast ever. If we've told God that we want to be on His team then we have already received our wedding clothes. All we have to do now is to keep them clean – to spend time with Jesus every day by praying, confessing our sins and by reading the Bible. My prayer is that everyone here will be at the greatest wedding feast ever.
Reading (Exodus 31: 1-6) (John 14: 26)
Background: God wants to live among us.
In previous chapters Exodus, we read God led Israelites out of Egypt. He performed many miracles, so that Pharaoh agreed to let Israelis leave. Exodus chapter 13, “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people”(21-22). God was guiding his people, led them out of slavery, running to the land that He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In the desert, God has a job for Israelites to do, that was to make the tabernacle—not a permanent building, but rather a big tent which can be easily dismantled and carried away by Israelis to the next camp site.
Why did God want a tabernacle? Was it because He had no place to live, so that He had a shelter from the Sun, the sandstorm?
In chapter 25, verse 8, the LORD said” 8Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” The reason to build the tabernacle is because, God wanted to dwell among his people. Please note, it was not Moses or Israelis asked God to live in them, it was God Himself took the initiative action, “I want to live among you”.
God didn’t dwell in people at beginning, because he was busy leading the people out of Egypt to a safe place. He performed all super natural miracles to establish his absolute authority over his creation, to show and convince Egyptians and Israelis that He is the LORD, the sovereign God.
Now after they crossed the red sea, the threat of Egyptian army resolved, God had a new plan for his people, a plan to train and teach his people to know more about Him. To achieve this, Lord wanted to dwell among his people, so that they could knew him first hand. After about 400 years after Joseph’s time, most Israelites didn’t know God as the way Jacob or Joseph did. To most of them, the LORD, YHWH, was a name they only heard of but never ever had a chance to have intimate relationship with. Who is the LORD, what are the things he likes, or not like; what shall we do or not to do to please him? How can we do to worship him? So God decided to live in Israelites so that they could start to learn more about Him.
Interesting fact is that God didn’t speak to Israelis for 400 years before Jesus came. God decided to became flesh to dwell among his people. This time, He is going to live the life that his people could see and witness, so that they would have no excuses to say they didn’t know God.
Do you see God’s heart here? It has always been God’s desired to meet his people ever since He created Adam. God hasn’t changed. His passion for his children never changes—that is lead us know Him more, to lead us to be more like him.
God gives gifts
So God asked Israelites to build this tabernacle, the ark of covenant and all utensils in the tabernacle . Problem is no one had seen these thing before, so no one knew how to build them.
Here we read
“ Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.”
God had chosen Bezalel son of Uri. Pay attention to this. It is God who chose Bezalel. If God asks you to do something, he will give you gift to get it done. He always equips his people to do his work.
Example. (Peter)—Peter didn’t pastor a church before.
Today we are called to build temple in where? In our heart. Paul said “don’t you know your body is the temple of Lord”. Today God command us to build his temple among the people. How? Will God equip us? Yes.
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.(John 14: 26)
As God gave Bezalel skills and talent to build tabernacle, same way today, God gives us Holy Spirit to build His kingdom among us.
Remember, we are here today is not by chance, today we are sitting here, not elsewhere is because God has chosen you to build his temple, and He will equip you, He will give you wisdom, power, strength, and the Spirit to help you build his temple.
Maybe you think, who am I, how can God use a small person like me? Hudson Taylor said “All God’s giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.”
God builds His team
6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you.”
God doesn’t send you to do the work alone, He knows you need help. He Knows you can’t do things by yourself.
A rope has greater strength than the combined individual strength of the strands that make it up? Why is this? The answer is quite simple. Individual strands have weak spots along them, points at which they easily break. But in a rope, the weak spots are randomly distributed along the length of the rope and the twist in the rope allows the surrounding strands to cancel out the weak spots of the individual fibres.
It’s the same with people. We all have strengths and weaknesses. On our own our weaknesses can break us, but together we work to achieve strength for all.
When US built the Pacific Railroad, which was the first transcontinental railroad in USA, a lot of Chinese Labours were recruited to do the job. So the management found out despite the fact Chinese were physically not as strong as Europeans, they worked far more efficient than Europeans. Chinese seldom got sick, because they drank boiler water, they didn’t go to pub so there was no hungover. He then found out Chinese were very quick and accurate to get the nuts and bolts on rails. So he divided his team, Europeans, physically stronger, were in charge of laying the rails, Chinese were in charge of put on the nuts and bolts, and boiling water. So in the end, his team had less sickness, and work much more efficiently than before. During a competition between west and east team, they beat the eastern side team by far.
So God gathered all kinds of people to work together building his tabernacle.
God has a heart for us not just living among us, He also wants build us together as a team. A good leader knows how to build his team, he will diligently delegate work to his team, give them a vision, motivate them, encourage them, bond them together, driven them to achieve the vision.
God gave Israelis different skills, Bezalel, Oholiab and all other workers, they all had their small part of job to do. Though they didn’t know what the final product would be, what they needed to do was to obey God’s command. Because God had the blue print.
In the same way, Jesus asked us to build the temple, and He gives us spirit to help us.
In Ephesians 4, Paul said there is one Lord, one father, one spirit, one body, but to each one of us, God gives us different gifts, he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers so that we can build one body, one church, one tabernacle for Jesus to dwell among us.
When you are given the task from God. All you need to do is being good at it. All of us are delegated work by God in some respect. If God asks to be a builder, then be good at it; if a teacher, be good at it; if a husband, be good at it, a wife, be good at it. Because by being good at what you do, you give honour to the LORD, because he puts you at this position. Together we can build God’s team.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.(Romans 8:28）
Equipment from God
Let’s have a look how many skills are required to build the tabernacle.
4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts …7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent— 8 the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand— 10 and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, 11and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you.”
Our God is a very detailed God, here He listed all the detailed works the Israelis needed to do and He gave them skills accordingly. In chapter 35 to 40, Moses recorded in details how the tabernacle was built according to God’s demand. Well in the Old Testament time, the tabernacle and the temple were physical buildings, today God give us ability and gifts to build temple in peoples heart, this building is no longer a physical building, so we need different skills and gifts.
Gifts of holy spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11),
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”
Note this, these gifts are not obtained by yourself, these are gifts given by the Spirit. Same way as God gave knowledge and skills to Bezalel, Oholiab and all other workers in the desert. God is still busying working today
In Romans 12 (to build the body)
6We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
We are serving a living God, His heart never changes. He still wants to live among us today. We need to build a temple so that He can live among us .
Will God give us gifts to build the Temple? Of course, same as in Moses time. Now comes the question, do you know your gift? Are you aware what kind of gifts you have? If you don’t know your gift how can you build the temple of the Lord.
In the coming new year, I pray we all have deeper knowledge of God. The more you know about God, the more you know about yourself. The more you serve God, the better your life will be.
5Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Background
These verses are very important because God said these words at a very critical time. Jewish people just had been freed from Egyptian’s slavery. They were about to enter the promised land. They didn’t know what were waiting for them. They had been slaved by Egyptians for hundreds of years that they didn’t know how to live as a free nation.
It had been long time since Joseph’s time, most of them only heard the name of the Lord, but they didn’t really know who he is. They don’t know the real character of the Lord. So when Moses was spending time with God on Mt Sinai, they didn’t know what to do, so they asked Aaron made an idol for them to worship.
God was very angry. As a matter of fact, God was so angry that he wanted to destroy Jewish people and start a new line from Moses. God had a reason to be angry, because these are the people, who witness the Lord’s power. They saw God brought 10 plagues against Egypt, they saw how the red sea was divided, they ate Manna from haven, they had seen so many miracles by the Lord and they still made an idol for themselves.
Moses pleaded God to have mercy and spare the lives of Israelites. ((Exodus 32:10-14)So God decided to give them another chance. “Then Moses said to him, “... How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (exodus 33:15-19)
Now we come to chapter 34 verse 5 -7, the Lord proclaimed his name to tell Moses and all Israelites, who he is. What He likes, what he dislikes. It is so important for us to learn who he is and know his heart. Pastor Abri often said “very often it is the part of God we don’t know that hinders our relationship with him.”
1. “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,”
First, Lord tells us is that he is compassionate and gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness. So what is compassion? “Compassion is the response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help. Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts or pains of another. Compassion is often regarded as having an emotional aspect to it.”
Wow, our Lord is compassionate means he has a desire to help those who suffers, it means He goes out of his way to help you to heal your physical, spiritual, and emotional hurts.
Matthew 11: “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matt 14:14)
Whenever Jesus saw people of blind, crippled, leopard, demon possessed, he had compassion on them, he laid his hand on them, he healed them. Dear brothers and sisters, remember God, who created heaven and earth, who put all plants and animals in this world, who created you, has compassion on you and me. And Jesus commanded us to do the same, to have compassion to those who need help.
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’(Matthew 25:37-40)
Our God is not far away from us, or hide in a temple waiting to be served. He has a passion for us, he wants to come to us, to heal our hurts, to comfort our pains. He has the power to change our hurts and painful past into blessing.
Movie “unbroken” tells the story of Louie Zamperini. A POW in WWII. He was brutally beaten and mal treated in POW Camp. When he went back to America after the war, his life was totally destroyed. He drank heavily, had nightmares. He dreamed killing his captors in the POW Camp. Then he was touched by God. God healed his pains and hurts. He was so much healed that he went back to Japan meeting camp guards who used to beat him and gave him hard time and hugged them, telling them that he forgave them. And some became Christians later. God’s compassion healed him, so that he had the same compassion to pass the love to his enemies.
Grace is something we can’t earn. Grace is given to us purely because of God’s love to us. We don’t deserve it but God gives it to us. Moses reminded the people: “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8)
Boli Zhang, a well known Pastor, was a university student in 1989, when Chinese government cracked down the student movement. He became a criminal, a most wanted man by government overnight. He started 2 year “catch me if you can” game with government. Please note this, he wasn’t a Christian at that time, he had stayed in a Christian lady’s house. It took great courage for her to do that, hiding a criminal in her house, if she was caught she could end in the prison herself.
In return for her help, Boli Zhang read Bible to her, because she couldn’t read. That was all he knew about God. Later he ran across the boarder to then Soviet Union. It was winter, you can imagine how cold it is in Siberia. He was almost frozen to death, he knew he would soon die, so he prayed his first prayer “Lord if you let me see tomorrow morning, I will offer myself as living sacrifice.” God not just saved him, he also makes him a pastor, the Lord uses his testimony touching many lost souls. He was in Auckland a few weeks ago, hundreds of people committed themselves to the Lord after hearing his stories. This is grace. Even if you are not a believer, God still loves you. God has a plan for your life.
Dear friends, it is never too late to know Jesus. No matter how old or young you are, the moment you committed your life to Jesus, by his grace you are saved, and you can enter his eternal Kingdom.
2. “maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”
Because our God is compassionate and graceful so he is willing to maintain his love to thousands and forgive wickedness, rebellion and sin. What a comfort to know this fact.
A loving father is patient, he allows their children making mistakes. He allows his children to learn from mistakes. He even allow his children to complain about him.
After I became a Christian, things didn’t always go the way I wanted. Lacking knowledge of how God works at that time, I very often complained about God in my prayer. I remembered most common complaints at that time were “why do you bring me to New Zealand?” “ I would rather go back to China.” “if you are really God, do this and that for me, then I will believe you.” I even said to him that if he didn’t do this or that, I wouldn’t go to MBCC church. Now looking back, I knew that was childish. The way I spoke to God, was like a naughty child trying to get something from parents. Lucky, God is a faithful God, slow to anger and forgive rebellion and sin. He is very patient with me, he will be very patient with you. He uses his words and people around us to help us grow in him.
God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh to proclaim Lords’ message. Jonah didn’t want to go because Nineveh was a city of sin. He tried everything not to do what God wanted him to do. He wanted God to destroy Nineveh. In the end, Jonah went and the Lord spared the city.
The fact that God didn’t destroy the city made Jonah very angry. Listen what he said “1But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2He prayed to the Lord, “Isnʼt this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:1-3)
In Jonah’s prayer, he didn’t thank God saving many lives in Nineveh, rather he complained that God didn’t kill all the people in the city. And he even threatened the Lord to take away his life.
Did God take his life away? No. “4But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” And God used a leafy plant explaining what his love is.
In this story, God demonstrates his compassion and grace. He loves us, even sinners, that he didn’t destroy Nineveh. In this story, God also showed us how a loving and patient father he is. Even if Jonah disobeyed him, complained about him, threatened him, he still maintained his love to Jonah.
Many people feel they are not worthy to be a Christian, because they have done this and that wrong. What God wants you to know is that he is the God who “7maintains love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin”. Do not doubt, many people here can testify to you that when they came to the Lord, they were far from perfect.
3. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.
The first half of this verse is easy to understand. If we did something wrong, we need to take the consequence as well. But many people find it is hard to take in the second half of the verse. why parents’ sin should be passed to their children, to 3rd and 4th generation.
If we go back to Exodus 20 in verse 6 God said: “for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”(exodus 20:6)
Why didn’t God tell Israelites that he shows love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments in this particular case?
There are a few times, I prepared to take my daughters for a movie, or some fun activities they like to do. I had everything prepared, I was happy, couldn’t wait to have fun with them. Then they very often messed things up, they did something which I told them many times not to do. As a father, as much as I love them, want to have fun with them, I can’t leave their mistake not being dealt with. So I had to cancel the activities and deal with their problems. Later when they learned the lesson, we can do the activities as usual.
So I think here, it is only my personal opinion, God didn’t mention that he would love those who love him for thousand generations, is because 1) he said it before, 2) because Israelites just worshipped an idol, so he wanted them to learn a lesson, and warned them not to sin again. He had to deal with their mistake, and Israelites must take the consequence.
Yet there is another question here -- why parents’ sin should be passed to their children, to 3rd and 4th generation? It seems so unfair, so wrong to let innocent children to wear parent’s sin.
Well it is very hard to understand why the Lord said so. Let me give you a real story.
Brryan Jackson, His father tried to kill him by injecting him with HIV tainted blood when he was just 11-months-old to avoid paying child support. Do you see how a bad parent can destroy their children. How their sin can impact their children. At age of 5, Doctor said he had full-blown AIDS, he could live no more than 5 month. Well he survived till today. If the HIV was still in his blood, if he had children, it is very likely that his children would have HIV. You can see how this tragedy can pass down the family line. His life was totally destroyed, at least from human point of view.
But he was saved. God intervened his life. In an interview with Fox 2 news, he said "I think that there is salvation for everyone and I find myself sometimes praying for my father's salvation," He forgave his father. Now doctor can’t find any HIV in his blood.
First half of the story tells us how a person’s sin if he/she hates God and his teaching can do harm to his/her children, second half of the story tells us how God loves us, if we believe him how he can turn our sorrow, pain into blessings, and he will bless us for thousand generations.
So all Christians, we love God and his teaching, good news is, we are blessed by the Lord, and our children, and children’s children, and thousands of generations down the line will be blessed by the Lord. What a privilege we have.