At a nearby Baptist church, there was an elderly gentleman named Walter who had been a faithful and active member of his church for over 40 years. He had served as an usher and greeter on Sunday mornings and you could count on one hand the number of Sundays he had missed in all that time. He lived alone and lived on a modest social security check as his only source of income.

His only suit, which he wore every Sunday, had become rather worn and tattered. So several families in the church chipped in and one Sunday after church they surprised him with a brand new Sunday suit. They explained that it was a gift for his many years of service to the church.

The following Sunday they all came to church, excited to see Walter in his new suit. But Walter wasn’t there. Never showed up. They were concerned enough, that a few of the folks stopped by his house on the way home from church to look in on him. Walter answered the door, looking very dapper in his new suit. They explained that they were sorry they missed him at church. And Walter said OH YEAH. I WAS PLANNING TO COME TO CHURCH. BUT AFTER I PUT ON THIS NEW SUIT AND TOOK A GOOD LOOK AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR, I DECIDED I LOOKED SO GOOD, I WENT TO THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH INSTEAD!

You may recall a parable Jesus told comparing the kingdom of heaven to a great wedding banquet – a banquet that required attendees to dress appropriately. Not necessarily a new suit, like ol’ Walter, but clearly one was expected to prepare himself in order to receive and participate in the great banquet.

Now, we are familiar with the challenge Jesus faced in His ministry – to convince the Jewish religious leaders that they were leading the nation of Israel away from the loving arms of God. It was a radical message because, after all, Israel had originally been God’s chosen nation, so carefully protected and preserved by God over those many centuries of time. But now they were choosing to forfeit that blessing – a tragic mistake! God’s beloved Jewish nation was about to reject the promised Messiah. And Jesus is comparing it to a king who plans a wedding feast for his son. The king invites a select group of honored guests – the who’s who of society. All the best dressed people in the community. After all, he’s the king and this would be the social event of the year.

But a strange thing happened. No one came! They had other things to attend to. The church community has always faced that obstacle in efforts to reach out. People have a laundry list of excuses that excuse them from setting aside time for worship, from the commitment to the work of God’s kingdom. Sometimes those excuses can be pretty lame. In the parable, one guy tells the king, OH, I JUST BOUGHT SOME PROPERTY AND I NEED TO GO CHECK IT OUT. Making excuses is an art we learn at a pretty young age. A newspaper recently published a list of excuses teachers have received from kids who didn’t turn in their essay on time. Here were two of the best: 1) I got mugged on the way to school. I offered him my money, my watch, even my pocketknife, but all he wanted was my essay 2) The bus driver read my essay and he liked it so much he kept it to show to his passengers.

So the king hears these excuses and he decides FINE! YOU DON’T WANT TO ATTEND THE BANQUET? I WILL MAKE MY BANQUET AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE!…Now we are getting the drift of what Jesus is trying to teach us about the early church. Up to now, God had preserved His plan and His promise among only the tribe of Israel, but Jesus announced,  “Go out 2 by 2 and make disciples of all nations.” What was once the property of Israel is now a gift to the whole world. The disciples were given their marching orders.

What were their orders? To preach that people needed to repent. Again, this is about preparing oneself for the great banquet feast. Preparing to receive the joyous and blessed gift of the Gospel. The spiritual banquet of God’s blessings of faith, love, and eternal life!

Now our image of preaching repentance conjures up images of street corners and soap boxes; of fire and brimstone, even of threats and ultimatums. Get ‘em to repent! Jesus said. Sounds confrontational, doesn’t it? But it really isn’t. Confrontation has never been effective in leading people to drink from God’s cup  of forgiveness. The heart that has been hardened toward God, and maybe that describes someone you know, that hardened heart deflects all forms of a condemning tone. Who are you to talk to me about my spirituality?

Just as ineffective, though, is the approach which is so careful not to offend, that it never speaks of sin and guilt and the wages of sin in absolutes but in relative terms. MY SINS ARE NOT AS NUMEROUS AS YOURS. YOUR SINNING ISN’T AS EGREGIOUS AS HIS, and so on. So, relatively speaking we rate ourselves more acceptable than most.

That’s not repentance! When we deny a person an understanding of authentic repentance, we have denied him the opportunity for forgiveness. And so, ironically, in seeking not to offend we have delivered the greatest offense of all. As a result, he might never find his way to God’s wedding banquet.

Real repentance is rebirth and renewal. It transforms guilt into humility and humility into surrender to the greater power that is God. Repentance asks not WHAT DID I DO WRONG? But more importantly, WHAT WILL I DO NOW? That’s all that really concerns our Lord. What are we going to do with today now that all of our yesterdays have been obliterated; the tears and sweat and blood of our former failures now washed away by Christ’s own blood. And, finally, repentance declares “You are not the same person you were.” Who you were, has no significance in God’s present kingdom work, or in God’s future plans for you. Who you will be, has every significance.

Everyone pines for happiness and contentment, but can anyone deny that these lofty goals are interconnected with, and therefore forever dependent upon, repentance and forgiveness? Repentance always yields forgiveness, doesn’t it? And we know from experience that forgiveness promises peace and contentment and joy.

The Gospel lesson this morning includes the best known Bible verse in the entire Bible – John 3:16. In fact, we could all recite together right now “For God so loved the world…” if they would stop coming up with new translations and we could all agree for instance whether Jesus is God’s ‘only begotten Son’ or His ‘one and only Son’. But I want to draw your attention to the largely unfamiliar passage which follows – John 3:17. ‘For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to SAVE the world through Him.’

The centerpiece of the message of John the Baptist was always “Repent!” The message of our Lord to everyone who looked to Him as the way, the truth and the life always began with “Repent.” Not as a means to condemn the world but to save the world. Repentance always brings about forgiveness – not just of others, but self-forgiveness. I’ll say that once more, in closing. It’s time to forgive yourself, too. Because forgiveness promises peace and contentment and joy.

Who you are going to be tomorrow depends greatly on whether we leave our past sins in here today. Accept God’s invitation this morning to do just that (at His holy communion table), His invitation to the wedding banquet. Amen