Birthday Dinner

By H. Z.
      
	Every year just before our birthdays, we would receive discount coupons from several restaurants inviting us to celebrate our birthdays there.  In the past we paid little attention to such invitations.  However, on my birthday two years ago we decided to have the birthday dinner at one of the restaurants that sent us the invitations.  With the coupon in hand, my wife and I chose the one in Ballwin, which serves western-style food.  It was located in a secluded area, so it took us a long time to find the place.  Once inside, a waiter wearing a suit greeted us.  He looked somewhat surprised, took a dress coat out of the closet, and asked me to put it on.  He said it is the regulation of their restaurant that all male customers must have the proper attire.  Stunned by this unexpected treatment, we got out of that place in a hurry.  We went home and celebrate my birthday with a regular meal instead. 

 	This incident reminded me of Jesus' parable recorded in Matthew 22.  There was a king who was having a wedding banquet in honor of his son.  The banquet was ready but the invited guests did not show up.  He sent his servants out to urge them to come, but they refused, using a variety of excuses.  They even killed some of the servants.  With great anger the king dispatched his army and destroyed those invited guests.  Thereafter, the king again sent his servants out to invite every one they would meet on the street, good or bad, to come to the banquet.  In the middle of the banquet the king noticed one of the guests did not wear the wedding dress prepared for him. He ordered the servant to tie him up and threw him out in the darkness.

	This parable carries two messages.  The first message tells that God (the king) was proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven (wedding banquet) to the Jews (the invited guests) and inviting them to come to the Kingdome to honor Jesus Christ (his son).  But the Jews rejected the invitation.  They even killed some of the prophets (the servants).  This good news from God was eventually given to the gentiles (the street people).  They accepted the invitation, became the citizens of the Kingdom, and received the eternal life.

	The second message of the parable concerns the guest who did not wear the wedding dress.  He thought his clothes was good enough, and there was no need for him to put on the dress prepared for him by the host.  This is an act of disrespect to the host, and a demonstration of self-righteousness, which displeases God.  In the Bible, clothes is often used to symbolize righteousness.  Isaiah 64:6 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags"  Isaiah 61:10 also says, "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness."  In Revelation 3:17-18 the words Jesus used to write to the angel of the church in Laodicea seemed to describe the guest who did not wear the wedding dress.  A self-righteous person often thinks of himself as well learned and moral.  He does not need God's righteousness and grace to gain salvation.  He thinks he can achieve it by relying on his own ability.  He fails to realize that no matter how good a person is, he is nothing but a filthy rag in God's sight.  Before encountering Jesus on the way to Damascus, Paul was a very self-righteous man. He was well educated and had an excellent background.  His self-righteousness was so intense that he started persecuting Christians.  After the calling by God, everything that he considered profitable before, now became rubbish.  He then put on the robe of righteousness of Jesus Christ, and spent the rest of his life vigorously spreading the gospel. 

	The opposite of self-righteousness is humility.  Humility is the most essential moral character of all Christians. Our abilities, knowledge, and accomplishments are gifts from God and should be used to serve Him and to glorify His name.  However, a humble person should not indulge in the thought that God must be pleased because he is humble.  He commits the sin of self-righteousness the moment he has this attitude.  All Christians are expected to have high moral ground and good deeds.  It is better to forget our own humbleness.  We are in a sanctified stage when we become unconscious of our own good deeds.	

  	We missed the sumptuous birthday dinner that night, but not everything is lost.  God's words gave us plenty of food for our soul, and we can enjoy it forever.