Series: How Not To Be The Church Sermon Title: Be Inattentive
Text: Matthew 22:1-14
Supplemental Texts: Isaiah 25:1-9 and Psalm 23, Philippians 4:1-9
Preacher: Josh Kleinfeld
How NOT To Be The Church
The five things: Be Unrepentant, Be Fruitless, Be Inattentive, Be Hypocritical, Be Hateful.
From Matthew 21-22, Jesus’ challenge to the religious leaders of his day echoes down to us.
The invitation is to be repentant, fruitful, attentive, authentic and loving.
But we can only do this through receiving and participating in God’s graceful presence.
What keeps us from being attentive to God today?
Matthew 22:1-14
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
The Kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son
When you see “the kingdom of heaven is like…” in red letters in the New Testament, lean in to receive divine insight into the beauty, nature and reality of God. The term “kingdom of heaven” is interchangeable with the “kingdom of God.” Both communicate that there is a “King” who reigns and has a certain way of doing things.
Now, if you’re a Jewish religious leader of Jesus’ day, you would be familiar with Jewish history. Jesus is clearly referencing the Old Testament. Look at 2 Chronicles 36:15-16.
2 Chronicles 36:15-16
The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.
And in giving this parable Jesus gives us three tendencies to cut out of our lives as the church
Ignoring God’s presence
Opposing God’s presence
Half-heartedly receiving God’s presence
Reflect on these questions:
Is there any area of your life where you are ignoring God’s presence?
Is there any area of your life where you are opposing God’s presence?
Is there any area of your life where you are half-heartedly receiving God’s presence?
Philippians 4:4-9
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
The commands comes with the promise of peace
Want to live with a non-anxious urgency that is attentive to God’s presence and purpose?
Think about the good stuff
Put the gospel into action
Message Reflection Questions
Read Philippians 4:8-9. Pause for 2 minutes to meditate on this.
What are the biggest distractions from God’s presence and purpose?
Read Matthew 22:1-14. What can today’s church (me and you) learn from Jesus’ corrective words to the religious leaders?
How can keeping the image of a feast and an inviting king in our minds and hearts affect the way we interact with others?
What practical advice can we can for being attentive in Philippians 4:4-9?
How do we balance being attentive to God and being attentive to others?
Confession Time: What steals your attention from God’s presence and purpose in your life? When do you find it easy to ignore God?
Testimony Time: How has God helped you change your focus to pay attention to Him throughout your day? What are some ways that help you keep your attention on God?
Prayer Time: Who do you know that needs to know that God is an inviting God and that they are welcome at His feast? Pray for them.
Prayer Time: What do you need to adjust in order to give God your full attention in your daily life? Take time to commit to doing that in prayer.
Daily Readings
It’s our third week of How Not To Be The Church readings! You can download the whole plan at www.stillnaz.com/pray.
Here are this week’s readings:
Sunday: Matthew 22:1-14, Psalm 23
Monday: James 1:1-11, Proverbs 22:17-21
Tuesday: James 1:12-18, Revelation 2:8-11
Wednesday: James 1:19-26, Revelation 2:12-17
Thursday: James 2:1-13, Revelation 2:18-29
Friday: James 2:14-26, Revelation 3:1-6
Saturday: Ephesians 4:20-24, Romans 12:1-2
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