Joel Hampton- What Did You Do with Your Wedding Invitation? (Matthew 22:1-14)

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-11

Second Reading: Matthew 21:23-46

Sermon Text: Matthew 22:1-14

Often there is just not enough time to get into the Word. If we work eight hours a day and do not have a commute, our life is more open than most in Orange County! When do you find time to spend with Jesus at the wedding feast? Aren’t you stuck in traffic on the 91, 55, 57, 5, 60, or 405? Just listing these freeway numbers is enough to upset many of us. How tough is it to even keep up with the pressures of being a student? How can I find time to spend with God when I need to spend time doing so many other things? According to Gallup (Dec. 2017) 41% of Americans do not feel they have enough time to accomplish all they have to do. According to the Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22, the same was true for some in Israel in 30 A.D.

So let us make something very clear: there will always be urgent things to handle. However, that does not make them important. If the urgent gets in the way of the important, if the good gets in the way of the perfect, then we have missed the mark for which we ought to aim (which is one of the definitions of sin).

Do not miss the mark of spending time with God. Show up to the wedding feast first! And once you are there, put time into the Word (Ps. 119). Pray (1 Thess. 5:17). Meditate (Deut. 6:4-6, Josh. 1:8). Devote yourself to studying to show yourself approved (2 Tim. 2:15).