The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

October 18, 2026

St. Matthew 22:1-14

Weddings are joyous celebrations that bring together friends, family, and sometimes a community. 

However, while weddings tend to focus on the bride and groom, today’s parable tells the story of two types of wedding guests: those invited but who don’t come, and those who do come but don’t attend the feast properly. 

For those invited but who don’t come to the feast, it’s a total rejection of the invitation. Their conduct isn’t just rude to the servants who delivered the invitation; it’s vicious. 

Jesus said, “They paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.”

Today we get angry when people don’t respond to a simple dinner invitation, but these invited guests didn’t just fail to respond at first; some responded to the messengers with violence. 

At first, it may not be clear, but hidden within the parable is the story of Israel being invited to the feast and rejecting the Lord’s invitation. The sad unfolding of the story of God’s people is that they not only give no attention to His Word and invitation to come to the wedding He is preparing, but they reject the messengers God has sent to call them into His presence; they kill the servants of the Lord, and they will also kill His Son, Jesus Christ, by crucifying Him on the cross. 

The rejection of Israel still occurs today among God’s people; we see it not only in churches that have no respect for the Holy Scriptures, but even in churches such as Good Shepherd, when the sheep don’t like the words of God or when those words don’t align with how we desire to conduct our lives, so we are inclined to become angry and frustrated with the messengers God sends among us.

But today, let’s focus on the latter part of the parable: a guest arrives at the wedding feast without the appropriate attire—the wedding garment. At that time, wedding guests were expected to dress a certain way, wearing celebratory wedding garments, and if someone didn’t have the appropriate garments, the host would provide them.

Now, remember that a parable is often a story with a deeper meaning. Today, Jesus’ words tell the story of someone who doesn’t appear to be what or who they seem.

Life is full of people, places, and things that aren’t what they seem, each with its own hidden reality.

For instance, we all know that some people wear masks to hide who they truly are, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Some places aren’t as their names describe; Greenland isn’t green, and Iceland isn’t full of ice. Or even more simply, a firefly isn’t a fly; it’s a beetle. A shooting star isn’t a star but a meteorite; shortbread isn’t bread but a thick cookie. A lead pencil isn’t even lead; it’s graphite. 

The philosopher Phaedrus wrote, “Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.”

And this raises the question: are things what they always appear to be, especially in the Church? Or, more specifically, are people who they appear to be when they gather in the sanctuary of God’s church? 

Or do you and others conceal who you truly are? 

Reflecting on when the Lord sent Samuel to anoint scrawny David king over Israel, God said to Samuel in the Old Testament, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature… For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Honestly, this can be hard to hear; God knows your heart. God knows why you enter this sanctuary, whether to receive companionship or belonging, which can be a healthy second or third-order effect of the Church, or because “it’s just what you do?” You were raised to come to church, and over time the church has become more a place to gather and maintain membership, like a club or civic organization.

However, entering this sanctuary is more than mere membership; it’s entering the ongoing wedding feast of Christ and His Church in true faith.

And for this, today’s parable also helps us begin to understand what is known as the visible versus the invisible church on earth.

Here’s what we mean by this…

Everyone physically present in the sanctuary is a member of the visible church gathered around God’s Word and His sacraments; we know this because we can see one another with our eyes. But the parable also reveals that some who gather in the Lord’s sanctuary may not be true members of Christ Jesus’ church, the invisible church, because they don’t wear the appropriate clothing of faith. Instead, they come into this sanctuary merely because of tradition, the gift of earthly relationships they have formed, or, sadly, in some situations, for status within a community. 

But the Church is more than this, and this is what today’s Gospel reading reveals.

So, what is required of you to faithfully be gathered in this place, in this wedding feast? 

The true faith given in the waters of Holy Baptism calls you to return continually to the font, confess your sins, wear the garment of Holy Baptism each day, and exercise the faith that receives the forgiveness granted to you. 

You see, the wedding garment that Christ, the King of the wedding feast, expects and demands you wear is what you received at baptism, often symbolized today by the white gown placed on a child. The true garment of faith is a gift God places upon you from above through His Word. However, if you fail to remain in this faith and do not exercise the faith spoken into your hearts by the Holy Spirit, you become the man in today’s parable, who snuck into the feast without the proper clothing: “[Bound] hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

And here is why we cannot take the Christian faith for granted: it’s a matter of eternal life and death. 

You cannot hide who you are; you cannot make yourself appear differently than who you truly are. Not before your Father in heaven. He is omniscient; He is all-knowing and sees the faithfulness of man’s heart, your heart. 

So, what does this mean? 

If you have found yourself gathering in the sanctuary of the Lord because it’s just what you do, or if you’ve been guilty of placing the earthly companionship of one another above the heavenly invitation of the Lord, or if you struggle or have wrestled with your faith, return to your Baptism, confess these challenges, ask for help, confess your sins, and put on the garment of salvation your Father in heaven wants to give you, because He desires not only that you come into this weekly wedding feast in faithfulness but also that you be with Him in the eternal feast that has no end. 

In a way, while there is so much throughout this life, whether it be people, places, or things that appear to be something they aren’t, however, the Gospel this morning is about the Christian, you, being exactly who you are supposed to be, God’s child. 

As you enter this sanctuary, remember who you are, remember your baptism, and exercise it through the confession of sin and faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and then have confidence not only for the troubles of each day, but for the day you are called to gather around the Lamb’s High Feast. +INJ+

Rev. Noah J. Rogness

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Tomah, WI

The Sermons of Pastor Rogness can we found at www.RognessOnTap.com

Learn more about Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at www.goodsheptomah.org