Proper Attire Required

In this morning’s sermon we considered the calling to be clothed with Christ and His graces in our relationships to one another within the Church. I noted that this calling to be clothed with Christ is rooted in the fact that we have been clothed with Christ by faith, which is symbolically depicted in baptism. I asked you to think about mercy, kindness, meekness, humility, longsuffering, and love as the garments with which God adorns the bride of His Son. The Bible speaks of wedding garments in a number of places, often in connection to a feast like the one spread before us now. In Matt. 22 Jesus tells a parable of a king who plans a wedding feast for his son. When the king enters the feast he sees a man who is not wearing a wedding garment and he commands the man to be thrown out of the feast into outer darkness. It’s like the signs you see sometimes at upscale restaurants: Coat and tie required. You can’t come to the feast without your wedding garment. It is almost certain that Jesus is referring to the Marriage Supper of Lamb described in Rev. 19:1-10. And once again those present at this feast are said to be “arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright.” These are the white robes described in Rev. 3, which are awarded to those who overcome the world by faith, keeping their garments undefiled by idolatry. Beloved, the Table spread before you is the foretaste of that great marriage supper of the Lamb to be celebrated at the end of history. And just as entrance to that feast requires a wedding garment, new clothing, even so you must come to this feast clothed with righteousness of Christ. This wedding garment comes as a gift of God’s free grace to all who believe and are baptized into Christ. Beloved, I summon you, as those so baptized into Christ and thus clothed with Him, come to the feast! The Table is spread for you!