Sermon: Don't Let Unworthiness Steal Your Gratitude (Part 3 of 5)

"Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude:
Don’t Let Unworthiness Steal Your Gratitude" Part 3 of 5)
Matthew 22: 1-14; Philippians 2: 1-11
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
October 15, 2017

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.”

But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

'But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind 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.’ - Matthew 22: 1-14


If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2: 1-11


The past few weeks the lectionary texts have been our guide in highlighting common struggles that steal our gratitude for God’s grace. Today Jesus uses another parable to underscore a common obstacle to living into God’s abundance. Remember that Jesus’ parables reveal hidden truths of God’s kingdom. His parables instruct how we might grow as kingdom people.

The kingdom of heaven gives us a framework to understand gratitude. Jesus says the kingdom is like a banquet of God’s lavish hospitality and provision, bar none. It gives our God great joy to throw such a feast for it is the anticipated Messianic Banquet, the wedding feast to honor the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is joined by his bride, the Church.

At this heavenly banquet, the Lord’s work of redemption and reconciliation is complete (Revelation 19:9). At God’s heavenly banquet table each seat has a place card saying, “My Delight” (Isaiah 62:4). All gathered savor the fullness of salvation, as compared to the foretaste we receive at Communion around the Lord’s Table in our houses of worship.

Each time we gather here to commune with God and one another, we take the bread of life and the cup of salvation and we can’t help but say, “God’s grace tastes SO GOOD!”

In Jesus’ parable the prophets and apostles extend the invitations to the heavenly feast. The first ones to receive the grand invitations made light of it (Matthew 22:3). Some were offended by the invitation. Others went back to their farms and businesses because they determined their self-worth through their work. Jesus said this made them unworthy. Their unworthiness was an obstacle to accept God’s invitation because these individuals kept trying to prove their worth on their own terms.

The next invitations went out to those who never imagined themselves worthy to sit at such a feast of lavish abundance. I love this parable because God welcomes a real rag tag bunch of folks. They are folks who are unassuming and good natured; you know the ones who have a heart of gold but still never feel they are enough. Also included are folks who have hearts filled with pain, troubles, and deeds that society claims to be unworthy of a second chance.

Regardless of how these guests saw themselves or how society labeled them, each one received a new robe as they entered God’s house. Each one was clothed equally in God’s merciful love. The more I read Jesus’ parable the more I sense that many remained reluctant to fully enjoy the moment of such amazing grace.

Martin Luther was one of those reluctant ones. Luther was one of our Reformers in the Protestant faith. He struggled with a great sense of unworthiness a good portion of his life.

He was born in 1483 and raised in a large family in Mansfeld, Germany. Luther’s parents were hardworking; his father leased property for copper mining. His father had high hopes for Luther to become a lawyer, but Luther was really searching for assurances in life and was drawn to theology.

Luther went against his father’s wishes to study theology and spent years trying to make his father proud.

After Luther was ordained at the age of 23, he stood before the church to lead the Mass; at that time the only church was the Roman Catholic Church. The words he was to recite were engraved upon his heart since childhood. But when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He had forgotten the words for the sacrament of Communion.

For Luther, this was not a case of nerves or a lapse of memory or God’s sense of humor. He felt a grave sense of unworthiness. His self-worth reached an all-time low as he called himself “a bag of maggots, food for the worms.” [1]

His mentors and colleagues tried to help him reframe his view of God and self. But the more Luther worked to study Scripture, fast, and pray, the more Luther felt the weight of God’s judgment. He asked out loud where a God of grace was to be found. I cannot help but wonder if his deep struggle resulted from a childhood shaped by harsh discipline and the ebb and flow of depression, which is common for many of us.

It was not until Luther studied the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans that God turned Luther’s unworthiness inside out. Luther read Paul’s words, “But now, apart from the law, [God’s work of making things right] has been disclosed…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; they are now justified [our unworthiness is removed] by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:21-24).

These words from Romans changed Luther’s life. The chains of unworthiness were broken. Holy Spirit opened God’s Word to free Luther to discover that Jesus took our unworthiness and made us right with God. We are made worthy because of God’s love for humanity. It is by God’s grace alone, by Christ alone, and through faith alone; it is all a gift of God alone.

From that moment onward, Luther invested his time, passions, and energies to teach, preach and write about God’s revelation of a love that will never leave us where God finds us. But more importantly, the Spirit empowered Luther to discover the gratitude of being clothed in Christ’s worthiness.

Our value, our self-worth is found in knowing that we are a beloved child of God and have a place of belonging in the kingdom of God.

Friends, there is truly nothing we can do to earn God’s gift of salvation. There is no job, career, vocation of ministry, or even a checklist of faith that allows us to find God’s favor. The kingdom of heaven does not allow for you and me to define worthiness on our own terms.

In the same vein, are we to remain imprisoned by our sense of unworthiness? Are we to live below the humility line telling ourselves that we are not enough? I can certainly hear the Apostle Paul say, “By no means!”

Paul encourages us saying, “Make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:2-3).

Paul encourages us to be intentional to allow our inner faith convictions to shape our outward actions and behaviors. Faith is to keep us from living above the humility line in pride or below it in self-deprecation. For Paul the only thing that counts…the only thing that is worthy is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). And that is revealed in Jesus’ faithful obedience working through God’s love on the cross. (Philippians 2: 9-11).

It is that kind of sacrificial love that equally clothes us in Christ for the journey of faith. It is that kind of unconditional love that opens our spiritual eyes to see ourselves and others the way that God sees us: welcomed, accepted, forgiven, and worthy of a love that will never let us go. It is that kind of humble love that frees us to take the next right step in our highs and lows and in our struggles and doubts.

So, who does God see at the banquet table saying, “Friend, how did you get in here without a robe?” (Matthew 22:12). That friend is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is not wearing a robe because he has given it to you, and me, and this rag tag bunch whom God has invited to the greatest party, bar none.

Christ took off his prestigious robe of God’s glory. He did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited. He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave in the thin skin of humanity. He humbled himself and became obedient even to the point of death – even death on a cross (Philippians 2: 6-8).

God desires for all to come experience this amazing grace revealed in Jesus Christ. We are called to respond to such an invitation with a healthy sense of humility for we have all fallen short of God’s glory. Thank God that falling short is never the end of our story.

We are clothed in Christ’s worthiness because Christ welcomes us in God’s hospitality, meets us where we are, assures us of God’s power to change our lives, and promises to stand by our sides from now into eternity.

Don’t let unworthiness steal your gratitude. You are enough because you are a beloved child of God and you have a place of belonging found alone in the kingdom of God.

And that is something not only to be grateful for. That is something to celebrate!

In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.

Sources Referenced:

[1] James A. Nestingen, “Martin Luther: A Life” (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2003), p. 9.