Answering questions about God: What is God like?

Matthew 22:1–14 Jesus spoke to them again in parables. He said, ²“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent out his servants to summon those who were invited to the wedding banquet, but they did not want to come.

⁴“Then he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet!’

⁵“But those who were invited paid no attention and went off, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁶The rest seized the king’s servants, mistreated them, and killed them. ⁷As a result, the king was very angry. He sent his army and killed those murderers and burned their town.

⁸“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹So go to the main crossroads and invite as many as you find to the wedding banquet.’ ¹⁰Those servants went out to the roads and gathered together everyone they found, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹²He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wearing wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. ¹³Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Jesus, your blood and righteousness My beauty are, my glorious dress; Mid flaming worlds, in these arrayed, With joy shall I lift up my head. Amen. (CW: 376 v1)

Years ago, I visited a couple who had worshiped with us the previous Sunday at our mission church near Ft. Knox, Kentucky. During my visit, I explained that all people are sinners. I told the couple that we can’t get to heaven by doing enough good works to make up for our bad works. We can’t compare ourselves to others, thinking they are worse sinners than us. We can’t hope that God is taking people to heaven based on our performance.

I explained that the soul who sins is the one who will die. All people will die, and all people are deserving of eternal death in hell.

That’s when the wife stopped me. She blurted out, “That’s impossible, Pastor! We don’t believe in hell. Our god would never do anything like that to anyone.”

I was a young, naïve pastor back then. It took me a while to recover. So we moved on to other topics.

Finally, the Holy Spirit gave me the correct words to say. “You know, a little while ago you said your god wouldn’t condemn you for disobeying his Law. He wouldn’t send you to hell. I think you’re right. Your god wouldn’t condemn you because first, he likes you just the way you are; second, your god thinks you’re a really good person; third, your god wouldn’t call you a sinner; and fourth, he certainly would not suggest you need a Savior from hell.”

I continued, “The only problem is that your god isn’t real. He’s a wish, a dream, a figment of your imagination. He certainly isn’t the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible does send unbelievers to hell. But he also gives heaven to all who believe in his Son as their Savior.”

You might wonder what happened to that couple. They never made a second visit to our church. Later, I learned from their friends that that couple joined the Unitarian Universalist Church. They teach there is no hell and you don’t need Jesus. In their religion, you can believe whatever you want about God.

This couple isn’t alone. Polls show a growing percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians, yet their concept of God is far different from the Bible’s picture of God.

Before you dismiss all those people, do you ever wonder, “What is God like?” Then you describe your own version of God.

You learned in Catechism class not to commit adultery. But then as a young adult you imagine that God isn’t really serious about that commandment as you move in with your fiancé.

You know God has strong language about homosexuality in the Bible, but you have a lot of gay friends, so you fabricate a God who has changed with the times.

You were taught the biblical roles of men and women in the church and in the home. But you envision a God who isn’t so outdated.

It can be tempting to invent our own truth about God. But we can’t reinvent God. God must tell us the truth about himself.

Today we conclude our series on Questions About God. We ask the question, “What is God like?” Jesus answers that question by telling a story. “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.” Jesus uses the word “like.” He’s making a comparison. He’s using a simile.

Jesus says that God is like a king who throws a wedding banquet for his son. This is a gourmet seven course meal. Open bar with the best wines.

“He sent out his servants to summon those who were invited to the wedding banquet, but they did not want to come. Then he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet!’”

The king has already invited these guests once before. Now he is sending out his servants to summon “those who were invited.” These bad dinner guests are those who have already RSVPed. Now that the banquet hall is reserved, the DJ is booked, and the filet mignon is ready to grill, they are backing out of their commitments.

“But those who were invited paid no attention and went off, one to his own farm, another to his business. The rest seized the king’s servants, mistreated them, and killed them. As a result, the king was very angry. He sent his army and killed those murderers and burned their town.”

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. So go to the main crossroads and invite as many as you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those servants went out to the roads and gathered together everyone they found, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wearing wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

How do these bad guests respond? The polite ones ignore him. “Thanks, but no thanks.” “I’ve got a business to run.” “I’ve got to make a living.” “Thanks for the offer, but I have more important things to do.”

The really bad guests aren’t so polite. They become angry. They seize the servants, mistreat them, and even kill them.

Do you see that Jesus is showing you what God is really like? Your heavenly Father is not trying to rob you of your fun. He is a generous King who is inviting everyone to come to his eternal celebration. Everyone – that includes you – is invited to the wedding feast of Jesus, the King’s Son.

The first people God invites to his wedding feast of salvation are the Jews. They showed contempt in two way – some paid no attention to the prophets, while others actively mistreated God’s servants and killed them.

So God invited the Gentiles. But the Gentile at the end of Jesus’ story shows his contempt for his Host by failing to wear the wedding clothes the King had provided.

We are also these bad guests. God invites us to the wedding feast of his Son in heaven. We get a foretaste of that feast of salvation every Sunday in the bread of God’s Word, the water of life in the Scripture readings and sermon, and the body and blood of Christ in his sacramental feast. The King’s invitation has been extended to us again and again. We have RSVPed that we’ll be present through our membership in the church and our belonging in God’s Kingdom.

But then we tell God we have other things to do on Sunday morning. We have family responsibilities, household chores, overtime, sleep, soccer games and softball tournaments. The weather is too bad. The weather is too nice. We just don’t feel like coming.

Then there are those of us who aren’t so polite in blowing off God’s wedding invitation. We actually get hostile at God’s servants when the Lord makes a claim on our time and life. We have members who get upset when the pastor or elders call to remind them they haven’t made use of the Means of Grace in a long time. Then there are those who get equally upset when they become ill or homebound and no one called to check on them.

There is also a third group of us who refuse to wear the wedding garment the King provides for us. This is the white gown of Christ’s forgiveness given to us at our baptism. We believe we’re good enough on our own and don’t need Christ’s blood and righteousness as our glorious dress.

Many people make up their own ideas about what God is like. They – we – imagine that God doesn’t care whether we worship him, praise him, serve him, come to him or accept his Son’s righteousness as our own. But if we reject the King’s invitation, he will reject us and find others to invite.

It doesn’t matter if we think that God doesn’t send people to hell. We’ll find out for ourselves. We’ll know there is outer darkness when we can’t see anything and there is weeping and gnashing of teeth when we’re in eternal agony.

We don’t have to imagine what God is like. Jesus tell us. God is a real, personal God. He is more loving and compassionate than we could ever imagine. Despite our continuous display of resistance and rejection to his invitation, the King’s grace is even more astounding. He keeps inviting. He continues to send out his servants. He keeps the banquet table set, the wedding feast warm, the angelic chorus ready to sing, and your wedding clothes laid out for you to wear.

The King’s Son, Jesus the Son of God, was crucified and resurrected. He paid for your sins of rejection. He took on himself your sins of indifference. He accepted your outright rejection and replaced it with his righteousness. Now, through the death and resurrection of his Son, God the Father invites you to the wedding feast of his ascended Son in heaven. The wedding invitation is sent out to everyone in the world. God himself provides the banquet food and the proper clothes.

Everyone – absolutely anybody – who is willing to set aside their false imaginations of God and accept the true God of the Bible – is guaranteed a seat at God’s party. We are worthy – not because of who we are – but because of what Jesus has done for us.

Enjoy a foretaste of that heavenly feast every week in worship. Come to the wedding feast of the Lamb. You who hunger and thirst for righteousness, come and eat. Come and fill up your soul with God’s love. Come feed your faith with God’s Word. Come and be comforted with God’s Sacrament. Come and be clothed with Christ’s baptismal gown.

The Father who created you invites you.

The Son who redeemed you with his blood invites you.

The Holy Spirit who speaks to you through his prophets, apostles and pastors invites you.

Accept his invitation.

But understand what God is like. This parable is also a warning. Do not take God’s invitation for granted. He will not drag you into his Kingdom kicking and screaming. God invites you to enjoy his forgiveness. But he will not force his forgiveness on you. Amen.

When from the dust of death I rise To claim my mansion in the skies, E’en then this shall be all my plea: Jesus has lived and died for me. Amen. (CW 376 v5)